Watching the Ivies: 1/22
BROWN: Stephen Lassonde, Brown University’s Deputy Dean of the College, will depart from the position this March to serve as the dean of student life at Harvard University, The Brown Daily Herald reported. Lassonde previously acted as the dean of Calhoun College, one of Yale University’s residential colleges and taught a history class at Brown titled “Children and Childhood in America, 1640-Present.” Brown officials are in the process of assembling a search committee for Lassonde’s replacement.
COLUMBIA: Columbia University announced a five percent increase in total applications to Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science for the Class of 2017. This substantial increase follows a drop of almost nine percent for the Class of 2016 last year, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported.
CORNELL: Cornell University announced last Monday its decision to expel Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity for a period of at least one year, as well as place Pi Kappa Phi fraternity on probation. Phi Sig is banned from recruiting new members, and Pi Kapp has been placed on “provisional recognition status” and will be able to recruit new members. The fraternities face judicial consequences as a result of recent incidents involving “underage and excessive alcohol consumption,” according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The sanctions follow the University’s recent decision to derecognize the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity for hazing violations.
HARVARD: A Massachusetts court dismissed a wrongful death suit filed against Harvard and several university staff members by the mother of Cambridge, Mass. resident Justin Cosby. Cosby was shot in the basement of Harvard’s Kirkland house in 2009 after a drug deal went awry. Cosby’s mother claimed that Harvard had “acted negligently” by permitting the man convicted of her son’s murder, the boyfriend of a Harvard student, to live on campus for months against University rules, according to The Harvard Crimson. A Middlesex Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit against the University.
PENN: The University of Pennsylvania hosted former U.S. Chinese ambassador and 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. as the inaugural speaker in the Center for the Study of Contemporary China on Thursday. Huntsman, who graduated from Penn in 1987, discussed China’s current economic growth as well as its historical political development, calling it “the most important diplomatic relationship we have in the world,” according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
PRINCETON: Princeton University has created the Trustee Ad Hoc Committee on College Access in an effort to facilitate the pursuit of higher education by low-income students. University officials hope to further increase the socioeconomic diversity of the student body, noting that students from families in the top five percent of American income are still overrepresented in college applicant pools, according to The Daily Princetonian.
YALE: The Yale College Dean’s Office is hosting a series of bartender training sessions in order to increase student awareness about safe alcohol consumption. Instructors will aim to help underage students understand accurate portion sizes and what a properly-made drink should taste like in order to decrease high-risk drinking, according to the Yale Daily News.