Brown University will become the first university in the nation to stop investing in HEI Hotels and Resorts, a hotel company that has been accused of violating workers' rights, according to a press release issued by the Brown Student Labor Alliance, an affiliate of United Students Against Sweatshops. The Student Labor Alliance employed both conventional and non-conventional protest methods in its campaign to end Brown's affiliation with the company, with students staging a mock wedding ceremony between Brown's investment office and "HEI's Corporate Greed," as well as a phone campaign from USAS activists across the country to Brown Chancellor Thomas Tisch on Feb. 10. Brown President Ruth Simmons notified the student body via e-mail on Friday evening that Brown would not invest in the company in the future and would accept a proposal for a University committee on investment ethics. Students at other universities nationwide continue to protest their institutions' investment in HEI, whose profits largely depend on the support of Ivy League schools and other top universities, according to the release.
Academics should be hired, fired, promoted and demoted based on their performance rather than their political views, according to draft policies released by the American Association of University Professors on Friday, Inside Higher Ed reported. The recent report, which aims to resolve workplace issues with politically controversial professors, offers a series of standards to help academicians determine what constitutes inappropriate "political intrusion," Inside Higher Ed reported. The report also advises professors regarding how to address accusations of political indoctrination in the classroom. The draft emphasizes that colleges must pay more attention to advice received from other faculty rather than from administrators or outside groups when handling inquiries about political appropriateness, Inside Higher Ed reported.
The Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences was recently formed at the request of several United States Senators and Representatives to prioritize the humanities and social sciences on a national level and build an increased appreciation for "cultural diplomacy," Inside Higher Ed reported Friday. The group will include 41 members including Harvard University President Drew Faust and The Boeing Company President and CEO James McNerney from a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds, and will mirror the work of the science-focused National Academies, according to Inside Higher Ed. Over the next 18 months, the commission will prepare recommendations for how various organizations can improve the fields of health, energy, the environment and security. The commission also hopes to provide concrete plans for public and private officials to follow as they conduct research in the humanities and social sciences, Inside Higher Ed reported.
