Washington Reacts to Admissions Scandal
BU IN DC
Rhoda Au of the School of Medicine spoke at a Congressional briefing on improving transparency in Alzheimer’s research on March 19.
Graduate students Angel Rubio and Mehraj Awal of the School of Medicine, Hannah Peterson of the College of Engineering, and Rachel Nauer of theCollege of Arts & Sciences participated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop and Capitol Hill day from March 24 through 27.
School of Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig hosted two alumni events and was sworn in to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 and 26. Law colleaguesElizabeth Cerrato, Jack Beerman, Lexi Ongman, Zachary Dubin, and Alissa Leonard joined her.
Rebecca Ingber of the School of Law attended the American Society of International Law annual meeting between March 27 and 30.
WASHINGTON REACTS TO ADMISSIONS SCANDAL
Lawmakers are stepping up their oversight of the college admissions process in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) charges that dozens of wealthy parents used bribery and cheating to secure their children’s admission into college.
- On Thursday, House Education and Labor Committee Democrats hosted a briefing highlighting inequities in the admissions process. Admissions officers, scholars, and think tank officials discussed the structural barriers facing first-generation and underrepresented minority college applicants.
- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) the senior Democrat on the Senate tax-writing committee, pledged to introduce legislation that would preclude use of the charitable deduction for gifts given to colleges either prior to or during the enrollment of the donor family’s children.
- News outlets are reporting that the U.S. Department of Education has launched its own investigation of whether the eight schools mentioned in the DOJ charges have violated the Department’s rules and regulations.
BUZZ BITS…
- U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testified this week before both House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees regarding the Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget for education.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) head James Bridenstine testified regarding the NASA budget request before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday.
- The House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities examined the Department of Defense’s science and technology programs on Thursday.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The last Research on Tap of the semester will take place on April 2 with a focus on mechanobiology: how physical cues, such as force and stretch, affect biological processes. Hosted by Elise Morgan of the College of Engineering and Katya Ravid of the School of Medicine, the event will feature microtalks from University faculty who are studying mechanobiology and how it can be applied to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. A networking reception where investigators can interact with potential research collaborators will follow.