U.S. Central Command commander Gen. James Mattis provided insight into the military's role in the Middle East at a lecture in Moore Theater in the Hopkins Center on Monday. Nariah Broadus, director of outreach and project development in Dartmouth's President's Office, said that the event was "a candid discussion for an academic audience," and that General Mattis' office specifically requested that his remarks remain off the record. The presentation, which lasted for over an hour, included an extensive question-and-answer session with students, faculty and other members of the audience. Mattis has served in the military for 40 years, commanding at multiple levels within the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2010, he was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to succeed Army Gen. David Petraeus as commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in 20 Middle Eastern countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria.
In the wake of recent hazing allegations at the College, Barnard College research assistant Ravital Segal '09 discussed her own experiences with hazing as a pledge at Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in fall 2006 in an article in The Huffington Post. Segal said Kappa members "commanded" her to consume a 64-ounce bottle of alcoholic punch while blindfolded, as well as consume several shots of vodka. She was subsequently hospitalized with a 0.399 blood alcohol content, but she later denied any hazing charges at a disciplinary hearing in November 2006. Kappa never received any formal hazing or alcohol charges, though the sorority was found to have violated the College Standard of Conduct for threatening or causing harm to individuals and was put on a five-month period of social probation. In her article, Segal called on College officials and alumni to reform the Greek system, saying that it has an unnecessary "hold on Dartmouth's social life."
After student protests and nationwide concern, Santa Monica College's board of trustees has indefinitely delayed its two-tiered tuition plan, though Santa Monica President Chui Tsang said that past plans for budget cuts and course cancellations remain "untenable," Inside Higher Ed reported. Under the delayed plan, Santa Monica would offer 50 summer courses in high-demand fields and would charge $200 per course, more than four times the current price, according to Inside Higher Ed. Administrators said that these additional classes would ease course overcrowding and raise revenues, which would in turn allow the institution to offer more classes and prevent layoffs, Inside Higher Ed reported. Protesting students who were met with pepper spray by campus police during an April 3 protest opposed the plan because they said it benefitted wealthier students, according to Inside Higher Ed.
