Mohammad Usman '10 was recently featured in the Boston Globe for currently being the only male enrolled at Wellesley College, an all female institution in Massachusetts. Usman applied to spend the semester at Wellesley with another male friend. His term away from Dartmouth is allowed as a result of an agreement among 11 universities, including Dartmouth, for student exchanges. Usman and his friend were both accepted for this fall, but only Usman decided to attend. There have been male exchange students in the past at Wellesley, but Usman is the first in years, making him well-known throughout the campus. "Being at an all women's institution has raised my awareness on the barriers gender sometimes places on women within an academic setting," Usman said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. "Specifically, I have noticed -- relative to my Dartmouth courses -- that women at Wellesley exhibit a greater degree of freedom and feel more comfortable expressing their opinions within the classroom, in my opinion." Usman is living on campus and holds a Wellelsey school ID that he is frequently asked to produce in order to prove his enrollment and legitimacy on campus. He applied to Wellesley without the knowledge of his parents, the Globe reported.
The University of New Hampshire has received 37 reports of hate-related incidents between July and October, 18 concerning sex and 11 concerning sexual orientation, according to the Union Leader. The university is currently attempting to revamp its new program that monitors and handles hate-related incidents on campus. A recent meeting with administrators and students officials identified the lack of students reporting these incidents as a significant issue. They are in the process of determining how to encourage harassed students to report the crimes. The program's goal is to promote campus-wide awareness of these incidents and attempt to find solutions.
The members for the new Committee on Standards Review Committee, which will review the structure and operation of the College's disciplinary system, were announced by Associate Dean of the College Katherine Burke on Monday. The committee, which plans to meet throughout Winter term and to submit a report to incoming Dean of the College Thomas Crady as early as the 2008 Spring term, is composed of professors, members of the administration and students. Members were chosen in consultation with the dean of the faculty and Student Assembly. Committee members include geography professor Laura Conkey, theater professor Dan Kotlowitz, earth science professor Leslie Sonder, Associate Director of Alumni Diversity and Shared Interest Groups Uriel Barrera Vasquez, Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and Administration Drew Galbraith, and Associate Dean of Student Life and Director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership Sylvia Spears. Student members include Brian McMillian '08, Kelvin Quezada '08 and Leslie Shribman '08.
