College Shorts

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Harvard announces first female president

On Feb. 11, Harvard University named Drew Gilpin Faust its next president, marking the first time a woman has led the nation's oldest university in its 371-year history.

Faust, 59 was one of the top choices for the presidency because she was considered by the school's governing body to be most capable of smoothing tensions which arose among the faculty during Lawrence Summer's presidency, according to the Associated Press.

Faust, a scholar of the Civil War, has been dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study since 2001. During the controversy surrounding Summer's remarks on genetic gender differences, Faust supervised two panels that investigated gender diversity issues on campus.

The Harvard Corporation, the school's governing body, elected Faust last week. The 30-member Board of Overseers ratified their choice on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Faust's appointment means that four Ivy League schools now have women presidents. The other three are Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania, Shirley M. Tilghman of Princeton University and Ruth J. Simmons of Brown University.

-ABC.com


Macalester investigates party after racism charge

An investigation has been launched at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., after a "politically incorrect" party held by students sparked a campus-wide controversy, the Associated Press reported.

Students came to the Jan. 16 party dressed in racially offensive costumes, including a Ku Klux Klan outfit. One student apparently wore blackface with a noose around his neck, according to the AP.

A discussion among faculty and students on the implications of the party and its racially offensive themes took place yesterday on campus.

Officials at Macalester told the AP that they are trying to determine exactly what happened at the party.

The incident in Minnesota is the latest in a series of similar incidents at colleges across the country, including one at Trinity College. Both Trinity and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., had similar parties earlier in the school year in which students arrived wearing offensive costumes or blackface.

-FOXNews.com


Princeton ESP lab to close at end of February

After 28 years of service, the founder of the Princeton-based Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory announced that it will close at the end of the month, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

Scientists used the lab to study ESP and telekinesis. Often, this research sparked controversy both among Princeton officials and in the scientific community.

The EAR's founder, Robert G. Jahn, stressed that while the research performed there was controversial, it has served its purpose.

"If people don't believe us after all the results we've produced, then they never will," Jahn, 76, told The New York Times for Saturday editions. Jahn previously served as the dean of Princeton's engineering school and is an emeritus professor, according to the AP.

-CNN.com