Around the Ivies
Brown University: Alumni at Brown University, partnered with four current undergraduate students, are working to launch a new app by early April, the Brown Daily Herald reports. The app — titled “Groupies” and initially developed by Rob Gillett, a member of the Brown Class of 2012 — aims to help groups of young adults find other groups interested in participating in similar activities. As Gillett prepares the application for launch, he is also working with business students at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and plans on extending the outreach to include representatives on various campuses.
Cornell University: The Cornell United Way Campaign has dedicated itself to raising $10,000 a week for the next eight weeks, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. The organization, which has raised $720,000 of its total winter goal of $815,000 so far, collects donations from Cornell students, staff and faculty. Funds will be used to provide food for families in need, and donations will be collected until March 31.
Harvard University: As of Feb. 10, Harvard University had cancelled classes for the second consecutive day, marking the third snow day this semester, the Harvard Crimson reported. Facing severe winter weather, the University’s decision followed an announcement Monday by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that services would be cancelled on Tuesday. Important divisions of the school, such as Harvard University Health Services, will remain open for attention to urgent health needs.
Princeton University: Princeton graduate students Kimberly Shepard, Catherine Reilly, Yu Deng and Evan Hepler-Smith have been awarded the University’s Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, the Daily Princetonian reports. The award is given to graduate students who have shown “the highest scholarly excellence in graduate work during the year.”
University of Pennsylvania: John Lapinski, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, will build on his position as director of the Elections Unit at NBC this spring to launch a new research program, the Penn Program for Opinion Research and Election Studies, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. The program will train undergraduates to conduct public policy and elections research and to compile and analyze data.
Yale University: According to the Yale Daily News, Yale University saw a slight decline in applications for undergraduate admission this year — a contrast compared to the growth seen by all other Ivy League institutions who have released admissions data this year. Director of outreach and recruitment Mark Dunn, a member of the Yale Class of 2007, said that the University’s admissions office had changed its policies this year to limit the number of admissions materials sent to applicants who did not seem “that into Yale.”