Quick Takes | Higher education round-up: April 13

Claremont McKenna College

Report admits extent of fudged admissions numbers

Claremont McKenna College admitted in a report Tuesday that the extent of its false admissions numbers was even greater than initially thought when they came to light in January. The report exaggerated the average class rank of their admitted students as well as the school’s admit rate.

The report, researched by a law firm, verified the school’s claim that the only person involved was a former Vice President and Admissions Dean, Richard Vos.

It also found that the motivation was not to boost rankings, but a disagreement between Vos and Claremont’s president, who wanted to admit more students with top SAT scores and class rankings than Vos did.

Columbia University

Confidential report sheds light on dean resignation

The Columbia Daily Spectator reported on Friday that the consulting firm McKinsey & Company recommended centralizing decision-making with the administration, shedding light on why then-Columbia College Dean Michele Moody-Adams resigned last year.

At the time, Moody-Adams indicated she was leaving because of the inevitability of coming changes that would erode the power of the College.

McKinsey’s report, obtained by Spectator, also recommends scaling back financial aid and upping enrollment in more lucrative degree programs. The administration has been considering changing Columbia’s no-loan financial aid policy since last fall.

Dartmouth College

College president to lead World Bank

Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim was elected by the World Bank’s board of directors Monday to serve as the 12th president of the institution, ending his short tenure as Dartmouth’s president after just shy of three years.

Kim, who was the first Asian-American president of an Ivy League university, will take over on July 1.

Obama tapped Kim in late March as the U.S.’s nominee for a position that has traditionally been held by an American since the Bank’s inception in 1944. Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was the only other nominee after Columbia University professor and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo dropped out of the race.

Harvard University

Finalists of social entrepreneurship challenge selected

Harvard University announced last week the 10 finalist teams from more than 170 applicants who applied to President’s Challenge, a social entrepreneurship competition created in February.

Each team will receive $5,000 in order to work on innovative projects that attempt to solve one of five selected global problems: clean air, global health, education, clean water and personal health.

The winning team and two runners up, which will be announced just before commencement, will split $100,000 and receive space in Harvard’s Innovation Lab through the summer to continue their work.

The finalists’ ideas include publishing textbooks online and establishing a ceramic water filter plant in Uganda.

Yale University

Freshman found dead in apparent suicide

A Yale University freshman was found dead Wednesday afternoon in the Gibbs Laboratories, Yale College Dean Mary Miller announced in an email Wednesday.

The police found Zachary Brunt dead on arrival, and Miller said there was “no evidence of foul play nor is there any indication of an accident.”

Although the state medical examiner’s office declined to comment to The Yale Daily News, administrators have remarked that the death appeared to be a suicide.

Brunt was remembered by students as curious and outgoing, and a talented musician and scientist. He was scheduled to take a flight Thursday to Houston to participate in a zero-gravity experiment.

The school held a university-wide memorial vigil at 8 p.m. yesterday.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.