Historically Black colleges and universities fight to make up funding deficits [ CBS Mornings ]

PandaCams

UTSA offers influencer degree [ Texas Public Radio ]

The flava:

The University of Texas at San Antonio is launching a college degree program in becoming a digital social media influencer.

The UTSA bachelor’s degree in digital media influence is designed for aspiring content creators. The university’s promotional materials explain, “Unlike other digital media degrees, this program focuses on the psychology of media and teaching persuasion that can move an audience to action. Students work closely with faculty to curate projects and coursework to their chosen audience, offering a customized learning experience.”

The emergence of digital social media influencer degrees is a direct response to the growing demand for skilled professionals in this rapidly evolving field. As businesses continue to rely on influencers to reach and engage with their target audiences, the demand for individuals with the necessary skills is expected to remain strong. . . .

The article and podcast episode:

https://www.tpr.org/podcast/the-source/2024-08-25/utsa-offers-influencer-degree

Two Bodies Found in Rice University Dorm Room in Possible Murder-Suicide [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

Two people were found shot dead in a dorm room at Rice University in Houston, the university president said on Monday, in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.

One was a female student who had lived in the dorm room in the Jones College residential hall, Reginald DesRoches, the university president, said at a news conference. The other was a man who was not a university student and who had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he said.

The university identified the student as Andrea Rodriguez Avila, a junior.

She appeared to have been in a romantic relationship with the man, Clemente Rodriguez, the university police chief, said. . . . 

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/26/us/rice-university-shooting-homicide.html

What Can a University President Do?

Being a university president these days sounds quite a bit like the description of being the mayor of Baltimore in The Wire: each constituency you must serve brings you a giant bowl of shit each day, and your job is to eat them all. . . .

--Michael C. Dorf, Dorf on Law

Sesame Street guests, 1972 & 1989

The Misery of Leading Columbia University

On Wednesday Nemat Shafik resigned as president of Columbia University after little more than a year. Her resignation letter began by describing her “immense sadness” in stepping down, understandable given the prestige and opportunity of an Ivy League presidency, long considered a plum role in what
Shafik described as a “life dedicated to public service.”

In normal times, you would have to ask why someone would give all that up. But these are not normal times, and the answer is obvious. A glance at the jubilant and downright vicious comments noting Shafik’s departure on the official Columbia University Instagram account gives a sense of the climate in which Shafik, who uses the name Minouche, was operating.

“A pathetic end to a feeble and embarrassing tenure,” noted one of the gentler posts. “Shame on her for not responding to antisemitism with courage and strength,” said another. “Go to hell Minouche! Free Palestine,” wrote a third. From many others, there were sounds of glee: “brat summer,” “Ding dong the witch is dead” and unprintable epithets laced with watermelon emojis. . . .

--Pamela Paul, Opinion Columnist, New York Times

Austin Community College receives multimillion dollar federal grant for semiconductor training [ KVUE ]

Shawnee Community College students go back to school [ WSIL News 3 ]

Which College Won the Olympics? [ WSJ ]

The flava:

When the Paris Olympics ended on Sunday, the final medal table looked exactly the way that everyone
around the world expected. Team USA was once again at the top, followed by China, Great Britain, host France, Australia, Japan, Italy—and Stanford. 

Excusez-moi? 

When it comes to which countries bring home the most Olympic medals, there’s not much competition: The U.S. has dominated every Summer Games since 1996. This year, the Americans and Chinese wound up tied with 40 gold medals, but Team USA easily topped the overall medal count yet again. 

So we dove into the only fight more tribal than a global competition for athletic supremacy and looked at which colleges won the Olympics. 

And as it turns out, these intramurals were also a beatdown. 

Stanford took home 39 medals, more than double the number of any other U.S. school—and more than the Netherlands, South Korea, Germany and Canada. . . . 

The article:

https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/olympics-medals-total-usa-stanford-texas-f5cdc101

How US Colleges Became Corporations [ Second Thought ]

Architect Breaks Down the Most Common Styles of College Campus [ Architectural Digest ]