Penn in the News

Prospective students and their families pack the auditorium of Arizona State University’s Future Sun Devil Welcome Center. Soon they’ll break into groups for an hourlong campus tour. But first Cassandra Snarr gives them a quick overview. Dozens of admissions staff members like Ms. Snarr take turns making this presentation, and during the busy spring campus-visit season it is given three times a day. On this Tuesday in March, Ms.

An associate professor of classical studies at Wesleyan University is suing the institution for allegedly ignoring her claims of sexual harassment against a man who was serving as her dean at the time and then punishing her for coming forward. Both the former dean and Wesleyan deny the claims and intend a vigorous defense. Lauren Caldwell began working at the Connecticut institution as an assistant professor in 2006, according to her federal complaint.

The lawsuit against Rolling Stone filed by University of Virginia associate dean Nicole Eramo proceeded this week with the deposition of the central figure of the magazine’s discredited account of a fraternity gang-rape. The former U-Va. student known as “Jackie” in the 2014 Rolling Stone article sat for a lengthy deposition Thursday at an undisclosed location. A judge has barred lawyers and those involved with the case from discussing details of what Jackie said under-oath about her account of being assaulted.

Like much of history, scientific memoir is the domain of victors, researchers at their denouement reflecting on their rise to eminence. These are not the voices from the trenches, of scientists working, as so many do daily, to take the next logical step, to make the next discovery. And with few exceptions — Jane Goodall, Rita Levi-Montalcini — these have not been the stories of women. So what does the real work of science in the academy look like, the 99.9 percent that does not make the history books?

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.

Deborah Small of the Wharton School says, “Customers vote with their wallets and employees are choosing to work for companies that support their values.”

After petitioning federal labor officials to let them have union elections last month, full-time and salaried faculty at Boston University voted in favor of unionizing by 4-to-1 margin Wednesday. The vote allows them to join more than 3,500 Boston-area educators who are part of Faculty Forward – a division of Service Employees International Union Local 509. “This is tremendous day for faculty, our students and the entire Boston University community,” Bill Marx, a senior lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Writing Program said in a statement.

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.