Mental and Emotional Health
In a letter to the editor in The Tech, MIT’s student paper, Elizabeth Glaser, whose son is an MIT student, criticizes the university’s use of data from the Healthy Minds Study to close “Senior House.” MIT’s oldest dorm had a reputation for being free-thinking and diverse, but it also had a lower graduation rate than the broader campus and administrators were concerned about its residents’ illegal drug use. The students surveyed did not know the school was collecting data specific to individual dorms, and were surprised to learn their responses played a role in the dorm’s closure. “As both a parent of a recent undergraduate and as a social researcher, I am extremely angry that MIT used data obtained in a questionable manner to inform their policies with regards to any of their students, regardless of their residence,” she writes.
According to this year’s Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey, an increasing number of high school students in the state report feeling depressed or contemplating suicide. However, they were less likely to participate in harmful behaviors like smoking cigarettes, taking drugs, or driving after drinking than in previous surveys.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Triangle, Drexel University’s student paper, reports that white nationalist flyers were found on campus.
The Brown and White, Lehigh University’s student paper, profiles Freddy Coleman, the school’s first African American class president. During his tenure, Coleman increased resources to diversity programs and marginalized groups on campus. He also served as an intern in the admissions office and prioritized diversifying the school’s student body. “Each year, we’ve been able to say we’ve brought in a more diverse class than ever before,” Coleman said. “To be a part of that, that’s been rewarding.”
Wayne State University has been awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to implement a suicide prevention program for marginalized and vulnerable students. The grant will partially focus on LGBTQ students on campus, a group that represents 30 percent of suicides for young adults ages 13-25 nationally.
As the alt-right’s “March on Charlottesville” approaches next month to protest the removal of confederate symbols, including a statue of Robert E. Lee, The Chronicle of Higher Education interviews University of Virginia president Teresa Sullivan about the school’s role in recent debates about race and history. Sullivan is stepping down in January.
Brittney Enin, a public health student at UC Berkeley, writes about her journey to take care of herself as a black woman on a campus where “self care” is often equated to “work hard, play hard.” She prioritized sleeping and being open about her mental health over finishing assignments and pretending to be okay. “As I was no longer adhering to the destructive UC Berkeley ideologies with my new standards of self-care, I came to a final revelation — as a marginalized person I had redefined what excellence and success meant to me outside of the expectations of the UC Berkeley institution,” she writes.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
A Texas Representative introduced a bipartisan bill that would require hospitals to provide rape victims with around-the-clock access to specially trained medical workers known as sexual assault forensic examiners. The bill is named for a University of Alabama student who committed suicide following an alleged assault.
A Kansas judge ruled that the University of Kansas cannot dismiss a Title IX suit brought against the school for a sexual assault that occurred in student athlete dorms. The school argued that a dismissal of an earlier, related case was grounds to dismiss the entire lawsuit.
Drug and Alcohol Use
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the proportion of 18- to 25-year-olds who reported using LSD in the past year grew by 40% between 2013 and 2015. The upswing reflects a shift in attitude among college students who see the drug as relatively safe and even potentially beneficial, despite the risks.
In Athens, Ohio, home to Ohio University, The Athens Cannabis Ordinance (TACO) received enough signatures to put a bill decriminalizing marijuana in the city on the ballot.
Free Speech
After a year filled with free-speech protests on campus, higher education administrators share recommendations for other leaders hoping to mitigate the damaging effects that controversial speakers and the associated demonstrations can have on a university’s sense of community and safety. Experts recommend staying in close contact with students — both those who feel threatened by a potential speaker and those who have helped organize or are in favor of the event. “The general principle is you never say no,” said Kevin Kruger, president of Naspa. “You try to make it happen. The only times when you try to make a different decision are when the health, safety, and wellness of the community is at risk.”
College Affordability
U.S. college tuition is growing at the slowest pace in decades, following a nearly 400% rise over the past three decades. After scholarships and grants are factored in, tuition at college and graduate schools rose 1.9% in the year through June, in line with overall inflation. By contrast from 1990 through last year, tuition grew more than double the rate of inflation.
The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is proposing a temporary exemption from federal antitrust laws that ban consultation about prices and discounts among competitors in any industry. Some administrators at America’s private colleges say this controversial proposal could stop, and even reverse, big annual increases in tuition, and help ensure financial aid goes to the students who need it most.
Greek Life
The parents of Ian McGibbon, a former Drexel student and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity member, filed a suit against the fraternity claiming it was responsible for their son’s brain injury. McGibbon was punched in the face by a member of another fraternity and rendered unconscious in September of 2015. Earlier this year, a court declared him incapacitated due to brain damage. According to the press release about the night of the incident, McGibbon walked back to the fraternity house after the assault accompanied by two brothers, but 911 was not called for 10 hours.
The president of the University of Florida’s Interfraternity Council is facing DUI charges after being stopped for driving his scooter with a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit.
As Harvard considers the future of Greek Life and finals clubs on its campus, it has cited Bowdoin as a model for removing them completely. Bowdoin shut down all fraternities in 1997, after a student visiting Bowdoin from another college died at a Chi Delta Phi party on campus.
Student Success
Inside Higher Ed interviews author Karen Gross, formerly the president of Southern Vermont College and senior policy adviser to the United States Department of Education, about her new book that focuses on “breakaway learners”. Gross relabelled “vulnerable” or “at-risk” students as “breakaway learners” to remove the stigma associated with individuals who she says are both literally and figuratively breaking away from their prior experiences and the negative expectations of others.
Campus Carry
In an op-ed for the New York Times, Antonia Okafor, a graduate student at the University of Texas, writes about carrying a gun with her on her campus to protect herself. Her view is that those who oppose campus carry are “actively hurting women’s access to self-defense.”
The Red and Black, the University of Georgia’s student paper, provides a FAQ on the state’s campus carry bill, which went into effect July 1.
