New students arrived on campus last week and participated in Orientation Week (O-Week) programming, which incorporated several changes this year.
The 2018-19 Student Government Association (SGA) referendum, with 2,738 total voters on eight key issues, reached more students than any SGA ballot since 2012, according to AJ Tsang, who served as the group’s executive president last spring. The referendum is intended to expand SGA’s influence over the University’s decisions.
This summer, the University made leadership changes intended to improve student well-being. Alanna Shanahan became vice provost for student affairs on August 12, succeeding Kevin Shollenberger, now the University’s first vice provost for student health and well-being. Formerly senior associate director of athletics, Jennifer Baker was promoted to Shanahan’s previous role as director of athletics and recreation.
Baltimore Police officers arrested seven people — including four students — who were part of a month-long sit-in at Garland Hall on Wednesday morning. Students and community members have been holding a sit-in at Garland Hall to protest the creation of a private police force and the University’s contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement since April 3.
Vice President for Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger and Vice President for Human Resources Heidi Conway sent a University-wide email addressing the eight student protesters who chained themselves to stairwells in Garland Hall at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 2.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned on Thursday, May 2 in light of controversy over sales of her children’s book series, becoming the second Baltimore mayor this decade to step down amid a criminal investigation. She apologized for the damage she has done to the legitimacy of her office and the face of the city in a statement her attorney Steven Silverman delivered at a news conference.
Tawanda Jones, sister of Tyrone West, who died in police custody in 2013, hosted the 300th West Wednesday rally and march on Wednesday.
Sharia is a term that often evokes confusion, debate or even outright fear. “Sharia Today,” Rumee Ahmed, an associate professor of Islamic Law at the University of British Columbia, led a discussion called “Sharia Today,” on Thursday, April 25. It was an event that sought to promote dialogue on the nature of Sharia in the modern era.
Eight students chained themselves to the stairwells in Garland Hall around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1.
The Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a policy roundtable with State Comptroller Peter Franchot, who serves as Maryland’s chief financial officer, at Shriver Hall on Wednesday. At the event, Hopkins students from groups including the Black Student Union (BSU); Multicultural Leadership Council (MLC); and SGA’s Policy, Research and Development Commission (PRDC) shared their perspectives on sexual violence, gun violence and mental health on campus and in the Baltimore community.
Two and a half years ago, Nathan Connolly, a professor in the History Department, submitted a motion calling on Hopkins administrators to rename the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in light of the former U.S. president’s racist legacy. Connolly — along with the Homewood Faculty Assembly, which voted to support his motion — is still waiting for an answer.
Omise’eke Tinsley, an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, discussed pop culture icons and black femme futures at an event titled, “PYNK: Black Femme in Slavery’s Archive,” this Wednesday in Gilman 388. The presentation was the closing event of the Sex and Slavery Lab at Hopkins.
The Student Government Association (SGA) held their final meeting of the 2018-19 academic year on Tuesday in Charles Commons. At the meeting, SGA members passed a resolution calling on the University to provide proof of community support and to hold two public forums before implementing a private police force.
Homewood Campus held its annual Spring Fair this weekend. The event was open to the entire Baltimore community. It kicked off the evening of Thursday, April 25 with fireworks and included a concert headlined by electronic dance music group Cash Cash, other musical performances, vendors, dances, games and a beer garden.
Chris Wilson, a writer, entrepreneur and ex-offender, gave a guest lecture during a class titled Health and Wellbeing in Baltimore: A Public Health Perspective on Tuesday.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents raided Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s house and offices at City Hall on Thursday. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called on her to resign in a public statement hours later, following the lead of the City Council and the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), a regional organization comprised of University President Ronald J. Daniels and other business and civic leaders.
The University announced plans to launch a new initiative, entitled Centers for Civic Impact, that aims to help public sector organizations streamline their operations, in an e-mail to the Hopkins community on Monday.
The Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Law Review hosted the first Law Review Gala this Monday. The event featured William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr., a civil rights lawyer and former judge who represented the family of Freddie Gray, and Christina Bostick, the civil rights lawyer who represented the family of Henrietta Lacks.
University President Ronald J. Daniels and Provost Sunil Kumar announced in a schoolwide email on Monday that around two-thirds of the electricity at all national Hopkins campuses would come from solar power by 2021.
When Clifton Guidry III, a black Peabody Institute alum, experienced a seizure during orchestra rehearsal as a student, he was met with suspicion. “Security, instead of seeing if I was having a medical emergency, was trying to ask if I was on any drugs,” Guidry said. “I was just really sick.”
