“I understand that our teams don’t make as much money as football and basketball,” says Sage Ohlensehlen, captain of the women’s swim team at University of Iowa and lead plaintiff in a class-action Title IX lawsuit against the school. “But we trained just as hard and we have just as much love for our sport. We deserve to play just as much as any other athlete.”
Tag: Colleges and Universities
The Ms. Q&A: Jennifer Weiss-Wolf on What the U.S. Can Learn From Scotland’s Period Products Law
Scotland recently became the first nation in the world to mandate all period products in the country will be free for anyone who needs them.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, menstrual equity expert and founder of Period Equity, discusses the historic nature of Scotland’s new law; how it’s going to work, in practice; how we might model it in the U.S.; and how COVID is affecting menstrual equity here in the States.
How COVID-19 is Devastating Women’s Studies Programs Across the U.S.
It is clear the pandemic has bolstered support for a neoliberal framework for higher education, where certain forms of labor go unrecognized and the financial bottom line takes precedence over all else. It is also clear the most affected entities in this crisis are, unsurprisingly, gender and women’s studies, ethnic studies, Latinx studies, Asian American studies, African American studies and Indigenous studies programs.
Race-Conscious Policies—Including Affirmative Action—Are Necessary For Addressing Racial Inequity
Affirmative action recently survived yet another legal attack when the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Harvard’s favor in a case challenging affirmative action.
This latest case against Harvard demonstrates that color-blindness cannot uproot this country’s legacy of racism. We must face race head-on to meaningfully address the racial inequality that persists in our society.
College-Aged Voters Have the Power to Shift the Election
With the clock ticking down towards Nov. 3, a newly energized Gen Z is expected to turnout in record high numbers. Although many college students were forced to rethink their voting plans in light of campus closures and travel restrictions, they are already making use of early voting options.
Colleges Must Accommodate Students Who Are Breastfeeding—Even in Zoom Classes
A Fresno City College student, Marcella Mares, filed a complaint against an instructor who told her that it was inappropriate to breastfeed her 10-month-old during Zoom classes—even with her camera turned off. This is a prime example of micro-aggressions that student parents experience in college classrooms every day. It is also a violation of the law.
Pandemic Exacerbates Already High Levels of Stress Among Women Faculty
The need to rapidly shift courses to remote instruction and meet research and service obligations while also ‘working’ from home has further intensified the already demanding conditions of academic work. Women have been hit hardest. The pandemic has exacerbated existing gender and other inequities among faculty.
Scholar Strike Aims to Highlight Racial Injustice Through Digital Teach-In
As part of an inaugural Scholar Strike, U.S. professors are withdrawing from classrooms to engage in accessible, digital education surrounding anti-Blackness and police brutality on Sept. 8 and 9.
Weekly Pulse: Health Care Companies Bank Record-High Profits—Yet Can’t Provide Free COVID Tests
For The Weekly Pulse (a revisit of an old Ms. column!), we’ve scoured the most trusted journalistic sources—and, of course, our Twitter feeds—to bring you this week’s most important news stories related to health and wellness.
This week: a group of Republicans backed by the White House challenge the ACA (in the middle of a pandemic); health care companies’ profits are through the roof; Texas clinics see a rise in later abortions after Abbott’s coronavirus-era ban; UNC cancelled in-person classes due to an outbreak of coronavirus after one week; updates on herd immunity; are plastic face shields effective?; and more.
Black College Grads End up With $25,000 More in Loans Than Whites. Cancel That Debt.
A move to cancel student debt for borrowers, especially Black and Brown students, who could not draw upon the equity in a family home or other savings will put more spending money in people’s pockets at a moment when the economy desperate needs it.
Canceling loans for people who have been denied wealth-building opportunities is a moral and economic imperative.