News & Features

FastForward U supports early stage student ventures

By AASHNA SUNDESHA
November 7, 2019

In September, FastForward U (FFU) selected 10 student groups for the Spark track of its accelerator program. In addition to funding, the program provides mentorship and programming for student entrepreneurs through weekly workshops held by local entrepreneurs. ...

COURTESY OF PAVA LAPERE The FastForward U Spark program is for early-stage student ventures.
COURTESY OF EUNICE NAMKOONG Ibram X. Kendi discussed how language plays a large role in antiracism.

Ibram X. Kendi speaks at Baltimore Book Festival

By EUNICE NAMKOONG | November 7, 2019

The Baltimore Book Festival, an annual celebration of literary work in Maryland, took place on Nov. 1-10. Baltimoreans lined up at Inner Harbor to attend talks, book signings, bookseller tents and readings by various authors on a plethora of topics: from social justice activism, science fiction and romanticism to children’s classics.

ERICMETRO/CC BY-SA 3.0 Zhang presented research on a plan for WWII-era Jewish resettlement in his home province in China.

Senior’s research sheds new light on Chinese plans for Jewish resettlement

By MICHAEL TRAUTMANN RODRIGUEZ | November 7, 2019

Sheng Zhang, a senior majoring in international studies, presented his research on the Chinese government’s attempt to create a settlement for Jewish refugees during World Word II — specifically the Yunnan Plan — and the factors that led to its failure on Tuesday. Zhang is the 2019 recipient of the John Koren Award for Holocaust Research and Education, which is granted annually to an undergraduate student researching the Holocaust. 

Women Faculty Forum hosts event on gender equity

By JULIA CHOE | November 7, 2019

The Women Faculty Forum (WFF) at Homewood held Where We Stand, an event which included a series of presentations and small group discussions that explored the topics of gender equity and community, on Monday.

COURTESY OF JULIA CHOE Karen Fleming discussed the phenomenon of the leaky STEM pipeline.
FILE PHOTO Student organization leaders reacted to changes in SLI group policy.

SLI initiative will allow groups to track finances

By RYAN AGHAMOHAMMADI | November 7, 2019

Recently, the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) announced a new financial module through which all allocation of funds will now be handled. In an email to student organization leaders on Oct. 22, SLI detailed several other changes to existing policies, including an organizational audit, new purchase request procedures as well as new trainings for student organization leaders.

Baltimore Ceasefire 365 hosts community tailgate to end gun homicide

By JAKE LEFKOVITZ | November 7, 2019

As part of a Baltimore Ceasefire 365 initiative, three local community organizers — Charlene Rock-Foster, Nadean Paige and Dwayne Richardson — held an event on Saturday in the Belair-Edison neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore called the “West Meets East Ceasefire Tailgate.” The tailgate, hosted on Cliftmont Ave., sought to connect community members with helpful resources and generate a sense of community that both West Side and East Side residents could share in, the organizers said. 

COURTESY OF JAKE LEFKOVITZ Baltimore Ceasefire 365 began in 2017 as a way to reduce gun violence.
COURTESY OF MELISSA HYNDS SARU aims to raise awareness about sexual violence during Red Weeks.

SARU raises campus awareness about Red Weeks

By KAREN WANG | October 31, 2019

Last week, the Sexual Assault Resource Unit (SARU), a student advocacy group, began putting up signage around campus to recognize the Red Zone. This period is defined as the weeks between Orientation and Halloween (or Thanksgiving), during which sexual violence is most likely to occur. Campuses nationwide are reclaiming these weeks as a time for activism against sexual violence.

Former Ambassador Ross discusses Arab-Israeli peace

By CHRIS PARK | October 31, 2019

Former Ambassador Dennis Ross, an American diplomat who worked under five different presidential administrations, spoke about American foreign policy and the future of the Middle East in the Clipper Room of Shriver Hall on Wednesday. The event was sponsored by Hopkins Hillel, an organization for Jewish students on campus.

COURTESY OF CHRIS PARK Ross critiqued current American foreign policy, arguing against isolationism.
FILE PHOTO The Board will seek to hold the new private police force accountable.

Who will serve on JHPD Accountability Board?

By SABRINA ABRAMS | November 1, 2019

Daniel Ennis, the University’s senior vice president for finance and administration, and Robert Kasdin, Hopkins Medicine’s senior vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer, announced on Thursday the opening of the application period for the University’s Police Accountability Board in an email to the community.

University begins search to replace vice provost

By SOPHIA LIPKIN | October 31, 2019

The University announced that it has convened a search committee to select the next vice provost for institutional equity on Wednesday in an email to the community. This administrative position oversees the University’s discrimination and harassment resources, including disability services and sexual misconduct. 

FILE PHOTO The former Vice Provost of Institutional Equity left Hopkins last July.

CARE hosts animal rights activists at symposium

By TRISHA PARAYIL | October 31, 2019

The student group Compassion, Awareness, and Responsible Eating for Farm Animals (CARE) hosted prominent animal rights activists Alka Chandna and Thomas Hartung as part of the Alternatives to Animal Testing Symposium in the Glass Pavilion last Thursday, Oct. 24. Chandna is vice president of laboratory investigations for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Hartung is the director of the Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) and holder of the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Chair in Evidence-based Toxicology in the School of Public Health. 

Near Eastern Studies lecture hosts archeologist and professor Anne Porter

By RYAN AGHAMOHAMMADI | October 31, 2019

Anne Porter, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto in the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Department, presented her findings from her former dig site in Syria as part of the Near Eastern Studies lecture series last Thursday, Oct. 24. She discussed her research on the site of Tell Banat, which held a complex of burial grounds both outside the settlement and within it. 

COURTESY OF RYAN AGHAMOHAMMADI Professor Anne Porter managed an archeology dig in Tell Banat in Syria.

University Press releases free digitized manuscripts

By JAMES SCHARF | October 31, 2019

Last week, the Hopkins University Press released digitized copies of 100 out-of-print books to celebrate International Open Access Week. These books are part of the Hopkins Open Publishing: Encore Editions initiative which began last year after a $200,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

PUBLIC DOMAIN Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore died on Thursday, Oct. 17 at the age of 68.

Hopkins reflects on Rep. Elijah Cummings’ legacy

By RUDY MALCOM | October 24, 2019

Elijah Cummings, a prominent Democrat from Baltimore, died at age 68 on Thursday, Oct. 17. The son of sharecroppers was serving his 13th term in the House of Representatives and chaired the Committee on Oversight and Reform, acting as a central figure in the ongoing impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump.