Student Union
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Pro-Trump University to Comply with COVID Orders
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has issued a “full force” stay-at-home order through June 10 as part of his state’s efforts to fight the coronavirus.
It includes an order that all “institutions of higher education” must immediately stop all in-person classes and any gathering of 10 people or more.
Students who meet for online remote classes are asked to practice social distancing.
Many colleges and universities around the country and in Virginia haven’t waited for a governor to tell them to take precautions to stop the coronavirus from spreading. Spring breaks have been extended indefinitely and students were told to empty their rooms and go home
School started by Jerry Farwell
There are no outdoor classes on sunny days or relaxing on the quad this year. But one Virginia college has until this week resisted recommendations to suspend classes and send students home – Liberty University in Lynchburg.
Liberty with its 46,000 students was founded in 1971 by the late televangelist Jerry Falwell, the controversial far-right fundamentalist Christian activist best known as the head of the Moral Majority.
His son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., leads the university.
Falwell is an outspoken supporter of President Trump and has played down the dangers of the coronavirus. He has called it a North Korean bioweapon, accused people of overreacting to damage Trump, and has dismissed the virus as just a flu.
Falwell came under fierce criticism and enormous pressure from the governor, the city of Lynchburg, and even some students and their parents when he encouraged them return to the campus last week and resume classes.
Since then, at least one Liberty student who lives off campus has tested positive for coronavirus.
Falwell accused The New York Times of publishing a “false and misleading” report that says according to the school's student health director, 12 Liberty students became ill since returning from spring break.
School 'very disappointed' with coverage
In a statement, Liberty says it is “very disappointed about the way The New York Times chose to handle its reporting about this story. Such media conduct contributes to the public’s record low approval ratings for news media and earns the label ‘fake news.’”
After more than a week of confusing and conflicting statements from Falwell, including exactly how many students actually returned to the campus, Liberty now says it will comply with all state government orders and guidance about dealing with the coronavirus.
It had earlier said that some classes, including those dealing with medicine and aviation, could only be taught in a laboratory, not online.
But students who showed up to those labs Monday found them locked.
“Our messages did change throughout the week as the governor’s orders changed,” Falwell said, according to the NYT. “We had to adapt.”
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Xi wants more exchanges between US, Chinese universities
Mutual understanding between China and the United States can be improved by having more university exchanges between the two countries.
According to Bloomberg, Chinese President Xi Jinpin told Xinhua News Agency that exchanges could develop young ambassadors who understand both countries. (June 2024)
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Students learn protests can affect job prospects
Some students in the U.S. are learning their public stances on the Israel-Hamas war are having an impact on job prospects.
Financial Times reports that protest activities are turning up in background checks, and employers have revoked employment offers to students as a result. (June 2024)
UCLA names new chancellor as campus is still reeling from protests over Israel-Hamas war
The president of the University of Miami was chosen Wednesday to become the next chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, where the retiring incumbent leaves a campus roiled by protests over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Dr. Julio Frenk, a Mexico City-born global public health researcher, was selected by regents of the University of California system at a meeting on the UCLA campus, where there were a swarm of security officers.
Frenk will succeed Gene Block, who has been chancellor for 17 years and announced his planned retirement long before UCLA became a national flashpoint for U.S. campus protests. This spring, pro-Palestinian encampments were built and cleared by police with many arrests, and again this week, there were more arrests.
Frenk has led the 17,000-student University of Miami since 2015 and previously served as dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and as Mexico's national health secretary, among other positions.
In a brief press conference, Frenk said he was approaching the appointment with excitement and humility.
"The first thing I plan to do is listen very carefully," Frenk said. "This is a complex organization. It is, as I mentioned, a really consequential moment in the history of higher education."
Frenk did not comment on specific protests at UCLA this spring or the current administration's response, which initially tolerated an encampment but ultimately used police to clear it and keep new camps from forming.
During public comment in the regents meeting, speakers criticized UC administrators, alleged police brutality, complained of a lack of transparency in UC endowments and called for divestment from companies with ties to Israel or in weapons manufacturing.
Speakers also talked about experiencing antisemitism on campus and called for an increased law enforcement response to protesters.
Later, about 200 people rallied, including members of an academic student workers union and the Faculty for Justice for Palestine group as well as students from other UC campuses. Participants held signs calling for charges to be dropped against protesters who have been arrested.
Block departs UCLA on July 31. Darnell Hunt, executive vice president and provost, will serve as interim chancellor until Frenk becomes UCLA's seventh chancellor on January 1, 2025.
In previous roles, Frenk was founding director of Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, held positions at the World Health Organization and the nonprofit Mexican Health Foundation, and was a senior fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's global health program.
Frenk received his medical degree from the National University of Mexico in 1979. He then attended the University of Michigan, where he earned master's degrees in public health and sociology, and a joint doctorate in medical care organization and sociology.
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Experts: US will have nearly 2 million international students by 2034
Experts predict the U.S. will enroll nearly 1.8 million international students by 2034, ICEF Monitor reports.
Most of the students will hail from India, along with China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil and Mexico, the analysis says.
Read the story here. (May 2024)
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UCLA gets its first international student undergraduate council president
An international student will lead the Undergraduate Students Association Council at UCLA for the first time.
Adam Tfayli, who is from Lebanon, won the presidential race, beating out five other candidates.
Student newspaper the Daily Bruin has the story here. (May 2024)