Around the Ivies
Brown University: Two Brown University students recently launched the Animal Assisted Therapy Program, the Brown Daily Herald reported. The program allows students to sign up online to pet and play with trained therapy dogs in 10-minute blocks. Co-founder Peter Herrera ’16 explained that petting animals often reduces anxiety, depression and blood pressure.
Columbia University: The University raised almost $13 million on its fourth annual Giving Day, a 24-hour social media campaign to raise money for Columbia’s schools and programs. This year’s sum exceeded last year’s total of $11 million, the Columbia Spectator reported. Musician Jason Mraz expressed his support for Giving Day on social media, contributing to the event’s publicity.
Cornell University: According to the Cornell Daily Sun, jurors declared Benjamin Cayea guilty of second-degree murder for strangling his girlfriend Shannon Jones ’15. Jones died in November 2014, and Cayea had at first confessed to the murder but later presented a different story. Cayea now faces a sentence of 15 years in prison.
Harvard University: Undergraduate Council leaders met with Harvard President Drew G. Faust on Tuesday to discuss social spaces and sexual assault on campus. In light of the recent findings of the sexual conduct climate survey, leaders of the group proposed open discussions focused on sexual conduct on campus and more social spaces for first-years as a way to combat high reported rates of sexual misconduct.
Princeton University: According to the Daily Princetonian, Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon sentenced Thomas Muza to three years in prison for embezzling almost a quarter of a million dollars from the Princeton Triangle Club. Muza was the former accountant for the Triangle Club, a touring musical-comedy troupe.
University of Pennsylvania: Six-time Wimbledon championship winner Serena Williams will speak at the University on Nov. 4, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Williams will first talk with a professor and subsequently answer audience questions chosen from Twitter. Williams was invited because of her perspectives on race and gender, her athletic prowess and success and her philanthropic work.
Yale University: On Saturday, Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, spoke to a crowded audience about the importance of emotional intelligence, according to the Yale Daily News. The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence collaborated with Gaga and Germanotta’s Born this Way Foundation to host the Emotion Revolution. The conference stimulated discussion about ways that educators, academics and policy-makers can increase students’ mental welfare.