Dartmouth students studying on the Asian and Middle Eastern studies program in Fez, Morocco were not impacted by the Thursday explosion suspected to have been planted by a suicide bomber that destroyed a cafe in Marrakesh, Morocco, killing 14 people and injuring at least 12 others, according to Jonathan Sylvia, the Off-Campus Programs fiscal officer. "All students are safe in Fez, which is farther from Marrakesh than Dartmouth is to New York City," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Sylvia said he has been in contact with program faculty director professor Kevin Reinhart, who is currently awaiting additional information about the incident and working closely with the Arabic Language Institute in Fez as investigations into the blast continue. The blast occurred during lunchtime in the Argana cafe, located in the Djemaa el Fna Square, The New York Times reported. Moroccan officials suspect that the culprit may be a militant from the Islamic Maghreb branch of Al Qaeda or a separatist from Western Morocco. The Moroccan government classified the incident as "criminal" but did not label it a terrorist act, The Times reported.
Eleven undergraduates from Rutgers University occupied the third floor landing of the university's administrative building to demand a tuition freeze, higher wages for workers and a "greater voice for students" on Wednesday evening, The New York Times reported. The students representing several campus groups planned to occupy the building and risking arrest until their demands were met by Rutgers President Richard McCormick. Approximately 30 students gathered outside the administrative building to show solidarity with the protestors. The protest followed an April 13 meeting at which McCormick said he would be unable to promise students a tuition freeze, according to The Times. .
Due to looming budget cuts, both public and private colleges and universities in Pennsylvania may face a 50 percent decrease in state fiscal aid, The Boston Globe reported. The budget proposal put forth by Gov. Tom Corbett, R-Pa., would reduce subsidies to the state's 80 private colleges from $30.1 million to just over $15 million. Large institutions like the University of Pennsylvania would be largely unaffected while regional private universities whose costs are largely covered by tuition and enroll more in-state students would bear the brunt of the cutbacks, The Globe reported. Despite perceptions that private schools attract mostly wealthy students, approximately 31 percent of individuals who received need-based financial aid last year from the state of Pennsylvania attended private institutions, according to The Globe.
