Around the Ivies
Brown University: Faculty members voted to change the name of Fall Weekend holiday to Indigenous People's Day, effective next fall, The Brown Daily Herald reported. The holiday used to be known as Columbus Day, until a 2009 student movement resulted in changing the name to Fall Weekend. This year, protests by student groups and a widely-circulated petition prompted the holiday’s most recent change to Indigenous People's Day.
Columbia University: Columbia College Student Council will present the Dean of the College with a list of the five most important issues facing students, the Daily Columbia Spectator reported. The Student Council sent out a college-wide survey to determine the most pressing campus issues. They include academics, administrative transparency, community development and stress reduction, racial diversity and student advising.
Cornell University: James Franco will speak during Cornell's 148th Commencement Weekend, the Cornell Chronicle reported. The acclaimed actor and director will give the keynote address during the convocation ceremony on May 28.
Harvard Univeristy: Activists from Harvard Law School have been occupying a student center for the past week, The Harvard Crimson reported. The occupation is an effort to create a space for minority students, pushing the administration to address issues of racial diversity and inclusion on campus. The occupiers are holding discussions on diversity and activism during the day and sleeping in the hall at night. They have recently been joined by students from Yale Law School and Occidental College.
Princeton University: Following the repeal of a grade deflation policy, the average GPA for the fall 2015 semester at Princeton rose to 3.40, The Daily Princetonian reported. The grade deflation policy, which was repealed in fall 2014, prohibited any department from allocating A grades to more than 35 percent of students. Since the 2013-2014 academic year, the average GPA at Princeton has risen by nearly 0.7 points.
University of Pennsylvania: Caitlyn Jenner visited the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. The retired Olympic decathlete and television personality discussed her career and her lifelong struggles with gender dysphoria. The highly-anticipated event was moderated by Penn alumnus Buzz Bissinger, who first published Jenner's announcement of her female identity in his Vanity Fair article "Call me Caitlyn."
Yale University: Amid plans to open two new residential colleges in the fall of 2017 and increase the student population by 15 percent by 2020, faculty members expressed concern that there will not be enough professors and resources to teach the increased number of students, The Yale Daily News reported. A report from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Senate showed that the university is not planning large-scale changes to the current academic structures in order to accommodate the larger student body.