Penn in the News

Suppose you accept the persuasive data that inequality has been rising in the United States and most advanced nations in recent decades. But suppose you don’t want to fight inequality through politically polarizing steps like higher taxes on the wealthy or a more generous social welfare system.

President Amy Gutmann talks about the importance of a college education.

Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act has stoked national controversy and outrage since Gov. Mike Pence signed it into law, on Thursday. Meanwhile, for university leaders in the state, it’s become a public-relations nightmare. The ramifications of the law are unclear.

Dan Romer of the Annenberg Public Policy Center agrees with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ opposition to school-based drug testing and says, “Random drug testing has no impact on kids’ beliefs about drugs.”

When some USC student government leaders voiced support for creating a cultural house for black students, Ama Amoafo-Yeboah thought that she and other undergraduates were closer to having a space where they could hang out and hold events. But before a vote was held, word spread that the house could be located on the Row, USC's two-block stretch of fraternities and sororities near 28th and Figueroa streets. Social media lit up.

Ivy League colleges once again disappointed tens of thousands of teenagers as they accepted a lower percentage than ever -- even as they encouraged more to apply. Harvard University accepted a record-low 5.3 percent of hopefuls after attracting 37,307 applicants as it stepped up recruiting with a social-media campaign. The previous year, the figure was 5.9 percent.

Some Rutgers University sports fans, including state politicians, say that if the Scarlet Knights want to compete with the big-name programs in their new Big Ten athletic conference, the university has to pony up for improved facilities. But a legislative body on campus last week urged the opposite, recommending that the university postpone spending on any new projects until the athletics department solves a multiyear budget deficit.

Syracuse University is dropping all fossil fuel stocks from its endowment, the university announced on Tuesday. At $1.2 billion, Syracuse’s is the largest endowment to divest entirely of fossil fuel stocks.

In the hills of Central Virginia, Sweet Briar College has been educating young women for more than a century. But for students, like sophomore Jordyn Elliott, that will end this spring when the school shutters its campus for good. "I have a half-finished scrapbook of memories, and just knowing that it's not going to be there, it's devastating," said Elliott.

Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences is mentioned for her research on “grit.”