Watching the Ivies: 4/8
BROWN: The Brown Daily Herald recently published the results of its annual spring student poll, which surveyed students about their political opinions, views on university policy, sex and drug use habits, among other topics. The poll found that 82 percent of Brown students “strongly agreed” that same-sex marriage should be legalized in the state of Rhode Island. Results also found that about two-thirds of students think that the university should offer the option of pursuing a minor, and that 85 percent of students consumed alcohol in the past year.
COLUMBIA: Columbia University’s humanities and science department heads are currently debating the merits of releasing end-of-term professor evaluations to the public, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. Most science departments will make this spring’s course evaluations open to the public in a pilot initiative, although humanities departments have not committed to the program. Department heads have voiced concerns that making course evaluations open may negatively impact new instructors in the tenure process.
CORNELL: A student panel at Cornell University last Thursday marked the beginning of the “Know the Power of Your Words” campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the harmful impact of hurtful language on the campus community, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Panelists discussed their experiences as female, Muslim, lesbian, African-American and transgender students, speaking about issues such as tokenism and dealing with slurs. Panelists also addressed how the use of certain phrases perpetuates stereotypes and prejudice on campus.
HARVARD: Harvard University’s Dean of the College Evelynn Hammonds announced at a faculty meeting last Tuesday that she had authorized a second round of email searches of a resident dean who had leaked information about the Government 1310 cheating scandal. The search violated the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ faculty email privacy policy by failing to seek prior approval from the FAS dean, according to The Crimson. Tuesday’s announcement contradicted a previous statement that the searches had been restricted to the resident deans’ administrative email accounts, as opposed to their individual Harvard accounts.
PRINCETON: The Daily Princetonian last week posted a variety of responses to Susan Patton’s controversial letter to the editor that the newspaper published on March 29. Patton, a member of Princeton’s class of 1977, advised current Princeton women to “find a husband on campus.” Patton argued that a concentration of men of equivalent intelligence and character would not be found easily subsequent to graduating from Princeton. The letter generated a wide range of written reactions from Princeton students, alumni, faculty and parents.
UPENN: Hundreds of students at the University of Pennsylvania took part in the “Take Back the Night” protest last Thursday, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. The peaceful protest targeted the issue of domestic and sexual violence. The protest included a rally on Penn’s college green, featuring speeches by several prevention educators and activists, followed by a march across campus. Participants hoped to stress the importance of preventing sexual violence on campus and in the broader community.
YALE: Yale University professors voted at a faculty meeting last Thursday to table a proposal making significant changes to Yale’s grading system until the coming fall, according to the Yale Daily News. The proposal includes the implementation of a 100-point grading scale and a set of guidelines for grade distributions, which will allot 35 percent of grades for the 90 to 100 percent range. Student and faculty concerns about an absence of student input, among other issues, caused professors to push back the proposal until the fall. Students demonstrated outside the faculty meeting in protest against the proposed changes.