Gregory Slayton '81 received the Distinguished Foreign Service Award from the Congressional Black Caucus on April 21 for his efforts to improve relations between the United States and Bermuda, according to a College press release. Slayton served as the U.S. senior diplomat to Bermuda from August 2005 to August 2009. He is now an adjunct professor at the Tuck School of Business, where he teaches a class on the global reinsurance industry. During his experience as the consul general and chief of mission to Bermuda, he organized the first official, bilateral diplomatic visit by Bermuda's premier to Washington, D.C. in 2006. The visit now occurs annually, according to the release. Slayton was appointed to his position by both the Bush and the Obama administrations a "rare diplomatic honor," the press release stated.
A new, innovative handbook that focuses on how to legally increase diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics departments at universities was released April 28 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Universities, according to a press release by the AAAS. The handbook, "Navigating A Complex Landscape to Foster Greater Faculty and Student Diversity in Higher Education," details legal resources to advocate faculty and student diversity in science programs, the press release stated. The text explains legal objections to some types of affirmative action but notes that many affirmative action efforts are legally sound. While referencing clauses in the Constitution including Title IV, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion or national origin the handbook also discusses the influence that state diversity laws have on the understanding of federal laws, according to the press release.
Several of Dartmouth's peer institutions are becoming more accommodating to the Reserve Officers' Training Corps on their campuses, The Boston Globe reported. Opposition to the Vietnam War resulted in moving many colleges' ROTC programs off campus, and the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has been cited by many college administrators a reason for refusing to re-establish the groups on school grounds, The Globe reported. Increased support for the military since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Pentagon's potential repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, however, have changed many universities' attitudes toward ROTC, according to The Globe. Harvard University now permits ROTC participants to be commissioned as officers in Harvard Yard, and Stanford University is actively considering whether or not to overturn its ban on having an on-campus ROTC program, The Globe reported.
