A Peek Inside the Ivy: Harvard sophomore is America's poet laureate, Columbia has smart professors and more

By Natalia Kolenko on October 8, 2017

Ivy League students are just like you. Except, you know, they go to an Ivy League school.

Columbia students get to brag their professor is smarter than yours

Joachim Frank speaking at Columbia (Image: Columbia University video)

Columbia professor Joachim Frank was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this week with two fellow academics for developing new methods that allow researchers to view biological molecules as three-dimensional structures.

The Columbia Spectator reports, “Frank’s research has been particularly helpful to researchers trying to learn more about viruses… Through this method, Frank discovered unique details about a parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, potentially leading to new treatments.”

Racial incidents put new Cornell president to the test

After two separate incidents that may lead to hate crime charges against a Cornell sophomore, black students hand the university president Martha E. Pollack a list of demands.

The Cornell Daily Sun reports, “Pollack, who assumed the presidency in April, is now in charge of a campus so on-edge that a rope keeping electrical wires away from a construction site in Collegetown was mistaken for a noose on Sunday night by students who called police to report it.”

The document consists of six pages of 12 demands, including calls for mandatory coursework regarding systems of power, training for all employees and members of Greek life, the creation of an anti-racism institute, a permanent presidential task force, and a plan to increase the presence of black Americans on campus to name a few.

When your professor sends you a piece of advice

“Think for yourself.”

A truly eerie whodunit puzzle plagues the community of Cornell

The tale of an impaled pumpkin.

Quote of the week

“If I could change one thing [about Harvard], it would be the ‘I’m fine’ culture.”

- First generation, former Harvard student Anya B. Bassett

Spotlight: Harvard sophomore is america’s first youth poet laureate

Amanda Gorman, Harvard class of 2020

Sure, getting into Harvard is an accomplishment all its own, but sophomore Amanda Gorman has already accomplished more than most adults twice her age. The first ever Youth Poet Laureate of the United States of America, a published author and founder of community project One Pen One Page, Gorman is taking the writing world by storm.

Uloop: Where did your passion for writing come from?

Amanda Gorman: I’ve been drawn to writing ever since I could remember. I’m infatuated with the concept of the written and the spoken, and how that documents not only our personal lives but microcosms of the world at large. It is my life goal to apply this literary passion to social justice.

 

U: What inspires you?

AG: I’m inspired by my mom. She’s an English teacher, and it’s because of her that I want to be an educator and am committed to literacy as a form of mobility and activism. She taught me to take my education seriously, and to stay determined when it came to honing my reading and writing skills.

 

U: How does being a Harvard student influence your writing?

AG: I get to pull from a plethora of writers who have graced this campus. We have Jorie Graham teaching classes! What this means is that I’m constantly energized to be writing in this space.

 

U: What advice do you have for fellow young writers?

AG: Keep writing. Never stop. Keep reading. Never stop. Believe in the value of your own authentic voice.

Tweet of the week

 

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