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☆ In a Surprise, Cornell’s President Resigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Martha E. Pollack, Cornell University’s president for the past seven years, announced in a surprise email on Thursday afternoon that she is resigning. In a separate announcement, Kraig H. Kayser, the chairman of Cornell’s board of trustees, said the board had asked the university provost, Michael I. Kotlikoff, to serve as interim president for two years. Dr. Kotlikoff was previously dean of Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, among other posts. Dr. Pollack’s resignation means that four of the eight Ivy League universities — Harvard, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell — will now be in various stages of leadership transition, three of them with interim presidents already in charge or presidential searches underway. The presidents of Harvard and Penn resigned in the last six months, in part because of fallout over their testimony at a December congressional hearing investigating campus antisemitism.

Persons: Martha E . Pollack, Cornell, “, ”, ” “, —, ” Dr, Pollack, Kraig H, Kayser, Michael I, Kotlikoff, Pollack’s, Cornell —, Penn Organizations: Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Ivy League, — Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Harvard

☆ U.S.C. Cancels Its Main Graduation Ceremony, Citing Security Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The University of Southern California announced on Thursday that it has canceled its main-stage graduation ceremony for students, a move that follows campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war and a controversy over its selection of a class valedictorian. This week, the university has been rocked by turmoil by pro-Palestinian protesters, resulting in the arrests of more than 90 people. It was the continuation of controversy on the Los Angeles campus that began in early April, when the university selected a Muslim valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major from Chino Hills, Calif. Following complaints from several Jewish organizations that Ms. Tabassum, who is of South Asian descent, had posted a social media link to a pro-Palestinian organization, the university informed her that she would not be delivering the valedictorian speech, which is a tradition.

Persons: Asna, Tabassum Organizations: University of Southern California, Los Angeles Locations: Israel, Chino Hills, Calif

☆ Pennsylvania Governor Proposes to Overhaul the State University System
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who has complained that his state’s higher education “isn’t working,” proposed on Friday a sweeping overhaul of the state’s sprawling system that would reduce tuition for many students and determine funding for schools based in part on their performance. The plan would consolidate 10 of Pennsylvania’s state universities and all 15 of its community colleges under one governance umbrella, boost state funding for public higher education, and require students with low to middle incomes to pay only $1,000 a semester in tuition. Most of the plan does not affect Pennsylvania’s best-known public universities, including Penn State, Pittsburgh and Temple. “After 30 years of disinvestment, too many of our colleges and universities are running on empty and not enough students have affordable pathways into good jobs,” Mr. Shapiro said in a statement.

Persons: Josh Shapiro, “, ”, Mr, Shapiro Organizations: Pennsylvania, Penn State Locations: Pittsburgh, Temple

☆ Spelman, a Historically Black Women’s College, Receives $100 Million Gift
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spelman College, the women’s school in Atlanta, announced on Thursday that it had received a $100 million donation, which its officials called the largest-ever single gift to a historically Black college. The gift comes from Ronda E. Stryker, a trustee of Spelman, and her husband, William D. Johnston, chairman of the wealth management company Greenleaf Trust. Ms. Stryker serves as director of the medical equipment company Stryker Corporation, which was founded by her grandfather. In an announcement, Spelman College said that $75 million of the gift had been earmarked for scholarships, and that the remaining money would go toward improving student housing and developing an academic focus on public policy and democracy. In a statement, Spelman’s president, Helene Gayle, said the college was “invigorated and inspired” by the couple’s generosity, adding, “This gift is a critical step in our school’s mission to eliminate financial barriers to starting and finishing a Spelman education.”

Persons: Stryker, Spelman, William D, Johnston, Helene Gayle, “, ” Organizations: Spelman College, Greenleaf Trust, Stryker Corporation, Spelman Locations: Atlanta, Ronda

☆ In Florida’s Hot Political Climate, Some Faculty Have Had Enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis had just taken office in 2019 when the University of Florida lured Neil H. Buchanan, a prominent economist and tax law scholar, from George Washington University. Now, just four years after he started at the university, Dr. Buchanan has given up his tenured job and headed north to teach in Toronto. In a recent column on a legal commentary website, he accused Florida of “open hostility to professors and to higher education more generally.”He is not the only liberal-leaning professor to leave one of Florida’s highly regarded public universities. The Times interviewed a dozen academics — in fields ranging from law to psychology to agronomy — who have left Florida public universities or given their notice, many headed to blue states. While emphasizing that hundreds of top academics remain in Florida, a state known for its solid and affordable public university system, they raised concerns that the governor’s policies have become increasingly untenable for scholars and students.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Neil H, Buchanan, DeSantis, — Organizations: University of Florida, George Washington University, Times Locations: Toronto, Florida

And all three universities formed task forces to address antisemitism on campus. “Let me reiterate what I and other Harvard leaders have said previously: Antisemitism has no place at Harvard,” Dr. In addition, many pro-Palestinian students point out that they have faced doxxing and harassment — and they are asking on social media for similar efforts against Islamophobia. The groups have been at the center of weeks of intense demonstrations that have sharply divided students and shaken Columbia’s Manhattan campus. The university’s decision will bar the group from holding events on campus or receiving university funding through the end of the fall semester.

Persons: ” Dr, Gay, Gerald Rosberg, ” Organizations: Harvard, Palestinian, Columbia, Justice, Jewish, Peace Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Palestine, Manhattan

Pro-Palestinian students like Ms. Babboni see their movement as connected to others that have stood up for an oppressed people. And they have adopted a potent vocabulary, rooted in the hothouse jargon of academia, that grafts the history of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples onto the more familiar terms of social justice movements at home. They also argue that charges of racism betray a misunderstanding of the region, because it is estimated that half of Israelis are of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Since the crisis began, statements and counterstatements have volleyed back and forth among college administrators, students, faculty and alumni. Each takes issue with the language used by the others, and helps explain why the gyre of recriminations only widens with every new statement offered up by students or faculty.

Persons: Babboni, “, ” Organizations: Israel, “ Palestine Solidarity Groups, Columbia University, U.S . Locations: Palestinian, South Africa, Israel, Gaza, Eastern

☆ Who Decides Penn’s Future: Donors or the University?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

“The conference became a vehicle.”It is not unusual for donors, unhappy with student activism, to pull back giving. “It’s essential that the university remains independent from donor pressure or influence on the content of work that’s done in the university,” said Ms. Lieberwitz, who is also general counsel for the American Association of University Professors. “Very broadly, I am deeply committed to academic freedom,” Ms. Magill had told The Daily Pennsylvanian, the campus newspaper. Alumni Donors Push BackOne day after the Indigenous Peoples’ Day post, Ms. Magill issued her first statement condemning the Hamas assault. Some Wharton alumni had been unhappy with the university’s direction for a long time.

Persons: —, Lauder, Jon Huntsman, Dick Wolf —, Rowan, ”, Robert Vitalis, “, George W, Bush, Penn, Risa L, Lieberwitz, Magill, Ms, Amy Wax, Penn Hillel, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Israel, Roger Waters, Susan Albuhawa, Critics, ” Mr, Wharton, Jonathan S, Jacobson, Lia Thomas, Erika James, Ross Stevens, University of Chicago’s Booth, Stevens, Booth Organizations: “, East Center, University of Texas, Austin, University of Denver, Palestinian, U.N, Cornell, American Association of University, Edge, University of Virginia, Daily, university’s College of Arts and Sciences, Penn, Pink Floyd, Indigenous Peoples, Wharton, HighSage Ventures, Management, University of Chicago’s Locations: Utah, Penn, Israel, Yom Kippur, Nazi, Berlin

☆ An Ambitious Antiracism Center Scales Back Amid a Funding Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The reorganization is partly a sign of the times. Until the university established the center, the 41-year-old Mr. Kendi had never run an organization anywhere near its size. On Wednesday, Boston University announced it was conducting an inquiry into complaints from staff members, which include questions about the center’s management culture and the faculty and staff’s experience with it, as well as its grant management practices. The university said Friday that the center has raised nearly $55 million and its endowment contains about $30 million, with an additional $17.5 million held in reserves. The bulk of the donations came from pledges made during the first year, and the university reported $5.4 million in cash and pledge payments in the most recent fiscal year.

Persons: Floyd’s, Kendi, America — Organizations: ESPN, Boston University Locations: America

☆ Yale’s President Announces He Will Step Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Peter Salovey, the president of Yale, announced Thursday that he will step down in June after 11 years in office, during which he increased the university’s endowment, student enrollment, and its racial, ethnic and economic diversity. A decade ago, the number of first-generation students was 12 percent. This year, Black students made up 14 percent of the class, 18 percent were Latino, 42 percent were white and 30 percent were Asian American. Image Peter Salovey, the president of Yale, in 2017. Credit... Kimberly White/Getty ImagesIn Dr. Salovey’s last year as president, elite colleges will confront a new admissions landscape. Yale University has resisted eliminating the preference and about 11 percent of the class of 2027 are legacies.

Persons: Peter Salovey, Kimberly White, Salovey’s Organizations: Yale, Grants, Yale University

In the latest challenge to the role race may play in school admissions, a legal activist group asked the Supreme Court on Monday to hear a case on how students are selected at one of the country’s top high schools, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in May that Thomas Jefferson, a public school in Alexandria, Va., did not discriminate in its admissions. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian law group, wants the Supreme Court to overturn that decision, arguing that the school’s new admissions policies disadvantaged Asian American applicants. At issue is the use of what the school board said were race-neutral criteria to achieve a diverse student body. “This is the next frontier,” Joshua P. Thompson, a lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation, has said of the litigation.

Persons: Thomas, Thomas Jefferson, Joshua P, Thompson Organizations: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science, Technology, U.S ., Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Pacific Legal Foundation, Harvard, University of North Locations: Alexandria, Va, University of North Carolina

☆ Texas A&M Agrees to $1 Million Settlement With Journalism Professor
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Texas A&M University acknowledged on Thursday that top university officials, fearing criticism from conservatives, had made “significant mistakes” in their failed effort to hire a prominent Black professor to run the university’s journalism program. It said it had reached a $1 million settlement with the professor, Kathleen McElroy. Then, following complaints about her hiring from university regents, they changed the terms of her contract. What had started as an offer of a full faculty position with tenure was reduced to a one-year appointment with no tenure, the university’s report says. Dr. McElroy, who had run the journalism program at the University of Texas and was formerly an editor at The New York Times, announced in July that she would not take the job, less than a month after Texas A&M had held a public signing ceremony to welcome her, complete with balloons.

Persons: Kathleen McElroy, McElroy’s, Dr . McElroy Organizations: Texas, M University, University of Texas, The New York Times

☆ Stanford President Will Resign After Report Found Flaws in His Research
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Following months of intense scrutiny of his scientific work, Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced Wednesday that he would resign as president of Stanford University after an independent review of his research found significant flaws in studies he supervised going back decades. The review, conducted by an outside panel of scientists, refuted the most serious claim involving Dr. Tessier-Lavigne’s work — that an important 2009 Alzheimer’s study was the subject of an investigation that found falsified data and that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne had covered it up. The panel concluded that the claims “appear to be mistaken” and that there was no evidence of falsified data or that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne had otherwise engaged in fraud. But the review also stated that the 2009 study, conducted while he was an executive at the biotech company Genentech, had “multiple problems” and “fell below customary standards of scientific rigor and process,” especially for such an influential paper.

Persons: Marc Tessier, Lavigne, Tessier, “ Organizations: Stanford University

☆ Texas A&M Celebrated a New Journalism Director. Then Came the Complaints.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Stephanie Saul | More About Stephanie Saul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kathleen McElroy, who had recently served as the director of the University of Texas’s School of Journalism, was thrilled to embark on a new assignment: running a similar program at her alma mater, Texas A&M University. Dr. McElroy, who once worked as an editor at The New York Times, said she was notified by the university’s interim dean of liberal arts, José Luis Bermúdez, of political pushback over her appointment. “I said, ‘What’s wrong?’” Dr. McElroy recalled in an interview. “He said, ‘You’re a Black woman who was at The New York Times and, to these folks, that’s like working for Pravda.’” Dr. McElroy left The Times in 2011. She elected to return to her tenured position at the University of Texas.

Persons: Kathleen McElroy, . McElroy, José Luis Bermúdez, “, ‘, Dr, McElroy, ’ Organizations: University of Texas’s School of Journalism, M University, The New York Times, Pravda, Times, University of Texas, The Texas Tribune Locations: mater , Texas

With the Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious affirmative action, the college admissions process is about to change for everyone. Hundreds of colleges have stopped requiring standardized tests, essays are likely to be much more important, and admissions decisions could become much more subjective. We asked readers to send us their questions about college admissions, and answered a few of them below. I’ve won prizes in an extracurricular activity. But we ran your question by Terry Mady-Grove, a college admissions consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y. She said it was highly unlikely that one extracurricular activity alone would propel you into a Top 20 college.

Persons: I’ve, I’m, — Jackson Urrutia, Terry Mady Locations: Columbia, Andrews, Folsom, Calif, That’s, Grove, Port Washington, N.Y

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