Around the Ivies
Brown University: Two rugby players, Uzo Okoro and Kiki Morgan, were among 49 players named in a list of potential United States National Team members for 2016, The Brown Daily Herald reported. Okoro and Morgan will have a chance to compete with the national team during the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017, following a series of camps and international competitions this summer. This year, Brown’s women’s rugby team held a 5-2 record in the regular season, but fell to Dartmouth in the Ivy League Championship game.
Cornell University: The World Health Organization partnered with Cornell University to create and implement public health policy, The Cornell Sun reported. Cornell, one of 700 WHO collaborating centers in over 80 countries, will work on areas such as nursing, occupational health, nutrition and health technologies. The WHO Center will provide opportunities for Cornell faculty and students to help meet the needs of United Nations member states seeking policy guidance based on scientific research.
Columbia University: Over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students participated in the 2015 Quality of Life Survey, a biennial University-wide survey which seeks to assess student satisfaction at Columbia, The Columbia Spectator reported. The results of the survey revealed that students are slightly more satisfied with their experience at the university than they were two years ago. However, the survey also highlighted inequitiable satisfaction levels among students with disabilities and students who self-identified as transgender or genderqueer. To combat such dissatisfaction, the University Senate Student Affairs Committee recommended that all school forms provide an option for identifying as transgender or genderqueer, and that more gender-inclusive bathrooms are added to buildings.
Harvard University: The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations organized the 31st annual Cultural Rhythms Festival, during which 12 student groups performed on stage in celebration of actress Lucy Liu’s accomplishments, The Harvard Crimson reported. Liu was presented with the 2016 Artist of the Year award for her contributions to film, as well as her artistic and humanitarian work, including her work as a UNICEF ambassador. The festival featured performances by the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, the Asian American Dance Troupe and Omo Naija, a Nigerian dance group founded this year by Harvard freshmen.
University of Pennsylvania: Nearly 400 musicians from 64 countries participated in a 48-hour international music production competition operated by graduate student Nicholas Yiu, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Given three short music files, musicians had 48 hours to create an original mixtape incorporating all three stems. The event, called Mixathon48, received 58 tapes (up from the 35 submitted during the first competition last September) that will be judged over the next two weeks. In the future, the Mixathon48 team plans to hold more international competitions and set up online tutorials and mentorships, in-person competitions and a summer camp for aspiring musicians.
Princeton University: Princeton graduate students organized a protest in solidarity with India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Daily Princetonian reported. Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the Students’ Union, was arrested under charges of sedition after a student group, associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, reported the use of of anti-Indian slogans during the demonstration. Nikhil Menon, a doctoral candidate in the history department and one of the primary event organizers, noted that Princeton’s protest was similar to thousands of others across India, North America and areas of Europe in show of solidarity with JNU.
Yale University: Hundreds of students participated in the Schwarzman Center Thinkathon, a daylong event in which undergraduates and graduates competed to come up with the next big “Ydea,” The Yale Daily News reported. Each of the 57 teams brainstormed a concept for the newly announced center. Prizes were awarded in three categories: ideas and opinions, arts and performance and social events. The grand prize went to a group of three Yale School of Management students. Their idea was to transform the center into an artistic hallmark for the university by using digital mapping on the exterior of the building.