Due to faculty and student discontent, Trinity College has elected to reform its Greek system to require coeducational membership and a minimum GPA, following a near-unanimous vote by its Charter Committee, The Trinity Tripod reported. Greek organizations must begin recruiting coed pledge classes by this spring, and at least 15 percent of members must be of the house's minority gender by the following fall. Membership in these organizations must include even numbers of men and women by October 2016, and pledging periods for new members have been abolished. Due to the Charter Committee's belief that the GPA of the Greek system is lower than the college's average, a GPA of 3.0 or better will be required to rush in the short term, and a GPA of at least 3.2 will be required by fall 2014. Violation of any of these restrictions can result in derecognition of organizations, and students who participate in banned organizations will be subject to separation from the school. Trinity hopes that the reforms will foster inclusivity and equal access to college resources, The Tripod reported.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt '78 donated $400,000 on Friday to support research and scholarships at Pennsylvania State University, Penn State Live reported. The donation reflects an ongoing partnership between the university and GE, which has given over $23 million to Penn State to date. Immelt, who is chairman of President Barack Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, cited research and education of a global workforce as goals of the partnernship. As part of the donation, the GE Foundation will provide $100,000 to fund two GE Competing for the Future Scholarships for 10 years. GE Corporate will also give approximately $200,000 to finance research in the Penn State College of Engineering, which will explore the possibility of using the company's Durathon industrial battery in underground mine cars, according to Penn State Live.
CNN retracted a story last week regarding a study that claimed to identify a link between women's ovulation and their voting preferences, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. CNN said that the story was withdrawn because it did not meet the cable network's editorial standards. Much of the critical backlash has been aimed at CNN, rather than at the study's author, University of Texas at San Antonio marketing professor Kristina Durante, who regularly researches how ovulation affects women's decisions. Durante defended her study as reliable and accurate and has not responded to specific criticisms of her work. The study, which Durante described as "timely and relevant," found that while the majority of women favor Barack Obama, "single women strongly prefer the more liberal candidate, while married women prefer the more conservative candidate," The Chronicle reported.
