5/18
Penn in the News
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
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Penn In the News
Relief, calm, and a sense that ‘justice was served’ as Philadelphia watches Chauvin’s guilty verdict
Krystal Strong, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Philly and assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education’s Literacy, Culture, and International Education Division, says justice was not obtained in the guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin. “Justice means that George Floyd would be here,” she says.
Penn In the News
Trial by trauma
Howard Stevenson of the Graduate School of Education spoke about the trauma Black Americans experience when watching footage and reading news coverage of George Floyd’s death amid the Derek Chauvin trial. “Even if this justice happens, we won’t fully get over all of the other injustices,” said Stevenson.
Penn In the News
‘It’s OK to not be OK’: For clients’ mental health, and their own, therapists managed intense new demands
Ariane Thomas of the Graduate School of Education spoke about the challenges of being a mental health professional over the last year. “The stressors and the symptoms that people are experiencing are exacerbated by the pandemic, the racial unrest, the intensity of the election, and the way the election dragged on, and the fallout since the election, the attack on voting rights,” she said. “It feels like it hasn’t quite let up. And as a result, neither has the request for support.”
Penn In the News
One of these NCAA Tournaments is not like the other
Karen Weaver of the Graduate School of Education spoke about gender inequity in the NCAA. “There’s a number of inequitable decisions that have been made in addition to the ones we talked about this year that just haven't drawn the same amount of attention,” she said.
Penn In the News
Study: Teaching force grew at more than double the enrollment rate
Richard Ingersoll of the Graduate School of Education and School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how schools and school boards are working to meet demands from parents and lawmakers. “All these demands by parents are very understandable, such as lower class size,” said Ingersoll. “Who wouldn’t want their child to be in a class of 18? And, yes, let’s teach Mandarin and, yes, let’s bring back Latin. There are so many demands but very little recognition of the costs.”
Penn In the News
To future academics: We need you to revive democracy
Vice Provost for Faculty Laura Perna, of the Graduate School of Education, co-authored an open later to future academics, arguing that higher education is a crucial tool for democracy. “Academic life, as we have lived it, and as we envision it for you, is about challenging norms and creating a society that foments democracy,” they wrote.
Penn In the News
Race on campus: What does ‘Latinx’ mean?
Nelson Flores of the Graduate School of Education said that instead of debating whether or not an institution should use the word “Latinx,” people should try to understand why the word is used.
Penn In the News
Want to improve learning outcomes? Give students more time
Pam Grossman, dean of the Graduate School of Education, wrote an op-ed that proposing rethinking schooling to give students more time to learn. “Let’s use the pandemic to rethink how we expand and enrich learning time for children, especially those most impacted by COVID-19-related disruption,” she wrote.
Penn In the News
Dr. Seuss books are pulled, and a ‘cancel culture’ controversy erupts
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas of the Graduate School of Education spoke about perceptions of the Seuss estate’s decision to stop selling books with racist imagery. “Folks are not remembering the text itself; they are remembering the affective experiences they had around those texts,” said Thomas. “White children or parents might not have noticed the offensive anti-Asian stereotyping in ‘Mulberry Street.’ I certainly didn’t.”
Penn In the News
Would student debt cancellation shrink the racial wealth gap?
Jalil Mustaffa Bishop, a postdoc in the Graduate School of Education, spoke about the impact of student debt on the racial wealth gap. “The thing that was clear to us when we were talking to Black borrowers across degree-levels and across income-levels was that student debt was consistently described as a burden,” he said.