Penn in the News

Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences is highlighted for her new book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

Mark Cuban is known for mouthing off. Typically it’s from courtside at a Dallas Mavericks basketball game (he owns the NBA team), from a leather armchair on the set of the hit ABC show Shark Tank (he’s a regular), or from the op-ed pages of the business press (where he often rails against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). His natural milieu isn’t a wonky Twitter debate about education policy. But on a recent Saturday night, when you’d think one of the country’s best-known billionaires might have more entertaining ways to spend his time, Mr.

Katherina Rosqueta of the School of Social Policy & Practice’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy talks about the impact of offering matching money to organizations.

Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia vetoed legislation on Tuesday that would have made his state the 10th to allow licensed gun holders to carry concealed weapons in most locations on public-college campuses. The governor, a Republican who has supported expanding the right to carry guns in places as sensitive as bars and churches, waited until the final day of a 40-day bill-signing period to announce his decision on the politically explosive issue of campus carry.

In the eyes of the law, private colleges are just like charities. Just like any other nonprofit, private colleges and universities provide a public service. And because they serve the public good, they are exempt from certain federal and state taxes. But that rationale doesn’t always sit well. The wealthiest universities have tens of billions of dollars in their endowments -- so why, critics wonder, shouldn’t they pay taxes?

Eric Schelter of the School of Arts & Sciences is quoted about developing a method to recycle rare earth magnets.

Robert Bonacci of the Perelman School of Medicine co-authors an article about HIV policy in the United States.

Wendell Pritchett and third-year student Max Weiss of the Law School contribute their thoughts on the funding crisis of the School District of Philadelphia in comparison to peer cities.

A tenured professor and a legal institute are suing Marquette University, claiming a breach of contract for the suspension imposed after he publicly criticized an instructor for stifling debate in class. The conflict began in 2014: After a student complained after a philosophy class that he was disappointed that he and others who question gay marriage had not been allowed to express their views during the classroom discussion, the graduate-student instructor told him that opposition to gay marriage was homophobic and offensive and would not be tolerated in her theory of ethics class.

The hands-on tours at the Ancient Egypt exhibit at the Penn Museum are mentioned.