Following the University’s announcement on August 6 that all undergraduate fall classes will be held online, many students once again have had to modify their plans. With flights booked in advances and leases already signed, students who had decided to Baltimore are scrambling to make adjustments.
Katrina Caldwell began her role as the new chief diversity officer (CDO) and vice provost for diversity and inclusion on July 1. Caldwell hopes to embrace the diverse perspectives at Hopkins to foster a more inclusive environment.
Title IX is a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in universities that receive federal funds. The Department of Education (DOE) issued changes to Title IX regulations three months ago, giving more rights to accused students in sexual harassment and assault cases.
The Coalition Against Policing by Hopkins (CAPH), consisting of about a dozen student and community groups, marched in East Baltimore on August 15 to demand the termination of the University’s plans to implement a private police force.
A gas explosion on the 4200 block of Labyrinth Road, Northwest Baltimore, left two people dead and at least seven injured on Monday, August 10. The Baltimore City Fire Department called the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) at 9:54 a.m. to respond to the scene of the explosion.
Dean of the Peabody Institute Fred Bronstein announced the conservatory’s transition to complete online instruction for the upcoming fall semester on July 31. This announcement back tracked on a June statement planning for hybrid fall instruction.
Every country is battling the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in a different way, each at varying stages of protecting its citizens and eliminating the virus. With international students accounting for approximately 19 percent of the University’s student body, The News-Letter reached out to a few of them to hear about their journeys home during the pandemic and the current state of COVID-19 in their countries. From scrambling to book flights home, to weighing their options for the fall semester, international students have had to make many hard decisions in the past few months.
Baltimore City Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young announced that restaurants can resume indoor dining at 25 percent capacity beginning on Friday, August 7. This follows Young’s previous orders from July 24 to suspend all indoor dining services after a recent spike in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Maryland.
University President Ronald J. Daniels announced in an email to the Hopkins community that all undergraduate classes will be offered online for the entire fall semester. Ongoing on-campus research will resume in accordance to Phase 1 guidelines. Additionally, the University will also reduce tuition by ten percent, and most incoming freshman will not be able to live on campus.
“Today, we feel forgotten. Everyone believes we still won. The class of 2024 didn’t win. After calls and emails, we’re met with another unyielding reality: we can’t come to campus.” These are the words of an open letter circulating among international students of the class of 2024 asking for Hopkins to advocate for them.
The International Studies Leadership Council (ISLC) hosted the second event in its Summer Series on Race, “Racial Divides in Baltimore,” on July 16. Thiru Vignarajah, the former deputy attorney general of Maryland and candidate in Baltimore’s recent mayoral election, spoke at the event. Vignarajah, a Baltimore native, discussed policing, education, public transportation reform and marijuana legalization as ways to mitigate the impact of systemic racism in Baltimore City.
A group of community activists and Hopkins students marched along York Road on July 11 to highlight racial disparities in North Baltimore.
The University has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, according to University President Ronald J. Daniels.
New regulations for international students taking online classes were announced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday. If Hopkins retains its current reopening plan, it is unlikely that international students will be allowed to return on campus in the fall.
The Office of Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) hosted a webinar for student organizations on Friday, June 26 exploring what the co-curricular experience will look like this fall.
The Student Government Association (SGA) met for the second time this summer on June 30 over Zoom. At the meeting, SGA voted unanimously to support renaming the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and Gildersleeve House of AMR II in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The group also signed the petition calling for the University to permanently end its plans for the Johns Hopkins Police Department (JHPD).
University President Ronald J. Daniels and fellow administrators announced in an email to the Hopkins community that the University will be resuming in-person activities in the fall.
About 100 protesters marched to University President Ronald J. Daniels’ home on June 29, taping copies of a petition demanding the cancellation of the private police force to his front door and windows.
Atlas Restaurant Group apologized after a Black woman posted a video of her and her son being denied service at Ouzo Bay in Harbor East on June 21. In the video, which has since been widely circulated on social media, a white manager denies service to the Black woman and her son because her son was wearing athletic clothing. The video shows a white child in similar clothing dining at the restaurant.
Baltimore City Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young lifted the city’s ban on large outdoor gatherings beginning June 26. This decision comes one week after Young moved the city into phase two of Maryland’s re-opening plan, following shutdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
