It’s finals time, which means we know you’ve been way too busy to keep up with anything that doesn’t have to do with Biochem or that research paper you’ve been procrastinating on. Here are a few of the things that happened this week to catch you up, from student protests to inspiring commencement speeches.
1. Federal investigation opened at college over sexual assault
Lately, it seems as though sexual assault has been all over the news. This week it was Occidental College in the spotlight after the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil rights decided to open an investigation into how the school handles sexual harassment and sexual violence episodes on campus. Read more about the case here.
2. Obama gives commencement address at Ohio State
Exactly one year after kicking off his re-election campaign at Ohio State University, President Barack Obama returned to give the commencement address to the Class of 2013. In his speech, Obama described how the future of democracy depends on this generation’s “dedicated, informed and engaged citizenship.” He also left students with a challenge to keep in mind, whether they pursue further education or begin their careers: “I dare you, Class of 2013, to do better. I dare you dream bigger.”
3. Inflammatory fraternity Facebook posts leaked to student body
Members of the Delta Zeta chapter of Sigma Chi at Willamette University were kicked out earlier this week after posts from the fraternity’s private Facebook page started to appear elsewhere online. Students came together to protest the group’s inappropriate messages, one of which said that “Woman’s [sic] rights are the biggest joke in the US.” Go here to find out what other messages were leaked.
4. Cooper Union students continue to protest tuition costs
In a previous article we talked about how one of the last free colleges in America, Cooper Union, will start to charge its undergraduate students. On Wednesday, more than 50 students occupied President Jamshed Bharucha’s office in protest and signed a statement of no confidence. Learn more about the ongoing demonstration here.
5. Famous commencement speech made into short film
To all of the liberal arts majors out there—if you haven’t seen this commencement address given by writer David Foster Wallace, make sure the check out the video above. Wallace spoke to graduates at Kenyon College in 2005 about the value of education in the arts and humanities, yet now the message is as important as ever. TheGlossary.com has made the speech into a video, right in time for graduation.
Photo from willamette.edu
