News: A year in review 

From housing to elections, the University of Connecticut has had an eventful academic year. Alongside interactions with national and international news, students, faculty and administration made news stories close to home for the UConn community. 

UConn Admissions Growing 

For the past few years, the number of UConn students has grown as more and more students are admitted annually. This year was no exception. The university received a record 62,000 applications from the Class of 2029, an increase of 4,000 from the Class of 2028’s 58,000 applications, and admitted about 4,500 students. Applications to the Storrs campus have increased by 27% over the past two years, and applications to regional campuses have increased by 70%. 

The continued rise in applications coincides with the continued issues with student housing shortages. As a result of the growing undergraduate student population, UConn’s current housing reached 103% capacity, leading UConn to announce that sophomores, juniors and seniors would no longer be guaranteed on-campus housing. This threw thousands of students into a scramble as they looked to figure out their housing situation for the upcoming Fall semester. Many students who were expecting to live on-campus were relegated to a housing waitlist, unsure of whether they’ll secure their own dorm room. 

UConn’s Budget and Majors  

In October, UConn’s Literature, Culture and Languages Department met to discuss the possibility of eliminating all individual majors in the department. However, this topic soon became university-wide when the provost came out with a review that put 245 academic programs at risk of elimination due to low enrollment and completion rates. 100 undergraduate majors, 50 master’s degrees, 25 graduate certificates and 10 doctoral degrees were listed, with budgetary cuts being cited as the reason for the review’s initiation. The potential elimination of hundreds of majors became the topic of Board of Trustee and University Senate meetings, with many concerned about what it could mean for students currently enrolled in at-risk programs.  

In December, the university announced that they would close four programs and suspend 12. ﷟HYPERLINK “https://dailycampus.com/2025/02/27/5-programs-closed-and-executive-actions-discussed-at-uconn-board-of-trustees-meeting/”Five more programs were officially closed in February, with three undergraduate mathematics majors being consolidated into other programs and two graduate medieval studies degrees being eliminated.consolidated into other programs and two graduate medieval studies degrees being eliminated. 

UConn also began the process of cutting budgets for many existing programs after announcing cuts last year. Many departments began discussing the possibility of cutting graduate students and teacher assistants in order to reduce payroll expenses, while others look to decrease the number of full-time employees. Department heads in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences said they were asked to cut their budget by a further 4.5% over the next five years, for a nearly 20% overall cut in funding. 

UConn Student Life and Activism 

Each year, the UConn student body votes in a new administration of the Undergraduate Student Government, and this year was no different. Prior to the election, candidates touched on issues such as Tier-II funding and working with administration at the USG Debate. The election results were announced in March, with Andy Zhang and Haritha Subramanian elected president and vice president respectively, Phoenix Harper elected as chief diversity officer and Billy Lipinski elected as comptroller. Zhang and Subramanian plan to focus their administration on social justice and sustainability for the upcoming year. 

UConn broke their fundraising record at the annual HuskyTHON dance marathon to benefit Connecticut Children’s, with this year’s theme, “Change the Tide,” representing the goal of improving the trajectory of children’s health. The event was held on March 8 with the annual Night-of Dance-a-thon. At the end of the night, they fundraised over $2.1 million., raising over $2 million for the first time in the event’s 26-year history. 

Following the encampment that occurred at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, the Israel-Palestine conflict continued to be relevant throughout the entirety of the 2024-2025 year. In February, a referendum advanced to the USG Senate calling for UConn’s disclosure of investments and divestment from weapons manufacturers, where the senate formed a committee to revise a resolution calling for the referendum. 

In April, 670 pages of UConn President Radenka Maric’s emails relating to the university’s handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict were made public. These emails included donors, faculty members and students who criticized Maric for her response to the issue and called for Maric to have a stronger stance on which side of the conflict UConn supported. 

UConn and the Trump Administration 

Although Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in the popular and electoral votes to become president of the United States, Harris won Connecticut. State and local elections also largely preferred the Democratic candidates. 

On the UConn campus, students were encouraged to vote in state, local and national elections. UConn held a voter registration drive outside Gampel Pavilion in September that included a press conference with state officials. A new early voting location also opened in the UConn Bookstore so students could choose what day to cast their ballots. 

The Trump administration set its sights on restructuring higher education as it targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as federal support for education. The White House ordered a pause on federal aid to education early in Trump’s presidency, and Trump later signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Department of Education. 

UConn researchers were concerned about the uncertain future of their funding under the Trump administration. In addition to cuts to higher education, a White House investigation identified UConn research projects among many that involved DEI, which the Trump administration has been campaigning against. 

However, the UConn community pushed back against Trump. UConn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors held a rally that included calls to protect higher education and words from state representatives. Locals also held protests, with one group growing its numbers every Friday as it protested Trump in downtown Storrs. 

Another action from the Trump administration that landed close to home at UConn concerned international students. Even before his inauguration, universities started urging international students to leave the U.S. if it was within their means to do so. After Trump came into office, international students started having their visas revoked.  

At UConn, six undergraduates, six graduate students and one alumnus in a post-graduate program had their visas revoked. Although UConn said that as a public institution, it could not fund legal services for students, it released a list of legal and community resources for international students and faculty.  

Students on campus fought against the Trump administration’s actions. Throughout April, USG signed a resolution that called for UConn to be bold in protecting students from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and stand against Trump’s policy changes for higher education. Students went to a board of trustees meeting to support the resolution.  

In late April, the Trump administration reversed decisions on many of the revoked student visas, and UConn released a statement confirming the 13 affected UConn students had their visas restored. 

Although UConn saw ups and downs this year, the school’s community consistently responded by coming together to fight for action. As UConn students look to the summer and academic year, they will know that whatever they face, they face as one UConn community.