Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
April 19, 2024

News & Features

PUBLIC DOMAIN Several researchers have taken issue with the University's assertion that Johns Hopkins owned enslaved people. 

New research challenges University namesake's ties to slavery

By ISHAN KALBURGE | June 29, 2021

The University announced in December the discovery of evidence suggesting that Johns Hopkins, long regarded as a staunch abolitionist, owned enslaved people. Research conducted by Professor of History Martha S. Jones under Hopkins Retrospective, a program launched in 2013 to investigate the history of the University, contended that, according to census documents, Hopkins had enslaved one person in 1840 and four people in 1850. 

COURTESY OF MIN-SEO KIM Students had mixed reactions to Baltimore city lifting its mask mandate.

Baltimore to lift citywide mask mandate

By MIN-SEO KIM | June 19, 2021

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott announced on June 16 that the citywide mask mandate and state of emergency will be lifted as of July 1. Scott noted that businesses and workplaces will be allowed to continue their own mask mandates. These new mask guidelines came the day after Maryland Governor Larry Hogan did the same for the state. 

COURTESY OF MIN-SEO KIM Vice Provost of Student Affairs Alanna W. Shanahan worked to craft the University's COVID-19 guidelines.

Alanna W. Shanahan looks back at her time as vice provost

By MIN-SEO KIM | June 19, 2021

The University announced on June 2 that Alanna W. Shanahan will be stepping down as the vice provost for student affairs on July 9 to work for her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, as the athletics director. Kevin Shollenberger, the current vice provost of student health and well-being, will serve as interim provost.

COURTESY OF LAURA WADSTEN The initiative will pair behavioral health clinicians with trained campus security officers when responding to mental health crises. 

University launches Behavioral Health Crisis Support Team

By LEELA GEBO and MIN-SEO KIM | May 21, 2021

Hopkins announced the creation of the Johns Hopkins University Behavioral Health Crisis Support Team (JHU BHCST) to respond to behavioral and mental health crises on and around the Homewood campus on May 18. In an email to constituents, administrators promoted the initiative as part of the University’s commitment to reimagining public safety. 

FILE PHOTO As of now, the University is not changing its plans for the spring semester. 

University announces summer health guidelines

By MIN-SEO KIM | May 20, 2021

Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Jane Schlegel announced that the University will be offering COVID-19 vaccine clinics on campus in an email to the Hopkins community on May 18. Registration is open for the first clinic, which will be held in the Glass Pavillion on Thursday, May 20.

Plum Leaves / CC BY 2.0 Viven Thomas, the initiative’s namesake, was a surgical laboratory supervisor at the Hopkins Hospital in the 1940s and developed a cardiac surgery technique to treat “blue baby syndrome.”

University announces Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative

By REBECCA MURATORE and MOLLY GAHAGEN | May 16, 2021

In an email to the Hopkins community on May 11, University President Ronald J. Daniels announced the launch of the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, a $150 million initiative devoted to expanding and diversifying Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) PhD programs. A gift from Hopkins alum Michael Bloomberg provided funding for this initiative. 

COURTESY OF DIVYA KUMAR  Students attending the protest demanded an immediate end to all University plans to form a private police force.

CAPH organizes walkout against University private policing

By ISHAN KALBURGE and MOLLY GAHAGEN | May 10, 2021

The Coalition Against Policing by Hopkins (CAPH) organized a walkout against the University’s proposed private police force on May 3. In 2019, The Maryland General Assembly passed a bill allowing its creation, which Governor Larry Hogan subsequently signed into law. Student opposition culminated in a month-long occupation of Garland Hall, which ultimately ended in the arrest of seven students.

COURTESY OF MIN-SEO KIM Students expressed their support for the University’s wage increase but believe that more could be done.

University announces an accelerated minimum wage increase

By MIN-SEO KIM | May 8, 2021

The University announced that it will adopt a $15 minimum wage, effective July 1, 2021 for the University and January 1, 2022 for the Hopkins Health System, with the timing for some health system workers dependent on the schedule of collective bargaining agreements, in an email to Hopkins affiliates on May 6. 

COURTESY OF TEJA KAKANI The Hopkins administration announced that Charles Commons would be one of three University locations to be renamed.

University announces plans to rename Charles Commons, Undergraduate Teaching Labs and Hopkins Outpatient Center

By MICHELLE LIMPE | May 7, 2021

University leaders announced the creation of the Diverse Names and Narratives Project in an email to the student body on April 30. The task force aims to uplift the work of underrepresented individuals by making recommendations for renaming Charles Commons, the Undergraduate Teaching Labs and the Hopkins Outpatient Center buildings. The project is part of the University’s efforts to improve diversity and inclusion on campus. 

COURTESY OF KENNA LOWE Daniels believes that vaccine supply will allow for the University to set up vaccination clinics on the Homewood Campus. 

Daniels speaks to student life post-pandemic

By CLAIRE GOUDREAU and LEELA GEBO | May 6, 2021

In an interview with The News-Letter on April 28, University President Ronald J. Daniels discussed the University's plans to vaccinate its constituents, the Innovation Fund for Community Safety, efforts to increase sustainability at the University and the announcement that the Class of 2026 will not be able to choose their own roommates. 

FILE PHOTO Students and faculty said they missed the daily interactions that are characteristic of in-person classes.

Looking back on a year and a half online

By MIN-SEO KIM | May 4, 2021

The 2020-21 academic year posed unprecedented challenges for students and faculty alike. During the fall semester, all classes and events were completely remote, and, while some students returned to campus in the spring, the majority of classes and activities remained online. 

COURTESY OF CHRIS H. PARK The Mattin Center has been the center of the University’s arts scene since 2001.

Farewell to Mattin: 20-year-old arts center will be demolished by fall

By GRETA MARAS and CHRIS H. PARK | May 4, 2021

The Mattin Center will soon be leveled to make room for the construction of the new student center, which is scheduled to open in fall 2024. Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the same firm designing the Barack Obama Presidential Center, the four buildings that make up Mattin have served the arts community on the Homewood Campus since 2001.

FILE PHOTO Students call on the University to cancel its plans for the private police force as acts of police brutality continue nationwide. 

Black students call for University support amid police violence

By ROMY KOO | May 4, 2021

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosted “Addressing Hate During COVID-19” on April 23 to discuss nationwide calls for racial justice. The event was sparked by the conviction of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd last summer, and followed the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on April 11.

Editor's Picks
Weekly Rundown
Podcast
Multimedia
Alumni Weekend 2024
Leisure Interactive Food Map
The News-Letter Print Locations
News-Letter Special Editions