There's been a flurry of bills from Georgia lawmakers in recent days, with several focusing on similar issues. Two bills were introduced in the last week that would allow students in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to pay in-state tuition in the state's public colleges and universities. That brings the total to three bills on the matter.
Here’s more about the action at the state Capitol on higher education legislation, a major honor for an important figure in the University of Georgia’s history, how Kennesaw State University is addressing its latest growth spurt and other matters in the latest edition of AJC On Campus.
Legislature update
There are now two Republican-led bills aimed at removing specific areas on campus for students and guests to speak in favor of allowing groups to speak about anywhere on campus. A committee last week heard from several students who spoke in support of SB 318. A similar bill, House Bill 995, was introduced Monday in the House of Representatives. Republican lawmakers have proposed several bills in recent years to address complaints that conservative-leaning students and organizations have had their Constitutional free speech rights violated on campus.
In other higher education news at the state Capitol, the University System of Georgia got a win last week when House lawmakers passed House Bill 292, which basically says the system doesn't owe several hundred million dollars to the state's teacher pension program. A state audit last year said the system shortchanged the program by about $600 million. A bill dropped Monday that increases prison time for student hazing. Meanwhile, lawmakers also heard arguments over a bill that would require some of the state's top public colleges to admit more Georgians during the early admissions process.
The latest on the Anitra Gunn case
Credit: LEAH YETTER
Credit: LEAH YETTER
As Fort Valley State University students and administrators mourn the death of student Anitra Gunn, law enforcement officials continue to build their case against the man they believe killed her. On Monday, officials said they believe Gunn, 23, was strangled to death. Gunn's boyfriend, DeMarcus Little, 23, a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Gordon, has been charged with murder. Here's the latest on the case and funeral arrangements. Gunn graduated from Fulton County's Westlake High School.
Study finds University of North Georgia nation’s safest school
A report released last week has concluded the University of North Georgia is the nation’s safest college or university. The study by ValuePenguin, a consumer information organization, based its findings on the four most-recent years (2014-2018) of FBI crime data reported by campus police. The report looked at the probability a student would be a crime victim, based on the campus police data, to create the rankings. Georgia Perimeter College, now part of Georgia State University, ranked ninth. ValuePenguin looked at about 1,000 colleges and universities with enrollments greater than 10,800 students, which it said is the median nationally.
Hail Beyoncé
Spelman College and the Columbia Theological Seminary have scheduled a "Beyoncé Mass" on March 2 celebrating black womanist spirituality that will focus on the superstar music. Here's our report about the mass.
The Mary Frances Early College of Education
That's the new name of the school at the University of Georgia, officially unveiled Tuesday. Early became the first African American to graduate from UGA in 1962, but her place in the university's history had been ignored for decades. Here's more about her story.
The Gift 40 years later
Emory University on Tuesday celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Woodruff family's donation of three million shares of Coca-Cola stock, then valued at $105 million, to the school. It was the largest donation to a university in American history. Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg now holds the record donation with his 2018 gift of $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University.
KSU starts work on new academic center
Kennesaw State University’s enrollment grew by almost 7% this school year, to nearly 38,000 students. With that growth is the need for more dorm rooms and other campus facilities. KSU on Wednesday is scheduled to begin construction of a 147,000-square-foot academic learning center on the Kennesaw campus. The center will include two dozen classrooms, four seminar rooms, a multi-purpose lecture hall, computer labs and other specialized labs. The construction cost is estimated at $47 million and is expected to be completed by October 2021.
SCAD’s aTVfest festival
Some familiar faces on your television screens will be at the Savannah College of Art & Design’s Atlanta campus this weekend for its eighth annual aTVfest. The festival celebrates the television industry. The schedule includes an award ceremony that will honor Kim Cattrall, best known for her work on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” and Eric McCormack, longtime star of NBC’s “Will & Grace.”
Remembering Charles Hobson
Hobson, who died on Feb. 13, helped start WCLK-FM in 1974. It was the first African American federally licensed educational FM radio station in Georgia. The station is a part of Clark Atlanta University. Hobson was director of the Center of Mass Communications at what was then called Clark College. The New York Times obituary reported Hobson produced several award-winning television programs in the 1970s that offered nuanced stories about the African American experience. Hobson was 83.
Education Notebook
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in search of young people for a leadership program. The AJC's Arlinda Broady, who writes about education in Gwinnett County, wrote about it Sunday. Read more here.
This week’s number
60%
That’s the percentage of U.S. colleges and universities that did not meet their most recent enrollment goals, according to a survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education. There’s growing concern among administrators of fewer students attending college, in part, because of population declines in some parts of America. Fifteen of the 26 University System of Georgia schools - mostly in rural parts of the state - saw enrollment declines at the start of the fall 2019 semester.
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