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Harvard Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Role in Slavery

FILE — People walk along a sidewalk on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., July 16, 2019. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow announced April 26, 2022 that the university is committing $100 million to study its ties to slavery.
FILE — People walk along a sidewalk on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., July 16, 2019. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow announced April 26, 2022 that the university is committing $100 million to study its ties to slavery.

Harvard University is vowing to spend $100 million to research and atone for its extensive ties with slavery, the school's president announced Tuesday, with plans to identify and support direct descendants of dozens of enslaved people who labored at the Ivy League campus.

President Lawrence Bacow announced the funding as Harvard released a new report detailing many ways the college benefited from slavery and perpetrated racial inequality.

The report, commissioned by Bacow, found that Harvard's faculty, staff and leaders enslaved more than 70 Black and Native American people from the school's founding in 1636 to 1783. For decades after, it added, scholars at Harvard continued to promote concepts that fueled ideas of white supremacy.

In a campus message, Bacow said many will find the report "disturbing and shocking," and he acknowledged that the school "perpetuated practices that were profoundly immoral."

"Consequently, I believe we bear a moral responsibility to do what we can to address the persistent corrosive effects of those historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our society," he wrote.

Alongside its findings, the 130-page report includes recommendations that Bacow endorsed. The university will create a new $100 million fund to carry out the work, which include building stronger relationships with historically Black colleges and expanding education in underserved areas.

It also called on Harvard to identify the direct descendants of enslaved people and engage them through dialogue and educational support.

"Through such efforts, these descendants can recover their histories, tell their stories, and pursue empowering knowledge," the report said.

Harvard is among a growing number of U.S. universities working to acknowledge and reckon with their historical ties to slavery.

Harvard began its work 2016 when former President Drew Gilpin Faust acknowledged that the school was "directly complicit in America's system of racial bondage" and created a committee to study the topic. Bacow commissioned the new report in 2019, building on that work.

"The Harvard that I have known, while far from perfect, has always tried to be better — to bring our lived experience ever closer to our high ideals," Bacow wrote. "In releasing this report and committing ourselves to following through on its recommendations, we continue a long tradition of embracing the challenges before us."

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‘Study away’ programs in the US can provide enrichment opportunities 

FILE - Students walk on the campus of Boston College, April 29, 2024, in Boston.
FILE - Students walk on the campus of Boston College, April 29, 2024, in Boston.

While studying abroad can expose students to new cultures and experiences, researchers are finding that domestic ‘study away’ programs can be helpful as well.

Some students, including those on an international visa, may not be able to study abroad, but they can travel to other locations in the U.S. for enrichment experiences, Ashley Mowreader writes in Inside Higher Ed. (October 2024)

Fewer students disclose race in applications to top colleges 

FILE - An unidentified person walks past Harvard yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 7, 2023
FILE - An unidentified person walks past Harvard yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 7, 2023

FAfter the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in college admissions last year, fewer students are disclosing their race or ethnicity in applications to top colleges.

Writing in USA Today, Zachary Schermele notes that the data is preliminary, but it could signal a change in the way students are approaching college applications. (October 2024)

Overall college enrollment is up, first-year enrollment down 

FILE - A student delivers packages to the dormitory at DePaul University in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
FILE - A student delivers packages to the dormitory at DePaul University in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.

For the second year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, college enrollment has climbed in the United States.

But the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center noticed a substantial drop in the number of freshmen, which could be troubling for future enrollment, according to a report in Forbes. (October 2024)

South African universities embrace AI, seeing it as equalizing tool

South African universities embrace AI, seeing it as equalizing tool
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The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has sparked debate in higher education, raising questions about ethics and integrity in teaching, learning and knowledge creation. In South Africa, some academic institutions are taking a proactive approach, integrating AI into their curricula. Experts say this step is not only innovative but also helps level the playing field among students. Zaheer Cassim reports from Johannesburg.

International students may be able to get jobs at school 

FILE - Northeastern University graduate student Shabbir Hussain, of Indore, India, left, views a computer screen at the entrance to the Snell Library on the Northeastern University campus in Boston on May 24, 2016.
FILE - Northeastern University graduate student Shabbir Hussain, of Indore, India, left, views a computer screen at the entrance to the Snell Library on the Northeastern University campus in Boston on May 24, 2016.

International students studying in the United States may be able to work on campus.

Jobs can include working in libraries, labs, food service and dormitories – but students will have to research the rules before applying for jobs, according to U.S. News & World Report. (September 2024)

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