StudentNation

StudentNation is a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism and is made possible through generous funding from the Puffin Foundation. StudentNation focuses on first-person accounts from student activists, organizers, and journalists and has helped launch the careers of contributors to The New York TimesVoxBusiness InsiderTeen Vogue, the Guardian, and more. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to pitches@thenationfund.org. 

Cornell University student and pro-Palestine activist Momodou Taal.

A Pro-Palestinian Activist Lost His Case, but the “Fight From Below” Continues A Pro-Palestinian Activist Lost His Case, but the “Fight From Below” Continues

Cornell University student Momodou Taal self-deported just weeks after he sued the federal government in response to Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protest.

Apr 7, 2025 / StudentNation / Benjamin Leynse and Avery Wang

Sophomore Kavya Racheetim looks through the first edition of The Retrograde.

Texas Student Journalists Are Being Censored, but That Won’t Stop the Presses Texas Student Journalists Are Being Censored, but That Won’t Stop the Presses

On University of Texas campuses, students have found other ways of newsmaking that free their publications from editorial control by their schools and state.

Apr 2, 2025 / StudentNation / Aaron Boehmer

A National Womens Soccer League match at Red Bull Arena on June 8, 2024.

Is the Sports Draft Obsolete? Is the Sports Draft Obsolete?

With the players association’s new collective bargaining agreement, the National Women’s Soccer League became the first major league in American sports to abolish the college draf...

Mar 31, 2025 / StudentNation / Takashi Williams

Hundreds of Cardinal O’Connor Conference attendees gather in Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall to hear from anti-abortion activists.

Inside Washington, DC’s “Pro-Life Super Bowl” Inside Washington, DC’s “Pro-Life Super Bowl”

Days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, hundreds of young anti-abortion activists gathered at Georgetown University for the annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference.

Mar 27, 2025 / StudentNation / Katherine Wilkison

Pro-Palestinian Jewish Americans gather outside the ICE headquarters on March 20, 2025, at the emergency rally to release Palestinian green-card holder and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil and reject the Trump administration’s mass deportations.

What’s Happening at Columbia University Won’t End There What’s Happening at Columbia University Won’t End There

The actions of the Trump administration have not made our campus a safer place, and their broader McCarthyite punishment of dissent is just beginning.

Mar 25, 2025 / StudentNation / Destiny Spruill and Jordan Weinstock

A visitor in silhouette at an art gallery.

We Need to Reengage My Generation In Art Appreciation We Need to Reengage My Generation In Art Appreciation

Art history, once a staple in every college humanities curriculum, is now seen as elitist and futile. With Donald Trump back in the White House, the arts are more at risk than eve...

Mar 24, 2025 / StudentNation / Allegra Devine Lief

Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025.

Trump’s Order Dismantling the Education Department Continues His Attacks on the Agency Trump’s Order Dismantling the Education Department Continues His Attacks on the Agency

The president plans to sign an executive order directing officials to take all “necessary steps” to shut down the department, but a complete closure would require an act of Congre...

Mar 20, 2025 / StudentNation / Owen Dahlkamp

Hundreds of protesters outside of a New York court to protest the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil.

Mahmoud Khalil Is “Ready to Fight” His Unlawful Detention Mahmoud Khalil Is “Ready to Fight” His Unlawful Detention

StudentNation spoke with Shezza Abboushi Dallal, a member of Khalil’s legal defense team, about the status of his case and the government’s attack on freedom of speech.

Mar 18, 2025 / StudentNation / Luca GoldMansour

A protest against US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts to medical research and higher education during a “Fund Don't Freeze” rally outside the Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, DC, on February 19, 2025.

As Trump Closes in on Public Service Jobs, Young Workers Look Elsewhere As Trump Closes in on Public Service Jobs, Young Workers Look Elsewhere

The president’s executive orders have raised concerns among college students and recent graduates, prompting some to reevaluate their career plans.

Mar 17, 2025 / StudentNation / Sena Chang

Donald Trump speaks at a press conference with Linda McMahon in 2019.

Inside Trump’s Decimation of the Department of Education Inside Trump’s Decimation of the Department of Education

Current and former employees at the agency spoke with The Nation about the chaos as 1,300 people were laid off on Tuesday. “The ramifications of this will be enormous.”

Mar 14, 2025 / StudentNation / Owen Dahlkamp

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