Spring Break
News in Brief
Issue date: 10/18/07
- Page 1 of 1
Duke lacrosse coach sues over perceived slander
Mike Pressler, former coach of the Duke University lacrosse team, filed a lawsuit against the school last week, accusing Duke officials of violating the terms of an agreement he made with them by slandering his name to the press.
Pressler, who was forced to resign from the job he'd held for 16 seasons after members of his team were accused of rape, left his position at Duke on April 5, 2006.
At the time, he came to both an initial and what his lawsuit calls a "confidential" agreement with University officials regarding the terms of his departure.
Shortly afterwards, however, Duke officials intimated to reporters that the faults of the team could be blamed on its coach.
John F. Burness, the school's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said in an interview that, "Coaches in general … are responsible for the behavior of their teams."
Pressler's lawsuit asks that the judge in the Superior Court in Durham County, where it was filed, order that the agreements he made with Duke University be rescinded due to those "defamatory and disparaging statements" his lawsuit cites.
He claims they are a violation of the agreements he made with the school.
- Alexandra Watson
Drew Faust takes post as first female Harvard president
Harvard University inaugurated its first female president, Drew Gilpin Faust, on Friday, Oct. 12.
Faust's main talking points over the course of her two-day inauguration were concerned more with clarifying the values and causes she hopes to champion during her tenure than with laying out specific plans.
Faust spoke out against government pressure for universities to quantify the quality of their teaching; she called on all higher education institutions to define for themselves their accountabilities.
She also made clear her opposition to the Bush administration's focus on simply training students to become a global work force. Faust intimated in her speech that higher education, though integral to training students for the work force, must do even more than that.
Her speech, on a similar note, defended the traditional role of universities as places where knowledge and learning are separate from their economic uses, and valued in their own right.
Faust also noted the importance of Harvard's place at the forefront of scientific research, but didn't fail to bring her observations back to the subject of university values. She noted that it was the duty of the institution to tackle ethical issues in order to further the understanding of man's place in a changing world.
- Alexandra Watson
Former JHU Associate Dean dies
On October 1 of this year, former Associate Dean Rochelle "Shelly" Ingram passed away at 59 in her home in Owings Mills due to a neurological disease.
Ingram began her education in Pennsylvania State University and went on to get her doctorate in school administration from the University of Maryland.
Before coming to Hopkins in 1996, Ingram was a member of the Maryland State Department of Education. As a member of the Department of Education, she held several posts including assistant state schools superintendent. Ingram had been a key faculty member, previous to her appointment as dean, in the School of Professional Business Studies and Education acting as the chair of the Department of Teacher Preparation. She then went on to assume the role of Associate Dean in 1999 along with becoming director of the Graduate Division of Education. As Associate Dean, Ingram got in touch and partnered with local school systems and acted as the first chair of the Committee on Civility and Diversity.
- Ross Linker
Former Daniel Webster student sues school after bullying incidents
Jerif Vilardo, a former student of Daniel Webster College, is suing the school for their alleged failure to protect him from repeated incidents of bullying on campus, which he says led him to drop out of college.
According to Vilardo, he was targeted by another student within two weeks of his arrival at the small private college in New Hampshire.
Over the course of his time at Daniel Webster, Vilardo claims he was hazed, harassed, assaulted and abused all over campus, including in his own dorm room and in the school cafeteria.
Even after his harasser was kicked out of school, Vilardo claims the abuse did not stop.
The student harassing Vilardo, who is unnamed in the suit, allegedly broke into Vilardo's room after his eviction from the institution and beat him with a lacrosse stick while he slept.
Vilardo's suit blames the college for failing to take into account his harasser's history of abusive behavior and for failing to provide dormitories with sufficient supervision, which might have protected him from the abuse he suffered in his own room.
Â- Alexandra Watson
Ex-professors at Oral Roberts file charges against school's president
Three former university professors are suing the current president of Oral Roberts University, Richard Roberts, who is the son of the university's founder, televangelist Oral Roberts.
The scandal has prompted the University's president to temporarily step down.
The professors recently filed charges referencing the president's financial, political and personal irregularities.
John Swails, Tim Brooker and his wife, Paulita Brooker, filed the suit. All three left their positions at the University after alerting University officials to accusations of wrongdoing; Swails and Brooker were fired, while Brooker was pressed to resign.
Charges against Roberts reference the incessant remodeling of his house on campus - presumably out of University funds - and use of the University's privately owned jet.
The lawsuit also references "salacious" text messages on the Roberts family's cell phones.
These messages, sent from phones with bills that are paid for by the University, were apparently sent to underage males.
The lawsuit claims that Roberts illegally mobilized students for political purposes, requiring that they campaign for a Republican mayoral candidate. Because tax laws limit the political activities of nonprofit groups, the incident was investigated by the I.R.S.
The suit currently filed claims that the tax agency was misled in the course of its inquiries.
It further stated that Mr. Brooker was forced to mobilize students for the political campaign against his will, despite his protestations that it was illegal.
Brooker was allegedly forced to shoulder the blame when the I.R.S. investigated, giving inaccurate information in order to protect the school.
Brooker felt that he was later made the scapegoat to save Roberts and other officials.
- Alexandra Watson
NAMIN selects six Johns Hopkins researchers
Several medical researchers from the Johns Hopkins University were selected to be included as members in the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
Out of 65 new members to the Institute, six came from Hopkins. The new inductees are Ron Brookmeyer, Andrew Feignberg, Lyn R. Goldman, Frederick M. Burkle Jr., Kay Dickerson and Aravinda Chakravarti.
By becoming a part of this respected institution the researchers' dedication to both the medical arts, the practicing of medicine and the training of future doctors are all acknowledged by the medical community.
Each of these individuals has become known in a specific area of medical and clinical research. Their fields range from such as biostatistics to oncology.
Projects that they have been involved with range from creating statistical approaches to tracking diseases in populations to research in autism.
Furthermore, these researchers hold prestigious titles at Hopkins, reflecting their dedication to their profession.
- Ross Linker
Catholic univ. pulls ads for abortion from radio station
After pressure from Duquesne University, a public radio station in Pittsburgh has pulled all advertising for Planned Parenthood.
The school, which owns the station's license, felt the organization did not fall in line with the University's mission. Planned Parenthood provides abortion as a part of its sexual health services.
Ads were aired for two days before the University's president, Charles Dougherty, ordered WDUO staff members to pull them.
The station, which receives six percent of its funds from Duquesne, returned 5,000 dollars in donations from Planned Parenthood.
- Marie Cushing
Mike Pressler, former coach of the Duke University lacrosse team, filed a lawsuit against the school last week, accusing Duke officials of violating the terms of an agreement he made with them by slandering his name to the press.
Pressler, who was forced to resign from the job he'd held for 16 seasons after members of his team were accused of rape, left his position at Duke on April 5, 2006.
At the time, he came to both an initial and what his lawsuit calls a "confidential" agreement with University officials regarding the terms of his departure.
Shortly afterwards, however, Duke officials intimated to reporters that the faults of the team could be blamed on its coach.
John F. Burness, the school's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said in an interview that, "Coaches in general … are responsible for the behavior of their teams."
Pressler's lawsuit asks that the judge in the Superior Court in Durham County, where it was filed, order that the agreements he made with Duke University be rescinded due to those "defamatory and disparaging statements" his lawsuit cites.
He claims they are a violation of the agreements he made with the school.
- Alexandra Watson
Drew Faust takes post as first female Harvard president
Harvard University inaugurated its first female president, Drew Gilpin Faust, on Friday, Oct. 12.
Faust's main talking points over the course of her two-day inauguration were concerned more with clarifying the values and causes she hopes to champion during her tenure than with laying out specific plans.
Faust spoke out against government pressure for universities to quantify the quality of their teaching; she called on all higher education institutions to define for themselves their accountabilities.
She also made clear her opposition to the Bush administration's focus on simply training students to become a global work force. Faust intimated in her speech that higher education, though integral to training students for the work force, must do even more than that.
Her speech, on a similar note, defended the traditional role of universities as places where knowledge and learning are separate from their economic uses, and valued in their own right.
Faust also noted the importance of Harvard's place at the forefront of scientific research, but didn't fail to bring her observations back to the subject of university values. She noted that it was the duty of the institution to tackle ethical issues in order to further the understanding of man's place in a changing world.
- Alexandra Watson
Former JHU Associate Dean dies
On October 1 of this year, former Associate Dean Rochelle "Shelly" Ingram passed away at 59 in her home in Owings Mills due to a neurological disease.
Ingram began her education in Pennsylvania State University and went on to get her doctorate in school administration from the University of Maryland.
Before coming to Hopkins in 1996, Ingram was a member of the Maryland State Department of Education. As a member of the Department of Education, she held several posts including assistant state schools superintendent. Ingram had been a key faculty member, previous to her appointment as dean, in the School of Professional Business Studies and Education acting as the chair of the Department of Teacher Preparation. She then went on to assume the role of Associate Dean in 1999 along with becoming director of the Graduate Division of Education. As Associate Dean, Ingram got in touch and partnered with local school systems and acted as the first chair of the Committee on Civility and Diversity.
- Ross Linker
Former Daniel Webster student sues school after bullying incidents
Jerif Vilardo, a former student of Daniel Webster College, is suing the school for their alleged failure to protect him from repeated incidents of bullying on campus, which he says led him to drop out of college.
According to Vilardo, he was targeted by another student within two weeks of his arrival at the small private college in New Hampshire.
Over the course of his time at Daniel Webster, Vilardo claims he was hazed, harassed, assaulted and abused all over campus, including in his own dorm room and in the school cafeteria.
Even after his harasser was kicked out of school, Vilardo claims the abuse did not stop.
The student harassing Vilardo, who is unnamed in the suit, allegedly broke into Vilardo's room after his eviction from the institution and beat him with a lacrosse stick while he slept.
Vilardo's suit blames the college for failing to take into account his harasser's history of abusive behavior and for failing to provide dormitories with sufficient supervision, which might have protected him from the abuse he suffered in his own room.
Â- Alexandra Watson
Ex-professors at Oral Roberts file charges against school's president
Three former university professors are suing the current president of Oral Roberts University, Richard Roberts, who is the son of the university's founder, televangelist Oral Roberts.
The scandal has prompted the University's president to temporarily step down.
The professors recently filed charges referencing the president's financial, political and personal irregularities.
John Swails, Tim Brooker and his wife, Paulita Brooker, filed the suit. All three left their positions at the University after alerting University officials to accusations of wrongdoing; Swails and Brooker were fired, while Brooker was pressed to resign.
Charges against Roberts reference the incessant remodeling of his house on campus - presumably out of University funds - and use of the University's privately owned jet.
The lawsuit also references "salacious" text messages on the Roberts family's cell phones.
These messages, sent from phones with bills that are paid for by the University, were apparently sent to underage males.
The lawsuit claims that Roberts illegally mobilized students for political purposes, requiring that they campaign for a Republican mayoral candidate. Because tax laws limit the political activities of nonprofit groups, the incident was investigated by the I.R.S.
The suit currently filed claims that the tax agency was misled in the course of its inquiries.
It further stated that Mr. Brooker was forced to mobilize students for the political campaign against his will, despite his protestations that it was illegal.
Brooker was allegedly forced to shoulder the blame when the I.R.S. investigated, giving inaccurate information in order to protect the school.
Brooker felt that he was later made the scapegoat to save Roberts and other officials.
- Alexandra Watson
NAMIN selects six Johns Hopkins researchers
Several medical researchers from the Johns Hopkins University were selected to be included as members in the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
Out of 65 new members to the Institute, six came from Hopkins. The new inductees are Ron Brookmeyer, Andrew Feignberg, Lyn R. Goldman, Frederick M. Burkle Jr., Kay Dickerson and Aravinda Chakravarti.
By becoming a part of this respected institution the researchers' dedication to both the medical arts, the practicing of medicine and the training of future doctors are all acknowledged by the medical community.
Each of these individuals has become known in a specific area of medical and clinical research. Their fields range from such as biostatistics to oncology.
Projects that they have been involved with range from creating statistical approaches to tracking diseases in populations to research in autism.
Furthermore, these researchers hold prestigious titles at Hopkins, reflecting their dedication to their profession.
- Ross Linker
Catholic univ. pulls ads for abortion from radio station
After pressure from Duquesne University, a public radio station in Pittsburgh has pulled all advertising for Planned Parenthood.
The school, which owns the station's license, felt the organization did not fall in line with the University's mission. Planned Parenthood provides abortion as a part of its sexual health services.
Ads were aired for two days before the University's president, Charles Dougherty, ordered WDUO staff members to pull them.
The station, which receives six percent of its funds from Duquesne, returned 5,000 dollars in donations from Planned Parenthood.
- Marie Cushing
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