Susan Svrluga

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering higher education

Education: Brown University; Columbia University

Susan Svrluga is a reporter covering higher education for The Washington Post.
Latest from Susan Svrluga

Black enrollment drops at UNC after ruling; other schools vary

Fewer students of color enrolled at some selective schools after the Supreme Court banned affirmative action last year, new data show. Others maintained diversity.

September 5, 2024
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Classes and protests resume at Columbia and other campuses

As college campuses reopened for fall classes, Israel-Gaza war protests have resumed, though not nearly as large or intense as last spring

September 4, 2024
Pro-Palestinian supporters hold a picket line outside Columbia University on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024.

Protesters vow to return to Columbia, new leadership pushes for calm

The school year begins this week with heightened security and a new interim president.

August 25, 2024
Gates are locked as students, faculty, and others wait to enter Columbia University's campus in New York this month.

Columbia University president resigns after drawing ire over Israel-Gaza protests

Columbia President Minouche Shafik resigned her position, ending a tenure marred by backlash over handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus last spring.

August 14, 2024
Minouche Shafik, then president of Columbia University, testified before Congress in April. (Haiyun Jiang for The Washington Post)

Bloomberg gives record $600 million to HBCU medical schools

Bloomberg Philanthropies on Tuesday announced a landmark $600 million gift to support HBCUs that train a large number of the country’s Black doctors.

August 6, 2024
Howard University College of Medicine in D.C. is one of four historically Black medical schools named as a recipient of a $600 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. (AP)

Harvard elevates interim president to top post

The appointment of Alan M. Garber, who had been provost of Harvard for a dozen years and who became the interim leader after Claudine Gay resigned, signals a steady hand at the helm of the university after a tumultuous year.

August 2, 2024
Harvard named Alan M. Garber as its president. He is a doctor and economist who is an expert on health policy.

Jerry Falwell Jr. and Liberty University reach settlement

The Christian university’s former president resigned in 2020 amid personal scandals.

July 26, 2024
Jerry Falwell Jr., then the president of Liberty University, in a 2018 portrait. His father co-founded the school in 1971.

$1 billion gift to make Johns Hopkins medical school free for most

The donation from Bloomberg Philanthropies also will expand financial aid for nursing, public health and all graduate programs

July 8, 2024
The Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore. The donation from Mike Bloomberg will allow Hopkins to offer free tuition to medical school students whose families earn less than $300,000 a year.

Columbia puts deans on leave after texts evoking ‘antisemitic tropes’

University leaders took action after learning of messages sent during a panel discussion on Jewish life on campus.

July 8, 2024
Students sit on the steps of Columbia University's Low Memorial Library in 2015.

Lawsuit: Northwestern’s law school is biased against White men in hiring

The lawsuit, filed by a prominent attorney, alleges the university’s law school gives hiring preference to women and people of color.

July 2, 2024
A lawsuit alleges discrimination in faculty hiring at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. (iStock)