College of Arts and Sciences dean Yohuru Williams will step down from his position at St. Thomas at the end of the academic year to take a new position at St. John’s University in New York.

Williams was appointed dean in July, 2017. A scholar of the civil rights movement and an education activist, Williams organized campus events such as ‘Teach-In Tuesdays’ which brought together faculty, staff and students to have conversations on topics such as racial inequality and women’s suffrage. Williams will start his new job July 1.

Democrats savaged New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised pointed questions about Bernie Sanders’ take-no-prisoners politics during a contentious debate Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

Bloomberg was forced to defend his record and past comments related to race, gender and his personal wealth in an occasionally rocky debate debut. Sanders, meanwhile, tried to beat back pointed questions about his support of democratic socialism and his health following a heart attack last year.

A 43-year-old German man who posted a manifesto calling for the “complete extermination” of many races or cultures shot and killed nine people Thursday at a hookah bar in a Frankfurt suburb.

The victims were of foreign background, most of them Turkish, according to authorities. He was later found dead at his home along with his mother, and authorities said they were treating the rampage as an act of domestic terrorism.

Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu