AY 25-26 Start of the Year Letter
October 8, 2025
Dear Friend of the Weidenbaum Center,
The Weidenbaum Center brings scholars, policymakers, and citizens together to engage the most pressing questions of our time. In the last few weeks, two programs have demonstrated why that mission matters now more than ever.
On September 4, we welcomed American Enterprise Institute President Robert Doar and Senior Fellow Benjamin Storey for The Future of Civic Education and Universities. Chancellor Martin took this occasion to announce Washington University's Ordered Liberty Project, a university-wide initiative dedicated to advancing free expression, viewpoint diversity, and democratic engagement. The Weidenbaum Center will play an integral role in this signature effort.
Earlier this week, we hosted The Past, Present, and Future of the Federal Reserve, bringing together three St. Louis Fed presidents for the first time: current President Alberto Musalem and former Presidents Jim Bullard and Tom Melzer. This historic conversation filled Graham Chapel and drew the largest audience in the Center's history.
At the Federal Reserve event, Chancellor Martin remarked:
"The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University has earned its great reputation by doing something essential: bringing people together who might not otherwise sit in the same room. Scholars, policymakers, and citizens. Democrats and Republicans. Theorists and practitioners. These conversations matter because the best ideas emerge when different perspectives meet on common ground."
His words capture the essence of our mission. At a time when public dialogue often feels fractured, universities must remain places where diverse perspectives are welcomed, tested, and debated, where free expression is paired with mutual respect. The Weidenbaum Center is committed to sustaining that role and advancing the values at the heart of the Ordered Liberty Project.
If you missed these events, you can see them both on our YouTube page. The semester is just beginning, and three upcoming programs will continue our commitment to bringing diverse perspectives to pressing national challenges. We will explore the societal and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence with journalist Karen Hao in AI at the Crossroads. We will examine economic policymaking inside the Trump White House with Aaron Hedlund, Chief Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. And we will assess the trajectory of the U.S. economy during the Trump years with Steve Fazzari of WashU and Weidenbaum Center Fellow Chris Varvares in High Stakes, Uncertain Gains: Trump's Economic Experiment So Far.
These conversations matter because they model the kind of informed, rigorous public discourse our democracy needs. Your support makes them possible. We look forward to seeing you at our events this fall and to sharing the impact of your generosity in the year ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Reeves, Director
Professor, Political Science
Senior Advisor to the Chancellor