Penn in the News

Nearly three years ago, Trinity College did some soul-searching about Greek life on the campus after a spike in drug and alcohol problems and a drop down the national rankings. The small liberal-arts college in Connecticut announced a major change as part of a plan to improve campus social life: Its seven single-gender fraternities and sororities would have to become coeducational. By the fall of 2016 the groups would need to have virtually equal shares of male and female members.

Congressional Republicans on Wednesday introduced legislation designed to strengthen the due process rights of students accused of sexual assault and to prevent campus investigations from taking place unless a victim also reports the allegations to law enforcement. The bill would make it tougher to kick a fraternity or sorority off campus without a proper hearing, and bar colleges from forcing Greek organizations to become coeducational.

Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis acknowledged she was being a little irreverent when she wrote an article about student-professor relationships. “Forgive my slightly mocking tone,” she wrote in the article, “Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe." “When I was in college, hooking up with professors was more or less part of the curriculum.” She was surprised, and a little amused, when she heard that students were lugging mattresses up to the college president’s office in protest of the article.

Kenneth Shropshire of the Wharton School comments on what factors cities should consider before hosting the Olympics.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center is mentioned for organizing a bipartisan group that critiques the Presidential Debate Commission.

Doctoral candidate Matthew Lee of the School of Nursing is featured for receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to study how to improve online gaming communities.

Yvonne Romero DaSilva of Admissions talks about Penn’s shift in its application requirements.

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is not a particularly wealthy school. So when the writing on the wall made it clear that the regional campus, which educates 10,700 students, would have about a quarter of its state funds cut this year, Eau Claire administrators had already planned a course of action to trim the fat: significant administrative reductions, preferably as far away from the academic enterprise as possible.