To the staff and readers of The Trail,    We are Tacoma residents and researchers with the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the rights of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim peoples in East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, through research-based advocacy.    Recent reporting in the Tacoma News Tribune detailed a week-long trip by a seven-member Tacoma delegation to China, where local officials met with municipal leaders and participated in events marking the 55th anniversary of “Ping Pong Diplomacy.” According to spokesperson Maria...

Response to Letter to the Editor from AFAM 399: Public Scholarship in The Trail: To the Editor-in-Chief, Staff, and Readers of The Trail: Thank you for the opportunity to share information in response to the letter to the Editor by the Spring 2026 AFAM 399: Public Scholarship class, which expresses concerns about the process to appoint our incoming interim vice president for institutional equity and diversity. As I shared in my campus message on January 27, 2026, I made the decision to suspend the search for our next vice president...

Letters to the editor serve as a vital contribution to campus conversations, which The Trail aims to facilitate. The views they articulate belong to the authors alone, and publication of letters to the editor does not represent an endorsement of those views by The Trail or any of its contributors.  To the staff and readers of The Trail, We, the Spring 2026 AFAM 399: Public Scholarship class, are writing in response to this semester’s search process for the new Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity (VPIED). Through our course,...

Eleanor Winterfeldt, ‘26 George Slaats, ‘27   Each day on campus, students weave between pedestrians, racing to class on vintage Marketplace finds or sleek new road bikes. It’s a scene that’s become a hallmark of life at Puget Sound. The Trail sat down with five students who bike regularly, whether they’ve just started or have been riding since childhood. They shared their stories, favorite rides and what makes their bikes uniquely theirs. Eleanor Winterfeldt, ‘26 Q: How long have you been biking consistently, and why did you get into biking? “I...

By Lina McDonald   Faculty, staff and students gathered at the University’s Budget Task Force open session on April 9, where the committee released its proposed operating budget for the next fiscal year. After several turbulent years following the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the University was operating at a deficit, the new proposed budget will minimize this gap.  The projected 2026 fiscal year expenditure base is currently set at $94.6 million. This budget assumes a tuition and fee revenue of $68.6 million, which is contingent on the number of students that...