American University School of International Service students and survivor advocacy group NoMore-AU staged a protest Wednesday afternoon in response to the university’s response to Professor Earl Anthony Wayneā€™s name appearing in the Epstein Files, a recently-released trove of more than 3 million documents related to the Justice Department investigation into billionaire human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The files include an email exchange between someone identified as ā€˜Ken Turnerā€™ and an NYPD Detective, Walter Harkins. In the 2019 messages, Turner suggests Wayne should be questioned in relation to his involvement with an underage girl. The documents do not indicate Wayne was accused of any crime by law enforcement.

Wayne, the Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer and former US Ambassador to Mexico from 2011-15, who teaches two spring classes in U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy, told 91ĒŃ×Ó he had reviewed the documents and described the claim as ā€œbaselessā€ and ā€œfabricatedā€.

Said Wayne: ā€œIt appears to originate from a disjointed email chain that makes outlandish claims regarding international conspiracies and events that demonstrably never occurred as they would have been matters of public record or reported in the media at the time they occurred, and they were not.ā€

We don’t know what’s going on, and that makes us feel unsafe.

Students unsatisfied with the universityā€™s response to the unverified allegations protested Wednesday, calling for a transparent investigation. The AU chapter of NoMore, a national organization that advocates for ending sexual and domestic violence and empowering survivors, organized the walk-out after news of the professor’s name in the files spread on YikYak, an anonymous campus-based message board.

ā€œWe don’t know what’s going on, and that makes us feel unsafe,ā€ said Adah Nordin, one of the student protestors who helped organize the walk-out. ā€œAs someone going to class and getting a diploma from SIS, we deserve to know.ā€

The documents are being released as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed late last year, which requires the government to release all its investigatory files concerning the late sex offender and financier.

Students have developed a list of demands for the university in response to the allegations.

ā€œWe want the university to push for a criminal investigation, for him to be suspended without pay while it goes on, transparency on the process, and a statement from SIS administration and AU addressing these allegations,ā€ said Tanishka Khanna, a senior who also helped organize the walk-out. ā€œSurvivors need to feel safe on campus.ā€

As of Thursday morning, there had been no official statement from the university addressing the allegation.

ā€œKnowing someone with these allegations is teaching hereā€¦this can’t be a safe place for survivors without transparency,ā€ said Emily Kershner, Vice President of NoMore-AU. ā€œWhether the allegations prove true or false, we need transparency.ā€

In the email exchange, Turner writes: ā€œYou may want to question the Ex US Ambassador to Mexico; Mr. Earl Anthony Wayne about his involvement with an underage girl when he attended and was arrested by the Federal Police.ā€

He goes on to allege Wayne fathered a child with an 11-year-old child in Mexico and that another man is incarcerated there for Wayneā€™s crime.

Wayne said he sent a statement to each of his classes describing the allegations in the file as ā€œonline misinformation.ā€

ā€œI stated unequivocally that the allegations about me are false,ā€ he wrote.

Wayne also said that he never heard from law enforcement about the matter, and that he does not know who Ken Turner is.

Update: Following news of the allegations, the American Academy of Diplomacy released a statement. It reads, in part;

Upon reviewing the available facts, the Academy believes allegations in recently released Epstein files concerning Ambassador (ret.) Earl Anthony Wayne are false and malicious.

The allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor reference a party in 2014 and a supposed trial in Mexico in 2017. Any allegations as serious as those described against a United States Ambassador would at least have been reported to the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security. We have checked with the relevant incumbent at the time and there was no such report.

You can read the full statement here: .

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Students at American, Howard, Georgetown, and George Washington universities left class on Sept. 9 to protest the Trump administrationā€™s deployment of the National Guard as part of a larger surge in federal law enforcement aimed at reducing crime. The walkout is the first major event at these campuses for this school year.

This past August, President Donald Trump declared the nationā€™s capital unsafe, citing rising violence. He declared a crime emergency and deployed federal law enforcement agents and members of the National Guard to address that crime.

ā€œThe city governmentā€™s failure to maintain public order and safety has had a dire impact on the Federal Governmentā€™s ability to operate efficiently to address the Nationā€™s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.ā€ President Trump said in his executive order regarding the crime emergency.

The presence of the National Guard has many outraged in D.C., and the walkouts attracted students and citizens alike. The timeslots of the walkouts were staggered across the campuses, allowing more to attend at each event.

Organizers at these events had face coverings and were handing out face masks. According to Scout Cardillo, a lead organizer of the walkout at Georgetown, the masks were for security, to protect their identities. Cardillo also said that there has been an uptick in Covid cases in the area.

Amede Olisa, a freshman at American University, is not a stranger to protests. In high school, Olisa said she participated in a walkout against racism that was occurring in her school. Olisa said these events help bring awareness to situations that are otherwise not talked about enough.

Olisa said that while she does not think President Trump will respond to the walkouts, this is important for people to see and to become informed.

Cardillo also attended the walkout at American University. Cardillo said these events are effective.

ā€œI think itā€™s effective because we are getting it on peopleā€™s radar, and itā€™s a situation that is becoming very real for people. We can step outside of class and see the national guard or see a federal agent. And it wasnā€™t like that before, and it doesnā€™t have to be this way.ā€ Cardillo said.

Cardillo said that raising this awareness through events such as walkouts and protests helps more people become aware of a problem.

ā€œThis will push people to want to take action and demand better from lawmakers,ā€ Cardillo said. ā€œWe receive a lot of community support.ā€

Free DC was the lead organization organizing the walkouts at the universities. Free DC began in 2023 with the ā€œHands Off DCā€ movement. The ā€œHands Off DCā€ movement has now transformed into a movement that is ā€œled by the people of the District of Columbia to win dignity for our communities and exert our right to self-determination,ā€ according to the Free DC website.

Free DC officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Anyone can join Free DC through its . Each ward has its own orientation and events.

So, what is next? At American University, several events are planned.

AUā€™s chapter of Amnesty International has several tablings scheduled, according to its Instagram. These events are bi-weekly on Mondays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.. It will discuss human rights issues in the United States of America and abroad. For more information, you can visit the chapterā€™s Instagram, @auamnesty.

Asher Heisten, vice president of the Taskforce for Democracy, was the main organizer for the walkout at AU. According to Taskforce for Democracyā€™s Instagram page, it an organization that ā€œorganizes students to fight autocracy and demand the just and inclusive democracy our generation deserves.ā€

Heisten said the Taskforce for Democracy is continuing to partner with other organizations across D.C. to plan more events and get their voices heard. Heisten said to visit the organizationā€™s Instagram, @americanu4dc, for more information on events and involvement.

ā€œWe are pushing back here [American University] in order to demonstrate that there is resistance here,ā€ Heisten stated.

As for Georgetown, Cardillo said that their organization plans on doing more public education events where students and D.C. citizens alike can go and learn about being part of the coalition that is formed when creating the walkouts. There is also the Free DC noisemaking event, which Cardillo said is not organized by the organization at Georgetown, but is Free DC specific.

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As 2025 college graduates begin their job search, they have many things to consider, including the modality of work they are looking for. As part of a generation that has been able to take advantage of remote school and work, will their desires meet their future employersā€™ needs?  

Across all industries, companies are making a shift toward a future modeled after the past.  

In September, Amazon announced in a memo to employees that in the new year, they will be required to return to the office outside of extenuating circumstances or pre-approved exceptions.  

In November, the Washington Post announced that all employees will be expected to be in-person full-time starting June 2, 2025.

Both companies cited the benefits of in-person collaboration, and both faced immediate backlash.  

At the federal level, President-elect Donald Trump has signaled his intentions to crack down on teleworking through his new Department of Government Efficiency, or ā€œDOGE,ā€ which will be headed by allies Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk.  

In an by Ramaswamy and Musk published by the Wall Street Journal, the pair nodded to the ā€œlarge-scale firingsā€ that would result from the implementation of a full in-person work requirement, writing, ā€œif federal employees donā€™t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldnā€™t pay for the Covid-era privilege of staying home.ā€ 

Following the creation of DOGE, the Senate organized a Senate DOGE Caucus to work in tandem with the recently formed department. Last week, the group unveiled its 60-page , obtained by Politico, which accuses bureaucrats working from home of playing ā€œhide-and-seekā€ and claims that taxpayers are suffering from them ā€œphoning it in.ā€ā€Æ

American University junior Leehy Gertner sees return-to-work policies like those proposed by the incoming administration as ā€œdismissiveā€ of reasons people might be choosing to work hybrid or fully remote.  

Some, like Gertner, donā€™t see the choice to work from home as a ā€œprivilegeā€ or as an act of ā€œphoning it in,ā€ but instead as employees taking advantage of opportunities they otherwise wouldnā€™t be able to.  

ā€œI know that hybrid work started because of COVID, but it has become so much more for so many people, especially people who have children, or who canā€™t afford to live in the area where their work is done,ā€ said Gertner.  

Fellow American University student Cristian Benavidez is a senior who benefits from a remote opportunity, as it allows him to build his resume while staying in school. 

Benavidez currently has a hybrid internship through the federal governmentā€™s Pathways Program, and he called his schedule ā€œaccommodating.ā€ 

ā€œI see the benefits of going in and meeting people, especially as Iā€™m trying to grow with the company and get face time with people, but as a student, thatā€™s not realistic for me,ā€ said Benavidez.  

Benavidez plans to do another year of school in a combined graduate program, but when he thinks about his hierarchy of needs for a future career, the ability to be hybrid is one of his main three deciding factors.  

ā€œI like the idea of hybrid work. I like the idea of being more productive,ā€ he said. ā€œI do like being able to go in every now and then, but I go in more to, like, socialize with the people Iā€™m working with, and it doesnā€™t just feel like Iā€™m talking to a computer all day.ā€  

Benavidezā€™s high school experience was tainted by the pandemic, and he said he got tired of virtual school quickly.   

ā€œI think the older people I work with, they didnā€™t get tired of it because they got to spend time with their family, but as a kid, I didnā€™t get to spend time with my friends,ā€ he said.  

Jennifer Halperin has been a career adviser at Columbia College Chicago for nearly 20 years and has heard similar things from her students in terms of their wants and needs.  

From the start of the pandemic to the end of 2023, Halperin observed an impatience from students when it came to roles that required some in-person work, as they had gotten comfortable with the flexibility virtual classes provided them.  

This past year, however, Halperin has seen less of that, and instead has heard an increased desire for in-person interaction.  

ā€œIā€™m not sure if thatā€™s sort of almost like a kickback or response to doing classes and spending a good chunk of their formative years online,ā€ Halperin said. ā€œIā€™m seeing a lot more, not only willingness to work in-person or hybrid, but even students expressing that they want that.ā€  

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) issues a survey every year to participating school career centers to be distributed to students that includes questions to identify the preferences of graduating students at four-year universities.  

Andrea Koncz, senior research manager at NACE, said that their most recent research, published in September 2024, shows that 51.3% of respondents want to work fully in-person, a 10% increase from their results in 2022.  

When asked about working a hybrid job, 42% of students indicated an interest in that modality. Koncz said the research questions did not specify how many days of in-person work were required for it to be considered hybrid nor did they touch on reasons respondents are interested in hybrid work.  

Employers, on the other hand, see the return to work as important for company culture and a way to ensure employees maintain a level of professionalism that may have been left behind during the pandemic.  

Kelsey Williams is the assistant director for employer engagement at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Over the last couple years, employers have shared with her their qualms with hybrid work and their reasoning for wanting to return to in-person.  

ā€œWe saw during COVID that a lot of folks that recently were coming into the industry, it was really hard for them to acclimate into the work environment just because nothing felt tangible,ā€ Williams said.  

In conversations with partners of the career center at UNC, employers have expressed concerns about skill gaps theyā€™ve identified in the application pools coming out of the pandemic.  

ā€œI do see employers saying that communication is a skill that is lacking with this next generation,ā€ she said. ā€œA lot of them missed out on developing some of those skills of talking to people in person.ā€  

Jacki Banks, the associate director of employer relations and industry advising at Georgetown University, has heard similar things from employers regarding a lack of professionalism from recent graduates.    

ā€œThey donā€™t know how to write a professional email or show up on time,ā€ Banks said, recounting what employers have told her. ā€œGeneral business etiquette seems to be a real challenge for a lot of the newer students.ā€  

Ultimately, Banks said the decision to move back to in-person work also depends on industry needs. While Banksā€™ students going into finance or consulting often are going straight into in-person work, those in more entrepreneurial or tech-focused fields might have more remote opportunities available to them.  

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Greenstein, in the last four years while completing their Bachelor’s in the School of Public Affairs, became the first person to graduate with a minor in disability studies. They also created the Disabled Students Unions, one for the undergraduates and one for the graduate students. This is where Greensteinā€™s and many othersā€™ fight for equal accessibility on AUā€™s campus began but is not nearly close to being completed.Ģż

ā€œWe get a lot more credit than I think we deserve,ā€ Greenstein said about American University’s accessibility. ā€œPeople will come to the university thinking that we’re in, like, the top 10 most accessible universities. We still have two ADA-non-compliant buildingsā€¦ East Quad Building and Hurst Hall are both non-accessible buildings. I cannot get into them. I cannot use them. I cannot have classes in them.ā€Ģż

And this is just one of the many accessibility issues Greenstein mentioned on campus. They also mentioned potholes, elevators not working, steep ramps, door actuator buttons never being fixed, which are among a slew of other physically restricting roadblocks for the disabled community members on campus.Ģż

Issues like these are a large part of the reason why many in the community believe that the administration needs to act and listen to their students.Ģż

However, after 91ĒŃ×Ó conducted its own investigation and revealed that the university currently does not have a 504 Coordinator for its students, the administration seems much farther away from addressing accessibility issues than many initially thought.Ģż

According to the U.S. Department of Education, ā€œAll school districts, colleges, and universities receiving federal financial assistance and employing 15 or more persons must designate at least one employee to coordinate their efforts to comply with and carry out their responsibilities under Section 504.ā€

Currently, American University falls under both categories, thus legally needing to require a 504 Coordinator that should have their contact information published. 91ĒŃ×Ó looked into this further, finding that the only documentation of a 504 Coordinator for students is under the that cites Seth Mancini, Office of the Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty, as the coordinator.ĢżĢż

This policy, last revised in 2023, needs to be corrected. If any member of the community were to type Manciniā€™s email into their Outlook search, an automated message would automatically show.ĢżĢż

ā€œThank you for your message,ā€ the automated message said. ā€œPlease note that as of Thursday, September 5, 2024, I am no longer employed at AU.ā€

In response to an interview request from 91ĒŃ×Ó, Associate Director of Disability Support in the Academic Support and Access Center (ASAC), Nicole Nowinski would only respond via email. In one of Nowinskiā€™s answers, she addressed Section 504.

ā€œWe recognize that the overarching laws, such as the ADA and Section 504, that regulate our work are not perfect and there is still progress to be achieved regarding equal access across many public and private sectors,ā€ she said. ā€œHowever, the ASAC is committed to ensuring the AU student body is aware of the disability-related services the ASAC provides.ā€

91ĒŃ×Ó has since reached out again to ASAC and the Provost Office for a reply on speculation of there currently being no 504 coordinator for students, and are now awaiting response.

As more community members realize that the University’s policy is false and not updated, student leaders have begun to act.ĢżĢż

Kasey Bernat, a sophomore and student senator in the Undergraduate Student Government at American University, wrote the Disabled Students Bill of Rights this October with the help of many disabled students on campus.Ģż

The bill, according to Bernat, was meant to demand the institution to recognize not only the movement, but also create better accommodations through several channels, like ASAC, for students. The response from the administration? According to Bernat, nothing.ĢżĢż

ā€œThere is in the introduction, it asks that the administration send out an email, at least acknowledging it and saying that they would work with the USG, so it’s really upsetting that they didn’t reach out,ā€ he said.Ģż

ā€œWe get a lot more credit than I think we deserve,ā€ Greenstein said about American University’s accessibility. ā€œPeople will come to the university thinking that we’re in, like, the top 10 most accessible universities. We still have two ADA-non-compliant buildingsā€¦ East Quad Building and Hurst Hall are both non-accessible buildings. I cannot get into them. I cannot use them. I cannot have classes in them.ā€Ģż

Bernat and others also know that the 504 Coordinator for Students has not been appointed and said that the next steps could potentially involve legal action.ĢżĢż

ā€œThere’s talks about pursuing action legally with the 504 coordinator, and the fact that we may or may not have one for students, and that is a huge issue, and that’s something that needs to be addressed, and that’s one of the things I’m going to keep advocating for, talking to students who do know and talk to admin about this type of stuff,ā€ Bernat said.Ģż

Dr. Tanja Aho, Senior Professorial Lecturer of American Studies at American University, believes that people in the community are afraid to address these accessibility issues due to their own lack of knowledge.Ģż

ā€œI think a lot of people are afraid of disability because they’ve never been taught how to think about it, and because even when they themselves are oftentimes disabled or neurodivergent or chronically ill, right?ā€ Dr. Aho said.Ģż

Despite the reasoning, members of the disabled community on campus, like Greenstein, are asking the administration to listen.Ģż

ā€œSo, when we’re asking for help, we need you to listen, and that’s one of the things that I think is most important,ā€ Greenstein said. ā€œWe need to be listened to, and we need to be seen as a community who deserves the same things as all of the other communities on this campus, and I think that that’s one of the things that we’re just not being listened to on.ā€

91ĒŃ×Ó will closely monitor the studentsā€™ next steps, the administration’s response and the outcome of the 504 Coordinator for Students.

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