University News - The Brown Daily Herald

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Science & Research

Improved discussion between school boards, communities could help increase involvement at school board meetings, study finds

By Casey Chan | June 14

School board meetings with deliberation and discussion between the school board and community members are more likely to have higher community engagement, seen in a greater willingness to attend school board meetings in the future and result in an increased trust in school officials, a study published ...

University News

Brown Corporation names three new fellows, seven new trustees

By Jack Walker | June 13

The Corporation — the University’s highest-governing body — elected three new members to its Board of Fellows and seven new members to its Board of Trustees during its annual spring meeting in May, according to a June 1 news release. The three new members of the University’s Board of Fellows ...

Science & Research

Brown partnership with Broad Institute allows for new viral sequencing, studying of COVID-19 variants from testing program samples

By Gabriella Vulakh | June 13

Students in the COVID-19 testing program were asked to consent to new viral sequencing for variants through the Broad Institute, the University’s testing partner, in an email sent to on-campus students June 8. The Broad Institute is collaborating with state departments of health and universities ...

University News

First-year students face the implications of a summer without work or internships

By Emily Faulhaber | June 10

In July 2020, Brown announced its three-term model for the 2020-2021 academic year. Sophomores, juniors and seniors were given the opportunity to be on campus for the fall 2020 semester, while first years were allowed to be on campus during the spring and summer 2021 terms. With the final semester of ...

University News

Watson panel discusses recent violence in Israel-Palestine

By Kate Dario | June 10

In light of the recent violence this past month in Israel-Palestine, the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the Center for Middle East Studies and the Department of History hosted “five renowned Palestinian and Jewish researchers” in a June 10 panel discussion to analyze the ...

Metro

City announces Crook Point Bridge design winner

By Victoria Yin | June 10

On Providence’s East Side, a rusty drawbridge juts out of the Seekonk River and points to the sky. It is visible for miles and well-known among nearby residents. The Crook Point Bascule Bridge, built in 1908, formerly connected Fox Point to East Providence by railroad and was abandoned 45 years ago. Two ...

Metro

Rhode Island community organizations reflect on recent uptick in violence

By Oliver Kneen | June 9

After a recent series of violent incidents in the wake of last year’s uptick in local shootings and homicides in Providence, community organizations consider the change necessary to bring violent crime rates down. So far this year, the Providence Police Department has documented 189 instances of ...

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University News

Students, professors respond with excitement to in-person summer classes

By Alex Nadirashvili | June 9

When Professor of Africana Studies Lisa Biggs walked into the Friedman Hall lecture room of her course, AFRI 0300: “Performing Ethnography and the Politics of Culture,” she was met with a surprising sense of anxiety. After 15 months of social distancing protocols, stepping into a room of 19 students ...

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Metro

Javier Montañez named PPSD interim superintendent

By Kate Dario | June 8

Javier Montañez will serve as the new interim superintendent of the Providence Public School District following former superintendent Harrison Peters’ May resignation, according to a press release from the Rhode Island Department of Education. Montañez is currently the principal of Leviton Dual ...

University News

Remote learning opens door to more guest lecturers

By Sarah McGrath | June 8

Throughout the pandemic, remote learning has allowed professors to incorporate a more diverse set of guest lecturers into their syllabi. As Brown continues its fourth semester of remote learning, The Herald spoke with professors about their experiences hosting lectures over Zoom and their plans for ...

University News

Haffenreffer Museum looks into origins of potentially looted Benin artifacts, may lead to repatriation

By Claire Liu | June 8

An Ukhurhe, a rattle staff used in ancestral ceremonies, is one of 15 objects crafted in Benin City, now southern Nigeria, that lie in the collections of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology. Artifacts from Benin are tied to a violent history — in 1897, British colonial forces ravaged the Royal ...

University News

Vincent Harris to serve as new BCSC director

By Gaya Gupta | June 8

The University appointed Vincent Harris as associate dean and new director of the Brown Center for Students of Color, capping off a national search and campus-wide controversy spanning nearly two years. In his new role, Harris hopes to foreground his intersecting identities as a queer Black man, ...

University News

The future of online learning at Brown

By Jack Walker | June 7

Since March 2020, the student experience at the University has been largely relegated to Zoom meetings and recorded lectures. But the novel prevalence of online technology in the University curriculum has provided a chance for the University to examine how it educates and challenges faculty and students ...

Metro

Marijuana legalization proposal races against Statehouse clock

By Liza Mullett | June 7

Three weeks remain in Rhode Island’s legislative session — and the clock is ticking on Democratic Rep. Scott Slater’s recreational marijuana proposal. Slater introduced the bill, which aims to legalize the use of recreational marijuana in the Ocean State, at the end of last month. The legislation ...

Science & Research

More than three-quarters of students on campus have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations with the University

By Gabriella Vulakh | June 6

The percentage of documented COVID-19 vaccinations increased to 76.8 percent and 69.3 percent, respectively, for students and employees on campus during the week of May 27 to June 2, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Testing Update. Including students and employees not on campus, 50.6 percent ...

University News

Gates Foundation grants Annenberg Institute $999,260

By Kate Dario | June 2

The Annenberg Institute received a $999,260 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation last month to fund the National Student Support Accelerator. The NSSA research aims to strengthen and grow high-impact tutoring programs and opportunities for K-12 students nationwide. This funding will support ...

University News

'The planning is exhausting’: International students discuss challenges of arriving on College Hill during pandemic

By Jasper Yeh | June 2

When Xinyu Yan ’24 realized that the U.S. Embassy in China was not going to open in time for her to obtain a visa for the summer semester, she decided to take an unconventional route. Along with other students from China, Yan flew to Singapore to apply for a student visa and quarantined there for ...

University News

FY22 budget, Faculty Rules and Regulations amendments discussed at faculty meeting

By Alex Nadirashvili | June 2

Members of the University’s administration and faculty discussed amendments to the Faculty Rules and Regulations, the Fiscal Year 2022 budget and hopes for the 2021-22 academic year at the final faculty meeting of the semester Tuesday. Johanna Hanink, associate professor of classics and Faculty Executive ...

University News

Corporation approves $1.34 billion budget for FY22

By Caelyn Pender | June 1

The Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — approved a $1.34 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022 at its May meeting, an 11.9 percent increase from last year’s budget. The Corporation’s trustees also approved $1.369 billion in expenses, making for a projected total deficit of ...

Science & Research

Brown ‘on a very good trajectory’: Vaccine documentation surpasses 60 percent for employees, students on campus as Brown begins lifting COVID-19 restrictions

By Gabriella Vulakh | May 31

The total percentage of students who have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations has increased to 40.6 percent, and the total number of employees has increased to 59.7 percent, according to the University’s May 28 COVID-19 Testing Update. Of the students and employees currently on campus, more than ...