William Hague elected new Chancellor of Oxford University [ Channel 4 News ]

How I Survived China's Top University as the Only American [ Oriental Pearl ]

Fighting Fat Discrimination in Higher Education [ Montclair State University ]

The flava:

When Montclair State University student and staff member Stephanie Spitz encountered classroom furniture that couldn’t accommodate a larger student’s body, it sparked a graduate research project addressing weight-based discrimination. Now, her work is driving meaningful change in higher education.

“Anti-fat bias has surpassed discrimination based on race and gender and sexuality, so it’s the most prevalent form of discrimination out there,” Spitz says. Yet, “there are no legal protections for fat people.” . . .

The P.R. article:

https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2024/11/25/fighting-fat-discrimination-in-higher-education/

UATX says it fights college censorship culture with a focus on free speech [ 60 Minutes ]

At 17, She Just Passed the State Bar of California [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

Sophia Park, 17, and her family huddled around her laptop one evening this month as she entered her
details onto the State Bar of California’s website and clicked “Check pass list.”

Sophia’s smile grew as she read the results: She passed the July 2024 general bar exam, a requirement to be licensed as a practicing lawyer in the Golden State. Her family clapped and hugged her.

“I am very happy and excited,” Sophia said in a video that the family uploaded to YouTube.

The California bar is among the most difficult licensing requirements exams in the country, and just under 54 percent of the 8,291 people who took it in July passed.

But Sophia’s accomplishment goes beyond that. At 17 years and 8 months old, she is believed to be the youngest person to pass the state’s bar exam, besting the previous record-holder: her older brother, Peter, who passed the exam in November 2023, when he was 17 years and 11 months old.

Sophia achieved this feat while taking advanced courses online from home, enabling her to graduate from high school, college and law school in about four years. . . .

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/us/california-bar-exam-sophia-park.html

St. Louis Community College soccer star who wants to be a nun [ KSDK News ]

Black University of Alabama students, parents outraged after getting racist text message [ WVTM 13 News ]

Moriarty from Midland emails a thought

Election Day is here on campus. The Student Affairs employees are aroused. Many of the students seem giddy. The faculty are keeping their heads down, somewhat. I'm wondering whether or not my anxieties should be high. What will tomorrow bring?

--Moriarty from Midland

Being a College Athlete Now Means Constant Travel and Missed Classes [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

Playing football this season for the U.C.L.A. Bruins means being a frequent (and distant) flier. The team began the campaign in August with a win at the University of Hawaii. Their next road games sent the Bruins to Louisiana State, then Penn State, and back across the country to Rutgers. Then, a trip to Nebraska on Saturday and a jaunt up to Washington.

Such is the life of the modern-day college athlete, with U.C.L.A. moving into the Big Ten Conference, the erstwhile standard-bearer for Midwest football that now stretches from Piscataway to Puget Sound.

In all, the Bruins will travel 22,226 miles this season — nearly enough to circumnavigate the globe. It is the equivalent of 33 round trips to the Bay Area to play Stanford or U.C. Berkeley, U.C.L.A.’s former rivals that have moved to a newly bicoastal league of their own. . . .

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/30/us/college-football-conference-realignment.html

Fewer Black men are attending HBCUs | All Things Considered [ NPR ]