Category: Month by Month

Sustainability and College Campuses

Posted on by Amy Garbis

April is the month of Earth Day – think environment and sustainability. Do you want to help save Earth and its environments? Do you recycle, compost and make informed choices about sustainable consumer products?

Each year, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) releases a report on the most sustainable colleges and universities. The AASHE measures institutions using the STARS system: Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System. In 2021, 550 institutions in the U.S. and Canada submitted information about the sustainability of their campus, academics, and community. Each school received a score and a rating of Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze. Take a look at the list, 2021 Sustainable Campus Index

Celebrating Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Posted on by Emma Sonnenblick

Before the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, many colleges and universities prevented African American students from applying or instituted strict acceptance quotas. Because of this obstacle to higher education, many colleges were founded, mostly in the American South, to serve members of the African American community. These schools, traditionally termed Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), still thrive today. Here are the top 5, according to U.S. News, and some of their most influential graduates!

 

Spelman College: Stacey Abrams- Abrams has moved on to become an influential politician. She was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, and she now spearheads the movement “Fair Fight,” which campaigns against discriminatory voting laws.

 

Howard University: Chadwick Boseman- Boseman is renowned for writing, acting, and directing. He is most known for playing Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2016 to 2019.

 

Xavier University of Louisiana: Regina Benjamin- Benjamin worked as the 18th Surgeon General of the United States.


Tuskegee University: Ralph Ellison- Ellison was a novelist who wrote many works. His most notable, Invisible Man, won the National Book Award in 1953. 

 

Hampton University: Booker T. Washington- Washington was a prominent leader in the African American community in the post-Civil War era. He advocated for upward mobility through education and entrepreneurship, rather than directly challenging Jim Crow segregation.

 

Juneteenth in the World of College!

Posted on by Emma Sonnenblick

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. With the growing movement for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday, many colleges across the country are beginning to recognize its importance and celebrate it accordingly. For example, Johns Hopkins has promised to celebrate the holiday annually, and they are cancelling classes and other events on campus on June 18th (June 19th is a Saturday). The 18th will be a paid day for faculty and staff to allow all students and employees to observe the holiday.

In some places, states have made Juneteenth an official state holiday, like in Virginia. UVA has followed suit, and the university will be closed on June 18th as well. UVA’s Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is also sharing resources and encouraging students and faculty to take advantage of the holiday to educate themselves with articles, podcasts, videos, etc.

These are just two examples of how colleges in America are increasingly adapting to the times and recognizing the importance of Juneteenth. If you are interested in learning more about other colleges and their initiatives, their websites and student-run newspapers are a great place to start!

IRL Girl Power

Posted on by Amy Garbis

irl girl power…

Happy Women’s History Month! Since the 1970s, Women’s Studies programs have been emerging on many college campuses across the nation. In the most basic of definitions, these programs allow students to study women’s lives and experiences with a cultural and social lens, considering how race, power structures, ideologies, institutions, etc., interact with gender.
When these Women’s Studies programs first began to appear with the advent of the Women’s Liberation movement, many were skeptical. Critics asked, “What can you DO with a Women’s Studies major?”
The answer is–pretty much anything! Interdisciplinary majors like Women’s Studies develop students’ analytical thinking, oral communication, and writing skills, all of which can be flaunted on resumes.

Women’s History Month

(by Emma Sonnenblick)

Top Women’s studies programs:

Where are the best Women’s Studies programs, you may ask? Here are the top 10, as of 2020:
1. Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
2. Yale University (New Haven, CT)
3. Pomona College (Claremont, CA)
4. Amherst College (Amherst, MA)
5. Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
6. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA)
7. Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT)
8. Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME)
9. Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA)
10. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
These are only 10 out of the more than 800 programs across the country, so if you are interested, you have plenty of options!

Women’s History Month & Women’s Colleges

Posted on by Amy Garbis
University of Michigan women graduates, 1909

(published by Emma Sonnenblick)

Smith, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley–what do all of these schools have in common? All of these schools are Women’s Colleges! When these schools were founded in the 1800s, many higher education institutions existed on the East Coast for men, and most of those colleges excluded women from admission. These four schools in particular were originally part of the “Seven Sisters,” which acted as counterparts to the male-only Ivy League schools, providing an educational equivalent to women from upper class families. 

 

Some historically all-female schools, like Vassar, went coed in the late 1900s. Others, like Radcliffe, got absorbed into traditionally male schools, with Radcliffe becoming a part of Harvard. Although many schools are now coeducational, some women still choose to attend all-female schools because of the unique environment they offer. 

 

Atessa F. (Smith College, 2020) shared some of the benefits of the all-female college experience, saying, “I loved going to a historically women’s college because it gave me the confidence to not only pursue a major in a traditionally male-dominated discipline [math], but to participate confidently in all aspects of my community.”

 

The all-female schools named above (and others!) continue to offer this special opportunity for women to excel in the academic sphere without intimidation from, or competition with, men.