On campus, April 10
1. After five months of deliberation, Princeton University released a report on April 1 about former Princeton and U.S. president Woodrow Wilson’s legacy on the campus. The decision to assemble the committee follows November’s civil rights protests on campus, which included a 33-hour sit-in of President Christopher Eisgruber’s office and called for the renaming of the Woodrow Wilson School, among other demands. When he led Princeton, Wilson attempted to prevent the enrollment of black students; as president of the U.S., he attempted to resegregate the federal civil service. Though the university’s 13-page report sketches a biography of former president Woodrow Wilson and renews calls for diversity and inclusivity, the university has opted not to rename the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, or Woodrow Wilson College, a residential college housing undergraduates.
2. The Towson University chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon has temporarily been suspended by both the school and national chapter after a student was hospitalized in an alleged off-campus hazing incident March 31. In an email sent to WBAL.com, a relative of the student said as part of a hazing ritual the student had to drink vinegar and pickle juice, and eat cat food. The mixture caused the student to vomit up blood and was taken to a hospital, it said, and was found to have suffered damage to his tongue, esophagus, intestinal lining and stomach. Chief Information Officer for Tau Kappa Epsilon Alex Baker tells Paste BN College the organization has suspended the chapter, and is investigating the alleged incident. “Tau Kappa Epsilon does not condone hazing in any form,” says Baker. “These alleged actions do not align with our values of love, charity and esteem. We have temporarily suspended the Pi-Upsilon chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon.
3. If a superstore has impacted your life, you might want to write about it. It seems 18-year-old high school senior Brittany Stinson submitted an essay about her love for Costco and got some pretty good responses, specifically, a big “yes” from the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University and Cornell University, according to NBCnews.com. Oh, and she also got in to Stanford. When asked why she chose Costco as her essay topic, Stinson told NBC that Costco has always been a part of her childhood and that going to Costco was like going to Disneyland.
4. Cooper Union, the New York City college that made headlines last year for reversing its tuition-free legacy, now has a far more progressive badge of honor: it claims to be the first college in the country to completely remove gender signage from all campus bathrooms. Instead of reading “men” or “women,” the doors will now hold signs labeling “restrooms with urinals and stalls,” “restrooms with only stalls” and “restroom single occupancy.” The change is the result of over two years of efforts by student activists, including Sofia, who urged administrators to make the restroom a place where transgender or gender non-conforming students could feel accepted. “This is really just having an institution recognize and support trans and non-binary students getting basic human rights,” says Rio Sofia, a junior at Cooper Union. “We just won the right to pee.”
5. A Long Island, N.Y., teen has a unique problem: Which Ivy League school should she attend next year? That’s because Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna — who is Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School's valedictorian and an Intel Science Finalist — has been accepted into all eight Ivy League schools, reported News 12 Long Island. “My whole family is so excited,” said Uwamanzu-Nna in the interview with the TV station. “Attending any of these schools would be such a great honor.” In addition to those schools, she’s also gotten in to four others, her school’s website notes: Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.