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
Still at a Disadvantage
Throwing another wrench into the belief that higher education is the great equalizer, a new paper suggests that African-American graduates from elite institutions do only as well in getting jobs as white candidates from less-selective institutions.
Penn In the News
Who’s Next? Who Isn’t?
Sweet Briar College’s sudden decision to close may cause other struggling private colleges to do the same by creating a new paradigm for when a college should call it quits. That’s the fear of Richard Ekman, the head of the Council of Independent Colleges, which represents many small private colleges across the country. He worries Sweet Briar's decision will influence other trustees. "My hope is that it will not,” Ekman said.
Penn In the News
Fighting Frats and Losing
Tensions between University of Idaho administrators, a fraternity and the chapter’s alumni have ended with the university’s dean of students suddenly announcing his resignation after less than three months on the job. Just prior to the announcement, sanctions brought against the fraternity over hazing allegations were dropped.
Penn In the News
Who Gets the Endowment?
Sweet Briar College’s closure seems all the more stunning given how much money it has socked away: more than $80 million in its endowment. The women’s college in rural Virginia announced this week it would close at the end of the spring semester.
Penn In the News
All the News That’s Fit to Teach
Last month's announcement that The New York Times Company would launch an education initiatives may have had a familiar ring to it. The company has spent close to a decade trying to turn the newspaper’s vast institutional knowledge into knowledge higher education institutions and students want to buy.
Penn In the News
Shocking Decision at Sweet Briar
Sweet Briar College announced Tuesday that it is shutting down at the end of this academic year. Small colleges close or merge from time to time, more frequently since the economic downturn started in 2008. But the move is unusual in that Sweet Briar still has a meaningful endowment, regional accreditation and some well-respected programs.
Penn In the News
Jews Need Not Apply?
A University of California at Los Angeles student was nearly denied a position on the student government’s judicial board last month after student representatives questioned whether her ties to the Jewish community were a conflict of interest. The sophomore candidate, Rachel Beyda, originally failed to win the majority she needed to serve. She was later unanimously approved for the position, after a faculty member intervened.
Penn In the News
Matching More With Less
The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison came under fire last month for publicly admitting to a tactic common among her counterparts at research universities. To keep top faculty members from accepting outside offers, she sometimes will reduce their teaching loads.
Penn In the News
‘Hunting Ground’ Updated
The filmmakers behind “The Hunting Ground” -- a searing new documentary about how colleges mishandle cases of campus sexual assault -- have removed a statement featured in an earlier print of the film that claimed leaders at 35 institutions declined to be interviewed.
Penn In the News
Temporary Messages, Lasting Impact
Keeping an eye on students on Snapchat and other online platforms presents a “moving target” for colleges and universities, administrators say -- shut down one account, and another will appear in its place.