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University News

Monitoring, responding to COVID-19 changes: Ashish Jha and Russell Carey discuss students’ return to Brown

By Emilija Sagaityte, Daniel Goldberg and Kamran King | September 13

Part 2 in a 2-part series “Welcoming Students Back to Brown: A Conversation with Dr. Jha and VP Carey. Part 1 can be found here. Although the University has decided to welcome more students back to College Hill and classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic, it is continuing to monitor the situation ...

STEM

Resuming Research Guidance details students’ return to the lab bench as Brown offers remote research opportunities

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 13

After most University labs slipped into a lull in March following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduates are anxious to partake in hands-on research investigations once again. But with a pandemic still pushing onward, popping into a laboratory at one’s whim is no longer feasible. Resuming ...

University News

Brown to welcome undergraduate students back to campus for in-person classes

By Jack Walker and Livia Gimenes | September 10

Brown will welcome back more undergraduates to its residence halls and hold some small, in-person classes this fall.The decision was influenced by improvements in Rhode Island’s public health situation, low positivity rates from Brown’s COVID-19 testing program and low demand for isolation and quarantine ...

University News

66 percent of students accept admission to Brown in record high year

By Caroline Nash | September 10

The admission yield rate for the class of 2024 reached a record high 66 percent, a 5 percent increase from the previous year, according to Dean of Admission Logan Powell. Yield rate is a yearly measure indicating the percentage of admitted students who choose to accept an offer of enrollment at a college ...

Science & Research

Brown economist co-leads development of real-time COVID-19 Economic Tracker

By Claire Liu | September 10

Opportunity Insights, a research and policy organization co-directed by University Professor of Economics John Friedman, has led national efforts to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States economy through its Economic Tracker, which launched in May. The tool has helped inform ...

Science & Research

To examine the effects of COVID-19 on communities, Brown researchers turn to data

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 10

With the assistance of the University’s COVID-19 Research Seed Fund, some research groups have focused their microscopes on the viral particles behind the infection, while others have built technology to approach the pandemic’s challenges from various angles. Another set of University projects is ...

University News

ARM petitions for compensation for members of University’s anti-Black racism task force

By Karlos Bautista | September 10

Against Racism in Medicine, a coalition which advocates for anti-racist practices in the medical field, released a petition Aug. 11 that calls for monetary compensation for every member of the University’s Task Force on Anti-Black Racism. In the wake of nationwide protests following the killing ...

University News

Graduate students worry about safety as fall semester begins, more students return

By Jack Walker | September 9

Graduate students entering the fall semester are concerned about access to campus resources and safety, especially with the looming return of some of the undergraduate population. Kelsey Babcock GS, a third-year neuroscience student, has been working in a wet lab on campus since June. In light of the ...

University News

In new court filing, ACLU claims Brown breached Title IX agreement ‘and it continues to do so with every day that passes’

By Li Goldstein | September 9

In a brief filed Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island rebutted the University’s Sept. 2 court filing defending Brown’s compliance with Title IX regulations, which hold the University to standards set by the 1998 Cohen v. Brown University lawsuit. Brown demoted a number ...

University News

Brown students found progressive political action committee

By Liza Mullett | September 9

When Max Pushkin ’22.5, Dylan Douglas ’22 and Ben Lipson ’22.5 reluctantly finished their work on Will Cunningham’s ’07 campaign for Congress — Cunningham had lost his primary bid in New Jersey’s second congressional district this summer — they wondered what more they could do to push ...

University News

Paxson outlines factors for students’ possible return to Brown

By Livia Gimenes | September 9

At the first faculty meeting of the 2020-21 academic year, President Christina Paxson P’19 updated faculty members on the possibility of welcoming more students back to Providence and back into classrooms amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Paxson stressed that a decision has not yet been made ...

University News

Convocation keynote address discusses ‘new normal’ in Brown ethics

By Jack Walker | September 8

In his keynote address at the University’s 257th Opening Convocation, Associate Professor of Religious Studies Andre C. Willis discussed the “new normal” in daily life and ethics during this time of global unrest — a new normal reflected in the University’s first-ever convocation to occur ...

Metro

Thayer sees turnover as some retailers close, others open amid pandemic

By Ben Glickman | September 8

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought swift change to Thayer Street: as small retailers and restaurants struggled, some chains and franchises have opened their doors. Faced with dwindling profits and high rent, independent retailers like Pie in the Sky were forced to close, said store owner Ann Dusseault. ...

University News

"Like nothing I could have imagined": A glimpse of working from home with President Paxson

By Caelyn Pender | September 8

Since the University transitioned to remote operations in March, students, faculty and staff have had to adjust to a new world of virtual interaction, with both their work and social lives moving online. Like so many members of the University community, President Christina Paxson P’19 has rarely left ...

STEM

Engineering professor Christopher Rose assumes appointment as Associate Provost for STEM Initiatives

By Rahma Ibrahim | September 8

Professor of Engineering Christopher Rose was appointed associate provost for STEM initiatives effective July 1, according to a Today@Brown announcement made by Provost Richard Locke P’18 July 21. In his new role, Rose will help grow the share of faculty who have been historically underrepresented ...

University News

New course matching process for registration causes student frustration

By Jack Walker and Livia Gimenes | September 8

When Cici Osias ’23 opened Courses@Brown on Aug. 16, she was confused and worried. She found that she hadn’t been registered for any of the courses in her primary cart, despite the fact that some of the capped courses she had selected were still listing available seats. Osias said that while she ...

University News

Some international students quarantine in countries away from home before returning to College Hill

By Benjamin Pollard | September 7

For Shanghai resident Tiffany Chan '23, coming back to Brown from China this fall requires an unusual, extra long layover: 14 days of quarantine in Hong Kong. The stop is necessary because of current travel restrictions banning non-U.S. passport holders from entering the U.S. directly from China. Chan ...

Metro

Supreme Court allows for eased mail-ballot rules in R.I. during pandemic

By Benjamin Pollard | September 5

The United States Supreme Court rejected a Republican-led effort to maintain a two-witness or notary requirement for mail-in ballots in Rhode Island. This provision had been suspended in July due to coronavirus concerns. Civil liberties groups, the Rhode Island Secretary of State and many voters have ...

University News

Brown rolls out COVID-19 testing procedures for the academic year

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 3

Where students once climbed onto the roof for an evening of soccer under the stars, where athletes huddled together to chat with their teammates during practices and navigated the track and courts, the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center has now become a primary gathering spot for the Brown community — ...

University News

Brown changes official name to remove 'Plantations'

By Caelyn Pender | September 3

The University changed its official name from “Brown University in Providence in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” to “Brown University,” according to a letter from President Christina Paxson P’19, Provost Richard Locke P'18 and Executive Vice President for Finance and ...