Penn in the News

Stephen Morse of the Law School shares his thoughts on “guilt but mentally ill” verdicts.

Theodore Schurr of the School of Arts & Sciences is quoted about mitochondrial DNA findings in a study that supports accounts that European arrival in the Americas destroyed indigenous populations.

Matthias Hollwich of the School of Design is featured about architecture that serves older adults for places like retirement communities.

More than a few people probably chuckled a little, back in January, when the University of Maryland at College Park came under fire for a press release about research that linked drinking a brand of chocolate milk to recovery from concussions. Many said at the time that the press release seemed like unpaid advertising, given that the findings were never subject to peer review.

A top official at Duke University issued a public apology Monday afternoon, as protesters refused to leave a building until three administrators have been terminated and other demands met. Tallman Trask III, Duke’s executive vice president, was accused by a contract employee of hitting her with his car while she was trying to enforce parking restrictions before a football game in 2014, and calling her a racial slur.

Most college students embrace the ideal of an open learning environment on campus that exposes them to all types of speech and viewpoints, but a large majority also believes that schools should be allowed to restrict slurs and other intentionally offensive language, according to a new national survey. The survey — released Monday and sponsored by the Knight Foundation and Newseum Institute in partnership with Gallup — sheds light on the complexities of student viewpoints on free speech and other First Amendment issues in a year of significant tumult on campuses nationwide.

Graduate student Samantha Waxman of the School of Social Policy & Practice writes about the impact of the Pennsylvania budget crisis on children. Debra Schilling Wolfe of the School of Social Policy & Practice is quoted.

After rioters scarred Baltimore last year, Johns Hopkins University leaders discussed efforts that the university was making to build, hire and buy locally. One trustee asked why other businesses in Baltimore weren’t doing the same. “I’m in,” said Mike Hankin, president and chief executive officer of Brown Advisory. As Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels recalled Monday, Hankin challenged other trustees to commit the businesses they lead, as well.

You know the drill. A racial incident on campus is followed by a statement from a campus leader denouncing what has happened, talking about how there may be a "teachable moment," maybe organizing an open forum. And relatively few people read the statement or remember it a few days later. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison last week, Patrick Sims didn't follow the normal pattern. Sims, vice provost for diversity and climate at Madison, made a video that was unusually frank in describing what had happened and showing how frustrated he was.

Kevin Platt of the School of Arts & Sciences writes about Russian poetry and politics.