University of Chicago to go loan-free for locals
The University of Chicago will eliminate student loans and waive application fees for applicants who hail from Chicago, the university announced Monday.
The changes come as part of a larger overhaul of the university's admission process. The initiative, called UChicago Promise, aims to help students from the city "gain admission to, pay for and thrive in college," according to a press release.
UChicago Promise was announced soon after Mayor Rahm Emmanuel called on local institutions to be more accessible to the area's high school students, the Chicago Maroon reported.
As part of the program, the University of Chicago will also create an Admissions Academy to guide prospective students through the process of applying for both admission and financial aid, the press release said. Chicago high schoolers can use the program in applying to the University of Chicago as well as in applying to other universities and colleges.
Robert Zimmer, the University of Chicago's current president, was the provost of Brown from 2002 to 2006.
Amherst rape account raises sexual assault discussions
An Amherst College student's account of her rape published two weeks ago in the Amherst Student has sparked a greater discussion about sexual assault on the college's campus, the New York Times reported last week.
The account, which describes both the rape and the college's subsequent handling of the incident, attracted national attention, prompting other Amherst students to step forward about incidents of sexual assault, the Times reported.
The college's handling of sexual assault "must change and change immediately," Amherst President Carolyn Martin wrote in a public statement following the account's publication.
College representatives subsequently agreed to improve campus support for sexual assault victims and to reevaluate the protocol for punishing perpetrators of such assaults, Martin wrote. Administrators will also consider banning or regulating off-campus fraternities.
According to a 2000 study of sexual assaults on college campuses, at a college of Amherst's size over 100 "forcible sexual offenses" - a category that includes acts like rape and attempted rape - are predicted to occur annually, the Times reported. In the past year, the college reported 12 such incidents.
