COLLEGE SHORTS

Author: Nicha Rakpanichmanee

Departing for Princeton, West Compares Harvard President to Sharon

Cornel West, a distinguished black studies professor at Harvard University, explained that his departure for Princeton University stemmed from a sour relationship with Harvard President Lawrence Summers.

West cited a series of insults, including Summers' request last fall to monitor the professor's academic progress through meetings every two to three months.

The president's demand followed West's political involvement in Rev. Al Sharpton's possible presidential race and Bill Bradley's campaign, as well as West's recording of a CD commonly described as rap, which he preferred to call "danceable education."

"Larry Summers strikes me as the Ariel Sharon of American higher education," West told The New York Times on Monday.

"Professors are free agents to do their work, because there is a trust in their judgment about how they go about doing that work," West stated. Since that fall, West had been courted by Princeton to return, after having taught religion and led the African-American Studies program there from 1988 to 1994.

West, who is on leave from Harvard, also noted that Summers did not send him a get-well note until two months after West's surgery for prostate cancer. Meanwhile, West recalled that Princeton's President Shirley M. Tilghman and new Provost Amy Gutmann called him just about every week during recuperation.



Source: The New York Times



Yale's New Policy Questions Federal Drug Law

Yale University passed a policy to compensate for the federal financial aid withdrawn from students who have been convicted of drug possession. This policy reflects opposition to Congress' 1998 federal antidrug provision, which has produced much debate on whether educational aid should be made a danger of drug use.

Yale's policy will grant financial aid to students who agree to undergo rehabilitation treatment.

The federal provision, however, revokes aid to students until they complete a rehabilitation program. Opponents of the law argue that it jeopardizes students' educational opportunities because private rehabilitation programs can be expensive while the public programs often have long waiting lists.

Yale's objection to the law is particularly forceful because none of its students have been affected. In contrast, about 50,000 American students are penalized each year, the majority of whom are at community colleges and public universities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Many Yale students, including groups like the Student Legal Action Movement, have fought against the law since its ratification and were pleasantly surprised by the University's response to their appeals.

Yale joins three other institutions in dissent against the law — Western Washington University, Hampshire College in Massachusetts and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.



Source: The New York Times





Michigan State U. Sparks Controversy with African-American Graduation Event

This May, Michigan State Univeristy (MSU) will offer an additional graduation ceremony, open to all students, to honor African-American graduates. This commemorative event is MSU's response to the low African-American retention rate of 44.7 percent, lowest of all its minority student groups.

MSU's decision, while following University of Michigan's lead, has sparked much controversy on campus. While several students and administrators have expressed support and contributed donations, the undergraduate student government disagrees with the move, calling the event exclusive.

Editorials advocating various arguments have been published in MSU's student newspaper, The State News. One student, Michael Cykouski, thought the event promotes racial separation and urged MSU "to put things like that behind us."

However, Director of Racial and Ethnic Affairs Rodney Patterson commented that the ceremony is no more "segragationist" than a separate graduation for graduate MSU students.



Source: UwireToday.com