Penn in the News

Paul Robinson of the Law School writes about the debate surrounding the use of “yes mean yes” as a sexual-consent policy on college campuses.

By now you’ve probably seen the video of a student screaming at Nicholas Christakis — the master of Silliman College at Yale — over his refusal to apologize for an email written by his wife, Erika Christakis, which some found insensitive for its suggestion that students "look away" if someone wore a Halloween costume that offended them.

Wendell Pritchett of the Law School talked about this book on Robert Weaver, the first Housing and Urban Development Department secretary and the first African-American cabinet secretary.

Susan Sorenson of the School of Social Policy and Practice shares her commentary on President Obama’s executive actions on guns.

“Where did I learn about sexual consent?” Jonathan Kalin was standing before an auditorium of Trinity College freshmen, pressing play on a clip from the movie “Superbad.” The 2007 film, you may recall, tells the story of two schlubby high school friends on a quest to lose their virginity before college. In this particular scene, the main characters, played by Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, are standing in the middle of a soccer scrimmage dissecting whether or not Mr. Hill’s romantic interest wants to hook up with him.

Leaders of the five most powerful athletics conferences, responding to players’ concerns that they spend too much time on their sports, are weighing ideas to limit the hours athletes are required to devote to their teams. One idea calls for a ban on practices and other mandatory athletics activities, not including competition, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Another proposal would create a three-week break at the end of the traditional playing season, allowing athletes to take time off.

Pennsylvania State University's leadership isn't ready to honor Joe Paterno, but a State College artist has seen fit to give the late football coach back his halo. "I'm sorry for my fast actions with, you know, removing that halo," Michael Pilato said in a YouTube video showing former Penn State football player Bruce Clark painting the halo on Paterno, who is part of the 100- by 24-foot mural in downtown State College.

University Architect David Hollenberg and Maja Bucan of the Perelman School of Medicine are quoted about the improvements to the Richards Medical Research Laboratory.

Days after two shooters killed 14 people and injured 22 others in San Bernardino, Calif., Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, stood in front of 10,000 students, faculty and staff and urged them to bring guns onto campus. In his back pocket, the president said onstage, he carried a small pistol. “Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here,” Falwell said of recent acts of terrorism, before turning his attention to campus shootings.