Penn in the News

There’s no shortage of criticism of what’s been described as the student censorship movement, which has included banning (or at least student demands to ban) controversial speakers, discussions and art from colleges and universities. The latest critique, Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity: Confronting the Fear of Knowledge (Palgrave Macmillan) comes from Britain, which has seen its own set of parallel events on its campuses.

Jazmynne Williams, a Duke University sophomore, has spent the past week researching the history of workers’ rights and political organization. She’s also been coloring, singing songs, and writing poetry with eight other students. They’ve become fast friends. Ms. Williams is one of the students staging a sit-in on the Durham, N.C., campus that has attracted nationwide attention. It began last Friday, when the nine students, members of a group called Duke Students & Workers in Solidarity, occupied the Allen Building.

Ram Cnaan of the School of Social Policy & Practice comments on faith-based organizations contracting with the government.

Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences is interviewed.

The president of the University of North Carolina told chancellors at the system’s 17 campuses that they must implement the state’s new “bathroom bill,” but warned state leaders that the law, which requires people to use public restrooms in accordance with the sex on their birth certificate, could endanger the system’s federal funding and hurt alumni giving and recruitment efforts.

Universities that deliver transnational programs in countries with dubious human rights records have been warned that they are putting more than their reputations at risk. Gearoid O Cuinn and Sigrun Skogly of Lancaster University Law School, in Britain, argue that institutions and accreditation agencies could potentially face legal challenges in their home countries if they do not use the course certification process to try to uphold human rights overseas.

At Villanova University, Joseph A. Borillo was taking the congratulatory calls in succession on Tuesday, the day after the men's basketball team had been crowned national champion. Wells Fargo. Coca-Cola. Bimbo Bakeries. They're all corporate partners of Villanova, and they couldn't be happier with the Wildcats' win, a thriller that came at the buzzer as Kris Jenkins sank that now famous three-pointer. "It's amazing the difference one shot makes," said Borillo, Villanova's senior director of corporate and foundation relations.

Brian Daniels of the Penn Museum is quoted about proposed legislation to help combat ISIS profiting from looting antiquities.

This week two Ivy League institutions announced high-profile appointments designed to tackle diversity challenges on their campuses. At Yale University, Kathryn Lofton will become the inaugural deputy dean for diversity and faculty development in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. At Princeton University, LaTanya N. Buck will become dean for diversity and inclusion, with a focus on students. As chair of the religious-studies department at Yale, Ms. Lofton brings with her intimate knowledge of how the faculty operates. Ms. Buck is coming from Washington University in St.

Alice Ginsberg, Marybeth Gasman, and Andrés Castro Samayoa of the Graduate School of Education write about how to get more black male teachers into schools.