Mental Health
True@theU is a video project designed to raise awareness of mental health issues at University of Iowa. Astrid Montuclard, a senator in the University of Iowa Student Government who spearheaded the project, said “Starting at the beginning of September, we will have videos of UI students talking about either their personal story with mental-health concerns, how they helped a friend with mental health concerns or the importance of mental-health awareness.”
Demand for mental health services has increased at colleges across the country. At Penn State, students and alumni associations have gifted endowments for the school’s Counseling and Psychological Services.
Inclusion on Campus
The Washington Post reports on the standoff between federal and state government in North Carolina over controversial “bathroom law” which the federal government has argued violated federal civil right protections, threatening funding cuts to the state university system. UNC President Margaret Spellings wrote in a letter Monday that the school is caught between conflicting mandates in the fight over transgender rights.
Following the veto by University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little of a measure to create the country’s first multicultural student government, The Chronicle spoke with Jyleesa Hampton, a student at Kansas and member of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, a student activist group.
Posters appeared on several California college campuses accusing specific students of allying themselves with Palestinian terrorists, singling them out for their pro-Palestine activism. The named student activists say that the administration’s’ lukewarm reactions call into question the university’s willingness to defend them.
Harvard University announced on Friday that, to address gender discrimination and curb the influence of all-male societies known as “final clubs”, it would put sanctions on all single gender social groups. The sanctions prevent anyone who is a member of a single-gender social group, including fraternities and sororities, from becoming a leader of a student organization on campus, captain of an athletics team, or college-endorsed candidate for fellowships including the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.
The blanket sanctions, to go into effect this fall, are an attempt to nullify the “power imbalance” caused by single-gender social organizations. However, some Harvard women are protesting the sanctions, saying that by targeting female clubs in addition to the male-only “final clubs”, administrators are doing a disservice to women on campus.
Student activists draw a line between the tenure process and the racial climate on campus, as they demand more diverse faculty. Student activists want a greater role, and more transparency, in the tenure decisions.
A photo of UCLA students holding signs that disparaged transgender people launched a discussion about free speech on campus. One of the women in the photo, a member of the Bruin Republicans, maintained that she was expressing her opinion and made no threats; the co-coordinator of UCLA Pride countered that this is one incident in a series of continuing affronts to the transgender community.
University of Minnesota at Twin Cities Faculty Senate is considering a set of statements making free speech a “paramount” value. The statements assert that free speech includes protections for speech that is “offensive, uncivil or even hateful,” and cannot be regulated “on the ground that some speakers are thought to have more power or more access to the mediums of speech than others.”
The Obama administration is urging colleges to re-evaluate the use of questions about criminal history in their admissions processes, suggesting that schools delay these questions until after admissions decisions. There is a growing concern that these questions marginalize black applicants, as research has shown that black teenagers are the subject of disciplinary action in school, and stopped and arrested by the police at higher rates than other teenagers.
In January, three black SUNY Albany students reported a hate crime. Now that evidence has shown those claims to be false, the University students and administration are grappling with what comes next, and concerns over race relations on campus continue.
Sexual Assault
Morehouse and Spelman colleges are separately investigating an alleged gang rape of a Spelman student by four Morehouse students, described in an anonymous twitter account, @RapedAtSpelman. Spelman President Mary Campbell posted on Twitter last week, urging the individual to come forward.
Indiana University at Bloomington fired a professor after an investigation into claims that he sexually assaulted a student.
A parent of a prospective student, who is also a college professor, argues that campus tour guides should be equipped to answer questions about sexual assault on their campus. After repeatedly asking guides about the issue on her daughter’s campus tours, the mother remarked, “I was surprised not by the guide’s admission that she wasn’t going to cover it, but by the mantra of, “We handle it really well!”
Students with Disabilities
Part of the Moving Dartmouth Forward plan includes a housing system that fosters a sense of community. As the school designs new housing communities, they are keeping in mind accommodations for students with physical and mental disabilities.
Completion
A recent study identified 74 genes associated with educational attainment, although the study’s authors were careful to specify that these genes are not deterministic. They only explained about 3 percent of the differences in education level across the study’s population.
University of California governing board voted unanimously to approve a policy that would ensure student-athletes continued financial aid if they suffer a career-ending sports injury.
Food and Housing Insecurity
The Wisconsin HOPE Lab hosted #RealCollege, the first-ever national meeting about college food and housing insecurity. The convening was held after a survey of more than 4,000 students at 10 institutions revealed that one in five was hungry, and 13% were homeless.