Office of the Chancellor

The past few months have been a challenging time for American higher education. Our colleges and universities are in the national spotlight and under scrutiny on a number of fronts, including how we conduct research, how we support our communities, and even how we educate our students.

We’re writing today to share an update on our current situation in light of proposed funding cuts and other actions at the federal level that could have a significant impact on WashU.

It’s more important than ever that we make it very clear where we stand, what we stand for, and the value we bring to our nation and the world. At WashU, our focus is squarely on our mission – research, education and patient care. In order to have our greatest impact in each of these areas, we must recommit ourselves to putting these priorities above all else. And we must make our intentions known.

The National Institutes of Health have made cuts to research funding for facilities and administration. We want to assure you that the university’s leadership team is fully activated and closely monitoring the situation to see what these cuts could mean for our mission-critical work, and to ensure that we are prepared to respond as needed on behalf of the institution.

At institutions of distinction like WashU, we value diversity of opinion and we grow in civil debate. We choose WashU because we want to be challenged. And one way we do this is to expose ourselves to ideas that push us out of our intellectual comfort zones.