University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University of Georgia to name buildings after trailblazing Black graduates
By Eric Stirgus
University of Georgia administrators announced plans Wednesday to name two campus buildings after Black graduates who made history at the school. Officials want to name the science library in memory of Shirley Mathis McBay, the first Black student to earn a doctorate from UGA in 1966. McBay, who became a math professor at Spelman College and championed the need for diversity in the STEM fields, died Saturday. She was 86. They also want to name a 525-unit student residential hall under construction after Harold A. Black, Mary Blackwell Diallo and Kerry Rushin Miller, the first Black students to enroll as freshmen and complete their undergraduate degrees. Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of their enrollment. …The names must be approved by the state’s Board of Regents, which last week announced it would not act on an advisory group’s recommendations to rename 75 buildings — many located at UGA — that are named after white supremacists and people with ties to slavery.
The Georgia Virtue
Faculty, Staff Get First Look At EGSC-Statesboro’s New Home
East Georgia State College’s Statesboro faculty and staff got a first look inside what will be their new home in January 2022. EGSC-Statesboro is moving into the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Building on Georgia Southern’s campus. Currently, the Nessmith-Lane Building is being renovated. EGSC faculty and staff were able to walk through the area and look at the progress being made at the site. EGSC-Statesboro Director Jessica Williamson led the group through the building beginning at the front entrance. The group then made their way through the faculty office area and the classroom spaces. Renovations at the new site are expected to wrap up in December.
Tifton CEO
Tifton Student Selected as ABAC School of Agriculture and Natural Resources Leader
Tuesday, November 30th, 2021 Chrys Milner, an agricultural education major from Tifton, has been selected to serve as a School of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SANR) Leader at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Selection for the SANR Leaders was based on grade point average, club/organization activity, and leadership skills. The members of the group will be prominent at events sponsored by the SANR, Stallion Days, and other recruitment opportunities.
Johnson City Press
UGA Terry College of Business to resume economic series in person
As Georgia emerges from two years of economic uncertainty, University of Georgia Terry College of Business experts will address Georgia’s recovery from the COVID-19 recession, the booming housing market and what to expect in the year to come at the 39th annual Georgia Economic Outlook series. The state’s premier economic forecasting series — coming to eight Georgia cities — will return to its traditional format of luncheon programs this winter. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m., and the programs begin at 12:30 p.m. The statewide tour will kick off Dec. 13 in Atlanta. Keynote speaker Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, will deliver the national forecast, and Terry College of Business Dean Benjamin C. Ayers will deliver the state forecast.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah State’s Shawn Quinn steps down as football coach
Nathan Dominitz
Shawn Quinn has stepped down as head football coach at Savannah State, he announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning. The athletic department had no comment but is preparing a statement for later Wednesday. Efforts to reach Quinn have been unsuccessful.
The Red & Black
UGA parents express growing frustration over mold in dorms
Avery Scott
When Melissa Farrar moved her daughter into Hill Hall, she never envisioned her daughter would fall sick a mere week later and be ill for over two months. When two rounds of antibiotics were unsuccessful at eradicating fatigue, headaches, congestion and a cough so severe it caused a muscle injury, Farrar began to look for the source of the problem. Kristee Marconi had a similar experience during her son’s first semester at UGA this fall. After dealing with sickness on and off for most of the semester, Marconi’s son, who has asthma, found himself in the emergency room after a severe asthma attack. Marconi said that a doctor told her the catalyst behind the attack was mold exposure. The more Farrar talked to other parents, the more parents she found like Marconi who were also struggling. Parents and students began to come forward about their own experiences with numerous doctor’s visits, unsuccessful antibiotics and countless negative tests for common illnesses.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 30)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,285,265
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 25,713 | This figure does not include additional cases that the DPH reports as suspected COVID-19-related deaths. County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
What Omicron Could Mean for Colleges
Experts urge colleges to begin planning for the likely arrival of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.
By Emma Whitford
When the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 appeared in South Africa, students at the Tshwane University of Technology were some of the first people to test positive for the variant, which the World Health Organization has labeled “of concern.” In response, officials at the public university in Pretoria delayed exams, the Associated Press reported. Days later, a student at the University of Nottingham was identified as one of the first Omicron cases in the United Kingdom. U.S. college and university officials are now wondering when Omicron will appear on their campuses. As of Tuesday evening, no Omicron cases had been identified in the U.S., but Gerri Taylor, co-chair of the American College Health Association COVID-19 task force, said it’s not a question of if but when the variant will be detected Stateside. When it does arrive, colleges must be ready.
Inside Higher Ed
Task force report argues that free inquiry and inclusion are twin values, if campus groups all work to make them so.
By Colleen Flaherty
A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center seeks to bridge the campus speech divide, arguing that talking through contentious issues is a skill set that students can and should be taught—and also that academic freedom and inclusion complement each other instead of conflict. …Campus presidents and their leadership teams, for instance, should “build confidence in a fair, consistent, and principled approach to free expression,” the report says. This work cannot be “passive, or rest exclusively upon policy statements, resolutions, or guidelines,” and “addressing the perceived tension between diversity, equity, inclusion, and free expression is an essential rhetorical and strategic task for campus leaders.”