On campus, April 17
1. Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s All-USA Community College Academic Team recognizes high achieving, two-year college students who demonstrate academic excellence and intellectual rigor combined with leadership and service. Twenty team members are named annually, with each receiving a $5,000 scholarship. USA TODAY College profiled three of these extraordinary students — Sameerah Wahab, Patrick Fritz and Shahriar Zamani. Head over to college.usatoday.com to read their profiles — you will be in awe of their accomplishments.
2. Harvard’s oldest exclusive club, The Porcellian, has finally addressed its gender policy — and the explanation has not gone over well. In a statement emailed to The Harvard Crimson — the student newspaper says it’s the club’s most “extensive comments in centuries” — Charles M. Storey (’82), the graduate board president, said the inclusion of women into the all-male club could well lead to ... get this ... sexual assault. “Forcing single gender organizations to accept members of the opposite sex could potentially increase, not decrease the potential for sexual misconduct,” Storey wrote. Also in the statement, according to the newspaper, he said Porcellian believes it “is being used as a scapegoat for the sexual assault problem at Harvard despite its policies to help avoid the potential for sexual assault.”
3. A week after a deceased woman was found in a creek at the University of Texas at Austin, new details are coming to light. Based on preliminary evidence and several law enforcement officers in the investigation, Haruka Weiser – a freshman dance major at UT – was said to be a victim of sexual assault and strangulation, the Austin-American Statesman reports. Previously, details surrounding Weiser’s death remained unknown. However, in an email to the university community, UT president Gregory Fenves called the homicide an “unthinkable brutality.” Results from Weiser’s autopsy have not been completed and final conclusions aren’t expected for several weeks, the Statesman says.
4. One college might just have the best cure for the Monday blues. Students at Milligan College woke up to some good, no, marvelous news Monday: all classes were canceled for an annual tradition of a surprise holiday in April. The Christian liberal arts college located near Johnson City, Tenn., has carried on this tradition for the past 47 years by planning a surprise day off from classes. The exact date is one of the school’s best-kept secrets — except for the campus activities board, no one knows the day of the event and this year’s Marvelous Monday was no exception — students were able to celebrate with water slides, rock climbing walls, pizza and fireworks.
5. If you’re looking to study abroad next year, don’t set your hearts on a destination just yet. One of these top 10 destinations may steal your heart. Abroad101 ranked 1,472 study abroad programs based on student ratings, number of available reviews and adviser’s approval. Rankings include most livable cities, top non-traditional countries, top budget-friendly cities and the top 16 general destinations. Here are the top 10 study abroad programs according to Abroad101:
Loyola University Chicago: The Beijing Center
UPCES — Study abroad in Prague
IES Abroad: Study Abroad in Granada
Sol Education Abroad: Heredia - Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
The Education Abroad Network (TEAN): Gold Coast - Bond University
Read the entire list at college.usatoday.com.