Penn in the News

Anthea Butler of the School of Arts & Sciences suggests that the words used to discuss different crimes can reveal subconscious prejudices.

On Thursday, Florida International University officials alerted the campus community to a threat reported that the school “would be on the news tonight.” They didn’t lock down or cancel events. Instead they included links to printable “pocket cards” with advice about what to do if there were an active shooter, asked everyone to be aware of and report any possible threats, and to run, hide or fight if an attack were to happen.

Stanford University encourages its students to think big and hatch ideas for new companies. But those who plan to start their own ventures are hearing a new message from the school: Wait. Worried that student founders have become so absorbed in their fledgling companies that they are missing out on course work and campus life, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business is asking M.B.A.

Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School comments on employee training during the Great Recession.

Dan Romer of the Annenberg Public Policy Center comments on the desensitization of Americans when hearing about mass shootings.

When black students at the University of Missouri at Columbia issued a list of demands in October, eight items were listed. The demands were far-reaching, including the ouster of the university system president (a protest goal that was achieved), the hiring of more black faculty members and significant expansion of efforts to promote an inclusive campus. When students at Amherst College staged a sit-in in November, they had 11 demands.

Jim Riley, Carl June and Pablo Tebas of the Perelman School of Medicine are mentioned for their HIV research.

Graduation rates have been steadily improving at universities for about a decade now. But a report released today by the Education Trust shows that at some public institutions, the gap in graduation rates between minority students and white students is actually growing. The Education Trust is an advocacy group for low-income and minority students. At 26 institutions, the researchers found, the completion rate increased more for minority students than for white students from 2003 to 2013, resulting in a narrowing of the racial gap.

A proposal to ban housing for students in the neighborhood surrounding Rittenhouse Square was amended by a City Council committee on Wednesday so that it will now pertain to just the single block it originated from. Instead of prohibiting housing for students, it now simply prohibits landlords from specifically marketing apartments to students on the 2000 block of Rittenhouse Square Street. The bill was introduced in September on behalf of Council President Darrell Clarke.

Members of Black Men at Penn of the School of Social Policy & Practice are highlighted for hosting a lecture on “Ending the Age of Mass Incarceration.”