Four finalists for the University of Alaska Fairbanks chancellor position outlined their visions for the university during public forums held May 4–8 on campus.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks hosted two major defense-related announcements Friday where federal and military leaders outlined plans to expand Arctic research, military training and technology development in the state.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks held its 104th commencement ceremony May 2 at the Carlson Center, celebrating the class of 2026. Graduates walked across the stage after years of study to hear their names called and receive their degrees, starting a new chapter as college graduates.

As the College of Liberal Arts looks to hire a new dean, it faces a budget deficit of approximately $700,000 from fiscal year 2025 that resulted in a frozen budget, removal of autonomy over their budget, enlarged class sizes, and limited graduate student working hours. Faculty at the college say the strained budget made it hard to do their jobs due to a lack of resources and question the benefits of administrative overreach. 

Last Saturday marked a new era for the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North. After a project envisioned 30 years ago, and a construction that lasted 12 months, the new Walt and Marita Babula Planetarium is finally completed, and the museum is ready to welcome curious visitors wondering about space’s deepest secrets.

In a period of profound leadership changes in the University of Alaska system, with the search for a new UA president and UAF chancellor open, the College of Liberal Arts is coming close to finishing the dean search.

At the University of Alaska Fairbanks the mission of the Alaska Native Language Center has been clear since its founding in 1972: to document and preserve the state's Indigenous languages. But according to recently released federal deposition footage, an algorithm used by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, viewed the center's work through a different lens.

The UAF Pre-Health Society hosted a Stop the Bleed training course, which is licensed by the U.S. Department of Defense, this past Thursday at the Margaret Murie Building. President of the Pre-Health Society Shea Geller said the primary purpose of this course is for people to be able to “protect themselves and take care of themselves in a life threatening situation.” 

UAF’s track and field athletes practicing on the indoor track in the student recreation center has become a topic of concern for some Student Recreation Center, or SRC, members. According to director of the SRC Mark Oldmixon, the team has utilized the track for the last three winters. 

University of Alaska Fairbanks student Graham Granger was arraigned in Rabinowitz Courthouse last week on charges of criminal mischief after he destroyed another student’s artwork in the UAF Fine Arts Gallery on the Troth Yeddha’ campus.

University of Alaska Fairbanks leaders and community partners outlined funding priorities, budget challenges and advocacy strategies during the Chancellor’s Legislative Kickoff on Thursday, Jan. 15, as the Alaska Legislature prepares for the 2026 session.

On Tuesday, January 13, University of Alaska Fairbanks undergraduate student Graham Granger was detained after he had been found “ripping artwork off the walls and eating it in a reported protest,” according to the UAF police department. Granger was chewing and spitting out images pinned to the wall; this artwork was made by Masters of Fine Arts student Nick Dwyer in collaboration with artificial intelligence. Granger claimed that he destroyed the artwork because it was AI generated, according to the report by university police. Police estimated that at least 57 of the 160 images up on the wall were ruined. Granger was arrested for criminal mischief in the 5th degree and booked at the Fairbanks Correctional Center.

Fire alarms in the Ernest Gruening Building, which houses the School of Education and College of Liberal Arts, wailed on December 9 because of a broken sprinkler head. Students and faculty had to exit the building into the minus 21 degrees Fahrenheit weather.

Maintenance worker Austin Beasley stood outside a main entrance where the ground was covered in ice. Water flooded out from the third floor of the building—the ground floor—onto the pavement outside.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks’ approximately 200 international students and faculty face a maelstrom of new federal pressures under President Trump regarding visas, increased policing, and squashed political expression that have left many concerned about their future in the United States. 

“The simple fact that you might be thrown out of the country because you were partisan online, it’s kind of insane,” said Victor Devaux-Chupin, a French glaciological Ph.D. student with the Geophysical Institute at UAF. “Like, which other country that we consider, as you know, democratic, does that.”