Mental and Behavioral Health
A group of Indian American students at Northwestern University are launching I-AM SHAKTI to provide support and education around mental health within their community. “Our goal is to provide a forum for Indian Americans — who are recovering from mental illness — to join together and stand in solidarity with one another in face of these obstacles, in terms of parents not understanding or support systems not being aware,” Dhivya Sridar, one of the founders, said.
In an opinion piece for Oklahoma University’s OUDaily, Taylor Jipp argues that cultivating mental health takes care and feeding, much like growing healthy plants. “Cultivating a healthy self-esteem isn’t something I can simply decide to do in the midst of a fleeting semi-manic episode,” she writes.
Rutgers University’s student government held its first annual “ Mental Health Town Hall” to bring together students and campus mental health professionals. Student were able to ask questions about services and clarify misconceptions.
Following the shooting death of Georgia Tech student Scout Schultz, University President G.P. “Bud” Peterson announced the school would create more support offerings and “Action Teams” focused on student mental health, including a focus on both counseling and psychiatric services; campus culture; LGBT+ community issues; and campus safety.
Diversity and Inclusion
Cornell’s Student Assembly responded to racially charged harassment on their campus by passing a resolution that condemned hate crimes and hate speech. In the past two weeks, a fraternity member shouted “build a wall around the LLC” at the Latino Living Center and a black student was punched and called racial slurs by a group of white male students affiliated with the Psi Upsilon fraternity. The violent incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The accused student, John Greenwood, apologized last week for the language he used but denies attacking the victim. The fraternity’s alumni board of governors notified the university that it plans to close the chapter and convert the house into a space for use by other student organizations “that are dedicated to promoting a diverse and inclusive student community.” The Black Student Union also presented a list of demands to Cornell President Martha Pollack, then led a march to the student union building, which they occupied for over three hours. Among their demands for the administration were for Cornell to work to increase the enrollment of black students, create an antiracism institute, hire additional counselors who are members of minority groups, and require diversity training for employees.
In an opinion piece for the Daily Texan, UT-Austin student Carlos Devora argues that the more inclusive, gender-neutral “Latinx” should be used in place of Latino or Latina for campus organizations and in broader mainstream culture. “Although I identify as a man, I find myself using Latinx as an umbrella term to encompass all people with backgrounds from Latin America, regardless of gender identity,” he writes.
Colorado University-Boulder student Vasundhara Tyagi writes about navigating primarily white spaces as an Indian-American. “Although 21 years of constant invalidation of my heritage have desensitized me more than I’d like to admit, fetishization and indirect racism are an attack on my identity and what I stand for,” she writes.
In her first “Labor Pains” column for the Daily Californian, UC Berkeley student Mia Villanueva writes about her experience as a student parent. She will write the weekly column for the fall semester to “illuminate the triumphs and struggles of student-parents at Cal and gain the support from the university administration needed to better the resources available for us on campus while promoting the practice of equity in education among the student body.”
Less than 20 percent of Penn’s nonresidential buildings have a gender neutral bathroom, but the school’s Facilities and Real Estate Services and the LGBT Center aim to increase that number. They are working with the school’s architect to renovate bathrooms, especially in academic buildings, to be gender neutral.
Only 29 of the country’s 107 HBCUs showed up for an annual day of lobbying and meetings in Washington. President Trump was not present either. “We went to the meeting with the expectation that it would be a substantive meeting,” Michael Lomax, the CEO of the United Negro College Fund, a key supporter of historically black institutions and one of the few attendees, said. “Unfortunately we didn’t have that kind of substantive discussion.”
President Randy Lowry of Lipscomb University in Tennessee has apologized for offending African American students who were invited to his home for dinner with centerpieces that included stalks of cotton, decorations that raised questions about racial insensitivity. Some students were also uncomfortable with the food being served: macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread, which one student who attended called “black meals.”
University of Mississippi has taken a comprehensive and proactive approach to address it’s embedded legacies of racism and prejudice. University leadership committed to an action plan in 2014, forming a Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Context that committed to “a just and faithful balance between humility and honesty.” The committee proposed contextualizing texts for problematic monuments, events to use as “teachable moments,” and a museum that would explore the university’s complex historical legacies.
College leaders have largely opposed the repeal of DACA, citing the unique viewpoints and backgrounds they bring to the classroom and the contributions they bring to the economy post-graduation. Recently, the impact that the DACA rollback could have on tuition revenue and enrollment numbers has been examined. When DACA recipients lose their status and work permits, they’ll no longer be able to legally work in the U.S. and may no longer be able to pay for college or be more reliant on financial aid.
Howard University students protested the convocation address of James Comey, the former FBI director. Student activists with the group HU Resist wrote that his work at the FBI included a “dismissal of racist state-sanctioned violence, and efforts to dismantle the growing Black Lives Matter movement, similar to the FBI’s efforts to dismantling of the civil-rights and black-power movements just a few decades prior.”
A Cornell University student is being charged with assaulting and yelling racial insults at a black student at the Psi Upsilon fraternity. The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The accused student, John Greenwood, apologized last week for the language he used but denies attacking the victim. The fraternity’s alumni board of governors notified the university that it plans to close the chapter and convert the house into a space for use by other student organizations “that are dedicated to promoting a diverse and inclusive student community.”
Sexual Assault and Title IX
In an op-ed for Arizona State University’s student paper, The State Press, Corbin Witt writes that sexual assault cases need better legal guidance than the recently rescinded Obama-era rules provided. He argues that the ambiguity and lack of properly trained administrators led to cases where the victim and accuser’s rights were violated. “There needs to be unambiguous, legally binding rules about how sexual crimes are handled, and transparency in the process,” he writes.In the Ole Miss student paper, The Daily MIssissippian, Matthew Dean writes “not to question the validity of the majority of reported sexual assaults but rather to question the methods used by universities to handle these cases.” He makes a similar case that the revisions are a necessary change to a system that has, anecdotally, unfairly treated black men on college campuses without due process.
At Syracuse University, Kelsey Thompson writes that rescinding the Title IX guidelines prioritizes the perpetrators over the victims. “DeVos’s decision is a painful reminder to victims everyone that, despite the acts committed against you, you will still be expected to hold responsibility for your own assault,” she writes.
Greek Life and Hazing
Louisiana State University’s student government held a rally denouncing hazing after a freshman died during a fraternity hazing ritual. Speakers also touched on hazing that happens beyond the Greek Life world. “We haven’t done enough to prevent hazing in our organizations,” LSU student government president Jason Badeaux said. “Hazing is a feedback loop. While the small things we tolerate may seem innocent and fun, they grow into much larger problems.” The school is easing back into Greek Life activity after an all-out ban following the student’s death. Chapters can now host events like philanthropies and blood drives, and tailgating events will resume this weekend.
In a column for the Cornell Daily Sun, senior Ana Hagopian writes that the negatives of Greek Life outweigh the value of the brotherhood/sisterhood community that Greek leaders often argue can’t be replaced. “If all these fraternity and sorority chapters are truly the uncommon paragons they say they are, they should be able to see the bigger picture and disband themselves,” she writes.
John Hechinger, a senior editor at Bloomberg News and the author of “True Gentlemen: The Broken Pledge of America’s Fraternities” argues in the New York Times that reforming, rather than abolishing fraternities is the best way to confront the dangers of substance use, hazing and sexual assault on college campuses. Hechinger contends that fraternities have intrinsic value- promoting friendship, honor and leadership.
Free Speech
According to the University of Berkeley administration, “Free Speech Week”, meant to be a week of appearances by right-wing speakers on the campus has been canceled by the student group sponsoring the event.
Earlier this year, the University cancelled a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, a controversial right-wing speaker and one of the organizers of Free Speech Week, when violence broke out in opposition to it. Yiannopoulos still arrived on campus Sunday and blamed the university for the collapse of the event. In a Facebook post, he wrote, “Despite the machinations of every component of the Berkeley and UC Berkeley administration, we showed up. We will keep showing up.”
Ahead of the cancelled event, The New York Times asked Berkeley students what free speech means to them.
University of California President Janet Napolitano said UC is trying to ensure that security arrangements for speakers do not become a barrier to the exercise of First Amendment rights of expression on public campuses, calling it “a substantial cost.”
Drug and Alcohol Use
Two stadiums at Wichita State will now serve alcohol during the sporting events they host. The school sees the beer sales as extra revenue for the school.
