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Marked by natural disasters and unprecedented moves by both the Trump administration and Syracuse University’s administration, 2025 unfolded as a year of high-stakes and headline-making events.

This year saw major changes at all levels of our community: programmatic shifts at the university, the city’s first Black mayor-elect and several sweeping policies from the federal government. Between Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Accessibility bans, the search for a new chancellor and the stop-and-go of the ongoing Micron Technologies project in Clay, 2025 has left an even more complex landscape than before.

Here are the Daily Orange’s top 10 news stories from 2025:

Courtesy of Nicolas Greamo | The Daily Bruin

‘Armageddon’: Los Angeles-based Syracuse students reflect on wildfires

After the year began with January wildfires devastating large parts of southern California, affected SU students shared feelings of fear, loss and heartbreak.

Many SU students from Southern California returned to campus for the spring semester uncertain if they’d ever see their childhood homes again. As wildfires continued in Altadena, Pacific Palisades and other areas around LA, students began a new semester hoping their neighborhood wasn’t the next one to make the news.

“We were just basically waiting around for them to come home, and we were so worried,” SU senior Rebecca Mejia said. “(Later) they described it to me as Armageddon.”

Daily Orange File Photo

3 Syracuse University students lose visas under Trump administration

Amid a nationwide crackdown on immigration and student visas, the Trump administration revoked three SU student visas in April. The university did not receive an explanation as to why the visas were revoked, according to a release.

Nationally, more than 1,800 international students and recent graduates had their student visas revoked or legal status changed at over 265 colleges and universities as of April 24, according to data compiled by Inside Higher Ed.

Many of these revoked student visas resulted from federal officials removing students’ names from the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System. The Department of State is using the database to monitor international students in the interest of national security, Inside Higher Ed reported.

Flynn Ledoux | Senior Staff Illustrator

School of Art students grapple with limited access to Adobe Creative Cloud

Syracuse University’s School of Art faced growing frustration as students and faculty grappled with limited access to Adobe Creative Cloud — a suite of industry-standard tools essential for digital art and design.

SU does, however, provide access to the suite to students in the School of Architecture, Newhouse School of Public Communications and VPA’s School of Design, Department of Film and Media Arts and Department of Drama.

Many art majors discovered too late that their academic program doesn’t include personal device licenses for the software, forcing them to rely on scarce campus computers or shoulder costly subscription fees on their own.

“It’s like not being able to show up with pencils to an art class,” Dusty Herbig, the School of Art’s coordinator of Print Media & Graphic Art, said.

Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer, Courtesy of Brianna Lucynski

Trump’s federal cuts disrupt government careers for SU, ESF graduates

In May, many SU and SUNY ESF graduates either lost a federal government job due to program cuts or questioned whether they still wanted to pursue public service after the Trump administration’s agenda of reducing federal spending.

Brianna Lucynski, a 2024 ESF graduate, secured a job at The Bureau of Land Management in Oregon when she found out her offer was rescinded after sweeping Trump Administration budget cuts.

“Two weeks before I was supposed to start, they revoked my firm job offer, while I was driving to Oregon,” Lucynski said. “I’m stuck out here. I don’t have a job. I just signed a lease. What am I going to do?”

Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer

Syverud steps down: Chancellor’s 12-year tenure sparks mixed reactions from SU community

On Aug. 26, SU chancellor Kent Syverud announced he would step down as SU’s chancellor at the end of the academic year.

“After much reflection, I’ve decided that I will step down as chancellor and president of Syracuse University,” he wrote in a campus-wide email to students. “The opportunity to lead Syracuse University has been both humbling and profoundly meaningful, and in many ways like coming home.”

His departure, which marks the end of a 12-year tenure at the University, saw a mix of praise and criticism for his leadership amongst local figures, students and faculty — many pointing to the university’s response to federal crackdowns on higher education as a potential reason.

Since announcing his departure, SU’s Board of Trustees has organized a chancellor search committee to find Syverud’s replacement. They anticipate announcing the university’s next chancellor in spring 2026.

Hannah Mesa | Illustration Editor

‘Feels like erasure’: SU students denounce ODI closure, People and Culture replacement

On July 31, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud announced SU would close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and replace it with a newly-titled office of “People and Culture,” which left many students disappointed, yet unshocked.

SU’s decision to close the ODI came amid a national trend of higher education institutions revising programs to comply with Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order prohibiting “illegal DEI” practices in higher education, citing concerns that they contradict the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Several SU students said they felt the ODI’s closure didn’t reflect the desires of the student body and hoped SU wouldn’t conform to Trump’s efforts. However, many were split on whether the change would have noticeable effects on campus life.

“To me, it really isn’t just a name change. It feels like erasure,” SU junior Orezimena Ubogu said.

Beomsu (Peter) Shin | Contributing Photographer

‘Our hands are tied’: SUNY stability plan orders ESF staff cut, enrollment uptick

In September, leading members of SUNY ESF’s United University Professions raised alarms about a SUNY-ordered budget stability plan that demands ESF cut 18.9% of its full-time staff by 2029 while increasing undergraduate enrollment by 16.1%.

The stability plan hopes to offset ESF’s multi-million dollar deficit, which faculty said comes after SUNY revoked the school’s $10 million annual mission funding in 2012.

Between a voluntary separation program and potential cuts to athletics and the university’s forest campuses, ESF students, faculty and staff have responded to efforts made by ESF president Joania Mahoney and SUNY administrations with outrage.

“SUNY does really seem like they’re changing the goal posts very frequently,” Sue Fassler, ESF’s director of sustainability, said. “We’re here to help drive forward environmental stewardship and research throughout New York state, but it is increasingly a distraction when we can’t plan for our future.”

Ike Wood | Video Editor

Decades in the making: SU alum Sharon Owens secures historic mayoral victory

On Nov. 3, Syracuse elected its first-ever Black mayor, Sharon Owens. Owens, who has served as incumbent Mayor Ben Walsh’s deputy mayor, graduated from SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1985.

Four decades after graduating from SU, students said that same proud alumni energy carried Owens to a historic, landslide mayoral victory, where Owens won with 73.8% of the vote.

During her time at SU, Owens was a member of the women’s track and field team, captaining her senior year and setting seven records by the time she graduated. She won the Big East title for the indoor long jump in both 1984 and 1985, and was also the 22nd woman inducted into the Orange Plus Hall of Fame.

“It’s super exciting and surreal, students on campus are going to have our first Black mayor and our second woman mayor,” SU sophomore Kenneth Lanterman said. “It’s a moment to see that we can climb the ranks and really be in that position if we want. Sharon shows us ‘Yes, this is possible.’”

Ilana Zahavy | Presentation Director

With admissions to 18 majors paused, programs brace for ‘uncertain’ futures

In September, SU paused admissions to 18 majors as part of an ongoing academic portfolio review, an effort ordered by Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew to evaluate the university’s academic offerings.

While major-specific courses continue and current students can still enroll in these paused programs, the Arts and Sciences majors no longer appear on the Common Application. However, all students currently enrolled in affected programs will be able to complete their degrees.

Across faculty, students and alumni, The D.O. spoke with 35 people involved with these programs. Many in the paused majors described similar feelings as the fall 2025 semester ends: confusion, frustration and a growing uncertainty about the future of their programs.

“This is not just an administrative shuffle,” Terese Millet Joseph, an SU doctoral candidate, said. “This is an ideological move.”

Corey Henry | Daily Orange File Photo

Leading with faith: Faculty, students reflect on Konkol’s ‘meaningful’ 8 years at Hendricks

On Dec. 2, Brian Konkol, the Dean of Hendricks Chapel, announced he would leave the university in the new year to become the president of Valparaiso University in Indiana.

Over the past eight years, Hendricks staff and faculty recount the dean as someone who fostered a space for interfaith practice, engaging discourse and kindness. Konkol focused on promoting interfaith worship, supervising 16 chaplains and more than 25 religious groups and all Hendricks programming.

“He has this great ability to capture his audience. He makes eye contact with everyone in the room, regardless if it’s a huge lecture hall or just a small group of 10 people,” Anna Dyjach, a student technology lead at Hendricks, said. “He makes sure that everyone is heard and that everyone feels welcome.”

Published on December 31, 2025 at 1:07 pm
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