BU, Harvard, MIT Urge Research, Student Support
BU IN DC
Peter Fox-Penner of the Questrom School of Business facilitated a U.S. Department of Energy workshop on wholesale electricity markets on March 4. Michael Caramanis of the College of Engineering participated in the workshop.
Brian Poznanski of Admissions attended the National Association for College Admission Counseling conference and met with Congressional staff between February 27 and 29.
Rebecca Shangraw of the School of Education took part in SHAPE America’s annual advocacy days for health and physical educators on Capitol Hill on March 1 and 2.
BU, HARVARD, MIT URGE RESEARCH, STUDENT SUPPORT
As Congress begins its annual budget process, Boston University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology urged the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to support the universities’ funding priorities for federal student aid, scientific research, and the humanities. The universities’ joint memorandum expressed appreciation for the increases previously provided for the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other priorities. It also emphasized that, despite the recent improvements, the otherwise austere federal funding environment has inflicted damage to the Commonwealth’s research and higher education enterprise.
SUBCOMMITTEE EXAMINES CAMPUS FREE SPEECH
On Wednesday, the Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing to examine whether universities are inappropriately restricting political speech on campus for fear of losing their tax-exempt status. A Georgetown University Law student who was prevented from handing out literature supporting the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) testified, as did a witness from the pro-free speech Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Georgetown revised its policies governing student political speech prior to the hearing, prompting Subcommittee Democrats to question its purpose. Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL), who has also launched an inquiry into college endowments, encouraged students and faculty who believe their college has infringed on their free speech rights to share their stories with the Subcommittee.
EVENT NEWS YOU CAN USE
BU Research will host a talk at 9 a.m. on March 15 featuring Eric Rohlfing, Deputy Director for Technology at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Faculty will have the opportunity to learn about ARPA-E’s programs and projects, and how it solicits and manages research awards to advance potentially disruptive energy technologies.