college campuses

Students from MIT, Harvard University and others rally at a protest encampment at MIT's Kresge Lawn in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Monday.

Pro-Palestinian encampments and protests spread on college campuses across the U.S.

4:09pm April 23, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

After dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Columbia, Yale and NYU, students at colleges from Massachusetts to Minnesota to California are erecting encampments in solidarity.

California legislators in 2019 passed the law that requires all the state's 33 public university campuses to provide abortion pills. It took effect in January 2023, but LAist found that basic information for students to obtain the medication is often nonexistent.

California colleges provide abortion pills but many fail to make students aware

5:01am April 04, 2024

Despite a law mandating that they offer the pills, many campus health clinics don't publicize that they have them, leaving students struggling to track them down off-campus.

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Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters converge at a demonstration of New York University students in November.

'Fear rather than sensitivity': Most U.S. scholars on the Mideast are self-censoring

12:41pm December 15, 2023

by Manuela López Restrepo

The war between Israel and Hamas is testing the limits of free speech across college campuses. And it's also affecting those who study the Middle East.

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Claudine Gay (from left), president of Harvard University, Liz Magill, president of University of Pennsylvania, Pamela Nadell, professor of history and Jewish studies at American University, and Sally Kornbluth, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday.

Lawmakers grill the presidents of Harvard, MIT and Penn over antisemitism on campus

10:05am December 06, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Three university presidents defended their responses to rising antisemitism in a House committee hearing Tuesday. Many have faced scrutiny as they struggle to balance free speech with student safety.

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Columbia University closed campus to the public ahead of pro-Israel and pro-Gaza rallies on Thursday.

U.S. students are clashing over the Israel-Hamas war. What can colleges do?

5:00am October 14, 2023

The conflict has heightened tensions on U.S. campuses. What is the role and responsibility of colleges right now?

West Virginia's legislature has passed a bill that would allow concealed carry of firearms on public college campuses, including West Virginia University (pictured here).

A West Virginia bill allowing concealed guns at colleges is one step away from law

5:00am February 23, 2023

by Roshan Fernandez

A bill that would allow concealed weapons to be carried on West Virginia college campuses passed by a landslide in the state's House of Delegates. It heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Jim Justice.

A hazing-related student death at Bowling Green State University has renewed conversations about hazing on college campuses.

As Campus Life Resumes, So Does Concern Over Hazing

9:54am May 05, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Hank Nuwer about concerns that a pandemic-induced lull in hazing-related deaths may reverse as college students return to campus.

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University of Illinois graduate student Kristen Muñoz submits her saliva sample for coronavirus testing on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

Health & Safety

Swab, Spit Or Stay Home? A Wide Variety Of Plans To Keep Coronavirus Off Campus

3:18pm August 20, 2020

Colleges are rolling out a dizzying diversity of COVID-19 containment plans for students and staff. Some have no plans for routine testing, while others aim to test everyone on campus twice a week.

Mohan Sudabattula, a senior at the University of Utah, shows posters he found on campus from the white nationalist group Patriot Front.

National

White Nationalist Groups Increase Recruiting And Propaganda Across The West

1:38pm March 19, 2019

by Nate Hegyi

The Anti-Defamation League says white supremacist propaganda has increased by more than 180 percent in the past year, as the groups seek to recruit disaffected white kids looking for community.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and other campuses across the country are starting to fill up with students for the new academic semester.

Celebrating Intellectual Engagement On College Campuses

12:47pm August 24, 2017

by Barbara J. King

Sending your child off to college? It's important to appreciate what happens after move-in day — especially now, as there is a growing hostility to higher ed, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.