Student Union
Professor Overcomes Loss to Craft COVID-19 Student Brochures
When the coronavirus pandemic struck New York City, LaGuardia Community College professor Lucia Fuentes assigned students in her honors biology class to compile all the information they could find about COVID-19.
The result? An online multilingual brochure based on research from peer-reviewed journals, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that has become a valuable resource for immigrants in the United States and their families abroad.
"Science is complicated and we have to make it more accessible," Fuentes said. "This is why... I thought it would be a good thing for the students, and that it would be a contribution."
Nothing stopped the project — not even the death of Fuentes' husband on March 25, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19, or her own bout with the disease. In her grief, she remains committed to her students and determined to prevent others from getting sick.
"I wasn't going to drop my students, and I knew they were going through tons of really horrible stuff," she said. "I talked to some of them afterwards... and they really appreciated that."
She also valued their support.
"Students gave me strength," she said. "Knowing that they expected me to be there, that's what propels me. It always has. I love my students."
The class brochures were also printed and distributed in her native Guatemala, as well as in Colombia. Her most recent work involves information about COVID-19 vaccines.
Students have already helped translate the latest brochures into their native languages, including Albanian, Korean and Portuguese.
Fuentes' project is rooted in her own life experiences. She fled Guatemala after her father — Alberto Fuentes Mohr, a respected political leader, economist and diplomat — was kidnapped in 1970 and killed in 1979. When she went into exile to Switzerland, she didn't know French, and she felt like she fell behind in class because of the language barrier.
"It was an eye-opener in every way in terms of how I realize the struggle and the questioning of the `fairness' of those of us who get the possibility of having an education," she said.
When she became a college professor, she saw how her students faced a similar struggle.
"I realized that it was the language. They were smart, they knew the stuff, it was just the language."
Ruben Felipe Perez, a LaGuardia student from Colombia who hopes to attend medical school, called Fuentes an "amazing human being" who inspires many by overcoming great challenges in her quest to keep others safe.
"She just turned all that grief into giving to the rest of the community," he said.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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