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(03/18/21 1:27pm)
As a Colombian in the United States, every time I go places and meet people, they always make assumptions about Colombia and the Colombian people. In a way, regardless of the country that you are from, there are always stereotypes that people are going to have about your place of origin. Still, I never expected to encounter it when interacting with American University students in the School of International Service. I found myself listening to fellow students talk about my culture and my country as if they had lived there their entire lives. The feeling that this created was not because of the various misconceptions about the place that I call home; it was because of the superiority with which they spoke. We, myself included, tend to assume that the knowledge that we have is absolutely right, without even questioning the systems of power in place that influence what knowledge is available to us. Stop and question what you think you know about the place or region that you believe you have studied in depth. You might find yourself realizing that you know very little.
(03/10/21 1:58pm)
Editor’s note: Abby Longo is involved with the Sierra Club and Extinction Rebellion.
(02/25/21 4:53pm)
Editor’s note: Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and conciseness.
(02/24/21 6:12pm)
Cuando estaba a punto de graduarme del colegio, la pregunta por qué iba a hacer o que iba a estudiar era algo casi rutinario. Muchas de mis amigas estaban muy seguras de lo que iban a estudiar o hacer con sus vidas. Muchas de ellas incluso tenían planes a muy largo plazo, mientras que yo solo sabía que iba a estudiar en American University. Pero antes de que todo el proceso de aplicaciones para universidades empezará, la idea de irme a otra parte del mundo para hacer uno de esos bien conocidos viajes misioneros era lo que más me llamaba la atención. Cuando fui a discutirlo con mis papás, me dijeron algo que cambió completamente mi perspectiva frente a estos viajes y esta industria multimillonaria. “Si quieres hacer un cambio real, más que algo para mostrar en redes sociales, ¿por qué no te enfocas en tu país y tu comunidad?” Eso fue lo primero que me dijo mi papá y ciertamente es algo en lo que sigo pensando hoy en día. Tenemos que dejar de romantizar la idea de ‘ir a ayudar’ a los países “pobres” o menos desarrollados y darnos cuenta de que el verdadero cambio empieza con nuestras comunidades.
(02/23/21 3:57pm)
The Counseling Center has almost always been a source of contention at American University. From students’ vocal dissatisfaction with the quality of care at the Counseling Center to the controversial email sent out by the Office of Campus life in January 2020, the Counseling Center’s reputation on AU’s campus has not been one of great pride. Still, after countless shared experiences and calls for action, the University continues to use wellness as a buzzword rather than making set commitments toward expanding resources and reimagining our Counseling Center. While each controversy may seem isolated, they follow a clear pattern of AU’s neglect of the student voices pleading with faculty to listen and take action.
(02/21/21 5:55pm)
In October, American University announced in its spring 2021 plan that students would have the option to apply for a temporary residential housing experience for half the semester. This program would welcome 1,250 full-time students to reside on campus from March to May 2021 in addition to the students already on campus for emergency housing, bringing the residential total to more than 1,500. The anticipated minimum cost for this experience, which includes housing, dining and health insurance, would be approximately $5,205.
(02/11/21 2:53pm)
I cringe when I reflect upon my middle school years, when I became invested in the political zeitgeist. I cackled at memes of Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama’s supposed bromance, I memorized all the words to the “Hamilton” soundtrack and I crowded my walls with posters encouraging people to “feel the Bern.” Meanwhile, former president Obama was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians, the founding fathers personally enslaved people who built a nation on stolen land, and idolizing another Senate seat-warmer leaves little room for the criticism and accountability that democracy functions on.
(12/07/20 1:39pm)
Along the lines of American exceptionalism, the United States has proven to be exceptional in the worst ways. For a long time now, our nation has been performing low in general humanity and high in the number of police brutality reports, incarceration rates and impoverishment numbers.
(11/07/20 2:43pm)
American University announced its adjusted AU Forward plan two weeks before the move-in period for the fall semester and stated that it would offer fully online undergraduate and graduate courses with no residential experience. This caused an uproar from the student body, ranging from upperclassmen figuring out their off-campus housing arrangements to international students scrambling to cancel their expensive flights. The breaking news left us all in a period of uncertainty and cynicism for what this upcoming semester was going to be like in an online format, especially for those who express a need for accommodations.
(10/27/20 2:26pm)
Public health has naturally become a hot-button issue during 2020, due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. A field that’s existed since people understood illness in any capacity, public health is one marked by creativity, quick turnaround, analysis and interpersonal skills. It undoubtedly requires a variety of perspectives to survive, both academic backgrounds and personal experiences. However, health is both highly technical and personal. Implementing public health programs and policy measures, specifically large-scale health administration, requires some level of working knowledge, whether it be technical or personal, for success.
(06/23/20 1:15am)
American University announced its plan for the fall semester on Tuesday and, as always, it was met with confusion, questions and concern. The core of the plan is the decision to implement a hybrid learning system, in which classes will be held through a combination of online and in-person meetings, and that AU will take necessary precautions to enforce social distancing.
(06/16/20 11:00am)
Editor's note: The byline and photo attribution of this article have been changed since it was first published to update Samantha Margot's new last name.
(03/08/20 5:00am)
Toxic friends are an unfortunate part of the college experience. Most friendships should be supportive, leaving a person feeling uplifted and excited for the future, but bad friendships can be draining. Being too close to people who try to keep all the attention on themselves or never accept blame for their mistakes will only take a toll on your mental and emotional health. Here are five signs to look out for when assessing if your friendships are healthy or not.
(02/13/20 5:00am)
Students, rejoice: the quad is back. Construction projects revitalizing AU’s pipe system concluded over winter break, freeing most of the quad of burdens imposed by recent construction.
(02/06/20 9:14pm)
President Trump signed a piece of legislation that raised the federal minimum purchasing age of tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21 on Dec. 19, 2019. The legislation was passed after a wave of a mysterious lung disease struck the country last year. Little was known about the exact cause of the lung disease, except that it was linked to vaping. Concrete evidence has still not linked the disease to one singular vape, but investigations are underway.
(02/04/20 12:38am)
I like to compare my anxiety disorder to a spiral. It coils around my heart, and on a good day, it’s relaxed, hanging loosely around it. There are other days, though, when the coil winds itself tight around my chest, making it hard to breathe and work and do any of the countless other activities of an AU student. Those days were the reason I sought out the Counseling Center at AU – but I quickly learned that it would be three weeks before an intake appointment.
(12/12/19 5:00am)
It is very hard to be a student journalist. It’s even harder to be a student journalist with little to no access to information about the institutions you’re attempting to cover.
(11/23/19 5:00am)
There is so much beauty in our daily lives that we don’t even realize much of our surroundings at first glance. We have grown accustomed to cloudless skies, vibrant flowers adorning the quad and all the beauty that lies within the colors of the sunset over the D.C. skyline. Somewhere along the line, I stopped waking up and feeling grateful for the fact that I was able to see such colors.
(11/21/19 3:28pm)
A Virginia county public school system is dealing with pushback after introducing “diverse classroom libraries” for elementary and high schoolers. Religious parents are mustering as much of their faith as they can to convince administrators to eliminate the selections that focus on LGBTQ+ characters.
(11/18/19 5:00am)
Northwestern University’s student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, recently published a piece apologizing for their stories of recent protests regarding former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ visit to campus. Their coverage, specifically of the student protesters, drew criticism, and The Daily apologized for doing otherwise typical journalistic tasks — specifically, posting pictures of the protest and contacting students for comment using a directory.
