University System News:
AP News
University of Georgia asks to name buildings for Black grads
By JEFF AMY
The University of Georgia is asking regents to name two buildings for some of the university’s earliest Black graduates. This week’s proposal followed a decision by the University System of Georgia regents not to remove names of any people associated with slavery, segregation or the mistreatment of Native Americans from 75 buildings statewide.
WSB-TV
Athens’ first film studio to bring opportunities for students and businesses
By Justin Wilfon, WSB-TV
The Hollywood of the South is now expanding into a new part of Georgia. Construction crews just broke ground on the first film studio in Athens. Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon found out up that until now, there had not been much filming in Athens, and that was a big problem for the University of Georgia’s film school. That problem is now being solved. The new studio will help film students learn in a whole new way. … Crews just broke ground on Athena Studios just east of Athens, the first film studio in Clarke County. Hamilton, the head of Entertainment and Media Studies at UGA, says the school will partner with the studio to expose students to more real-world film experience.
WJBF
Augusta University seeing increase in college applicants
by: Deirnesa Jefferson
Augusta University admissions leaders say they are seeing a 20 percent increase in applicants. “We’re seeing an increase in freshman applications and transfer applications. Also, many of our graduate and professional programs are seeing increases as well,” Assistant VP of Enrollment Management Alexis Pope said. Enrollment officials said Augusta University was one of only five universities in the University System of Georgia that experienced enrollment growth in 2021. Significant increases were seen in the College of Education and the College of Nursing.
Albany Herald
From staff reports
Skylar Victoria Mizell, a biology major from Perry, was named the first ever recipient of the David and Kim Bridges Award for the top bachelor’s degree graduate participating in the recent commencement ceremony at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The award was named for ABAC President David Bridges and his wife, Kim, earlier in the ceremony. It was previously called the ABAC Alumni Association Award. Bridges has announced his impending retirement from ABAC.
See also:
Tifton Gazette
ABAC names award for David and Kim Bridges
Middle Georgia CEO
MGA To Graduate Record Number Of Students At Fall Commencement
A record number of students are candidates for fall graduation from Middle Georgia State University, with commencement ceremonies scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 8 and 9, at the Recreation & Wellness Center on the Macon Campus. Of the estimated 803 candidates for graduation, about 110 will receive master’s degrees while nearly 550 are completing bachelor’s programs. The rest are receiving associate’s degrees or certificates in career programs. The number of graduates is the highest for MGA’s fall commencement ceremonies. While masks are still encouraged, and a socially distanced section of seating will be available, the December 2021 ceremonies mark a return to relative normalcy following two virtual graduations and modified in-person ceremonies that MGA held during the pandemic.
Newsbreak
Dad proud of a daughter who will graduate to pursue her next goal: to be a nurse
By Darrell Huckaby
…There were two things in Jenna’s life that I put my foot down about. One: I wouldn’t let her quit taking piano lessons when she was a teenager. She has a gift from God in that area and I was determined she would develop that gift. Secondly, she was going to college. And not just any college. She was going to the University of Georgia, hallowed be thy name. …The next August, she matriculated, and it took her maybe five minutes to fall in love with college life. …Jenna decided that she would be more fulfilled and be able to help more people in a meaningful way if she became a nurse. …Nobody had to force her to apply, this time, to the school formerly known as the Medical College of Georgia — now Augusta University. She found her own program and her own funding and enrolled at Georgia State to take a few science prerequisites that weren’t required to graduate from Grady and the next thing we knew our Jenna was enrolled in a Master of Nursing program at the Athens chapter of that quite excellent school. And Friday, the good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, Jenna Huckaby Simmons — who is president of her class, said the proud Papa — will graduate. And she will go to work in the new year as a registered nurse in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. And her daddy could not be more proud.
yahoo!news
Albany Chamber names category winners of 40 Under 40 awards
The Albany Herald, Ga.
The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce has recognized the finalists and announced the category winners of the 2021 Albany Under 40 Awards, a program that celebrates the Albany Area’s emerging leaders and professionals in a variety of business sectors, each representing a component of the area’s diversified talent pool and economy. …Category finalists were announced in November and honored last week during an awards reception at Pretoria Fields Brewery in downtown Albany. Category winners, selected from among the finalists, were announced at the event:
—Youth & Education: Dr. Koosh Desai, Medical College of Georgia — Southwest Georgia campus
The Red & Black
UGA’s 2021 orientation leaders reflect on their experiences
Megan Fitzgerald
The University of Georgia has selected the next group of orientation leaders to welcome the class of 2026. As these 20 students begin their training for the summer of 2022, some of the 2021 orientation leaders look back at their time as mentors for the incoming freshmen and transfer students.
The Newnan Times-Herald
UWG encouraging ‘Coding for a better community’ with Hackathon
The University of West Georgia is looking for those who enjoy creating or designing stuff or using technology to better the community for Hackathon 2022. UWG’s Hackathon 2022, themed “Coding for a Better Community,” is scheduled for Feb. 4-5. Registration deadline is Dec. 15. The event is hosted by the College of Education’s Fusion Center for Experiential Learning and the College of Arts, Culture and Scientific Inquiry’s Department of Computing and Mathematics.
WJBF
MCG doctors train healthcare workers in Ghana
by: Chloe Salsameda
Faculty at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) are taking their teachings across the world. For years, a group, led by Dr. Vikas Kumar, has traveled to underserved countries to train healthcare workers in critical care — a program funded by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. “They do become comfortable in {knowing] when to escalate care and when to ask for help,” Dr. Vikas Kumar, an anesthesiologist and intensivist at MCG, explained. The MCG team has taught in Nigeria and Pakistan. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, they did not want to stop teaching. Kumar turned the course into a virtual course. This week, dozens of healthcare workers in Ghana tuned in to watch as doctors in Augusta demonstrated how to care for patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses. This program is meaningful for Dr. Mary Arthur, an anesthesiologist at MCG, who is from Ghana.
Barnesville Dispatch
Gordon Hosts Third Annual Legislative Roundtable
Gordon State College hosted its Third Annual Legislative Roundtable in a hybrid format on Tuesday, November 30th. With a 25 percent increase in attendance from last year, Dr. Kirk Nooks discussed the five year Strategic Plan and the institution’s three legislative priorities: affordability, major repair and rehabilitation, and small capital projects. Throughout the years, the college has continued to foster a strong relationship and receive continuous support from its legislators.
Athens Banner-Herald
The Georgia Museum of Natural History is located at UGA, but most of the collection isn’t
Andrew Shearer
Most museums are only able to display a fraction of their respective collections at any given time, but in the case of the Georgia Museum of Natural History (GMNH), what visitors and tour groups get to see is nothing compared to what they’re missing. Located on the University of Georgia campus in a building on the corner of East Campus Road and Cedar Street, the GMNH is open to the public, but occupies less than 1,000 square feet of space. Compared to the mammoth Natural History Museum building at Florida State University, it’s no wonder the staff often hears guests ask, “Is that all you’ve got?” The answer can be found at the museum’s curatorial annex, which occupies the former site of a Roberds furniture warehouse on Atlanta Highway less than 10 miles from UGA. That is where millions of specimens are housed, including the sixth largest collection of mammals in the United States.
yahoo!news
A new generation of HIV infections, and a new mission for Augusta AIDS ministry
Susan McCord, Augusta Chronicle
One of the area’s oldest organizations dedicated to serving people with HIV is changing its mission, 40 years since the first U.S. case. St. Stephen’s Ministry of Augusta was founded more than three decades ago when AIDS, the disease caused by HIV, was still known as an untreatable killer. …Augusta University’s Equality Clinic is currently treating approximately 1,200 HIV patients, and of the 98% on antiretroviral treatment, nearly 89% are at a “nearly-undetectable state,” said AU family medicine resident Soren Estvold.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah State promotes DeMasi to interim head coach following Shawn Quinn’s resignation
Nathan Dominitz
Savannah State announced Friday afternoon that assistant head football coach Russell DeMasi has been named the interim head coach, effective Tuesday, Dec. 7. The decision follows the sudden resignation of Shawn Quinn on Wednesday. The Tigers were 7-3, 1-1 and 8-2 overall during Quinn’s three seasons, including 10-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. …DeMasi, who was elevated to assistant coach before the 2021 season, will run the Savannah State football program while the University searches for a new head coach. He will also continue to be the recruiting coordinator for Savannah State. He also served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this season.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Georgia regents honor racists rather than rout racism
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Regents appointed committee to recommend name changes and then ignored them
Can college campuses repudiate racism while forcing students to live and attend classes in buildings that commemorate people who owned slaves and opposed integration? The Georgia Board of Regents believes so. Eighteen months ago, the University System of Georgia created a blue ribbon Naming Advisory Group to review building names of its 26 colleges and universities. The five-member group released a 181-page report in which it recommended changing the names of 75 buildings and colleges named after 58 Georgia historical figures who oppressed workers, owned slaves or endorsed segregation. (Some names appear on multiple buildings.) So how many names are changing? None.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Dec. 3)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 25,791 | 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.
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,288,387
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta resident has first case of omicron detected in Georgia
By Jeremy Redmon
Georgian recently traveled to South Africa before testing positive for highly mutated COVID-19 variant
Georgia has detected its first case of omicron, a highly mutated COVID-19 variant that has caused alarm around the globe, rattled world markets and triggered travel restrictions. The individual recently traveled from South Africa and developed mild symptoms before testing positive for COVID-19, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Genomic sequencing confirmed the presence of the omicron variant. State health officials did not identify the patient but said the individual is a metro Atlanta resident who was vaccinated against COVID-19 and had received a booster shot.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Universities Flip-Flop on Mask and Vaccine Mandates as New Covid Variant Raises Concerns
By Kate Hidalgo Bellows
After President Biden issued an executive order in September requiring federal contractors and employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 8 — later extended to January 4 — dozens of colleges ordered their employees to get vaccinated or seek an exemption. But now some are reneging on their mandates, just as a new variant of the virus is causing concern.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Should Universities Respond to Racism?
Randall Kennedy and Marcia Chatelain debate history, accountability, and free speech.
By Sarah Brown
What is the role of colleges in fighting racial injustice? How can campus conversations about race become more productive? At a recent Chronicle event, two leading scholars — Harvard Law School’s Randall Kennedy and Georgetown University’s Marcia Chatelain — debated these crucial and unsettled questions. Kennedy is the author of Say it Loud! On Race, Law, History, and Culture, a book of essays exploring some of today’s key social-justice debates, including commentary on anti-racism and free speech in higher education. Chatelain is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, which explores how fast-food companies offered Black Americans a path to wealth, social mobility and a role in consumerism — but at a cost. Professors Kennedy and Chatelain spoke with the Chronicle‘s Sarah Brown. Watch a recording of the full interview here, or read highlights below.
Inside Higher Ed
Law Students Protest Research Database Contracts With ICE
Students at multiple law schools are pressuring administrators to sever ties with LexisNexis and Westlaw, which they claim help the Department of Homeland Security target undocumented immigrants.
By Josh Moody
Coordinated multicampus protests this fall have left law schools in an unenviable position, stuck between meeting student demands and providing access to the resources at the center of the controversy—LexisNexis and Westlaw—which are under fire for contracts with law enforcement. The LexisNexis and Westlaw research databases are vital for law schools and the students they serve, who will go on to use these tools throughout their legal careers. But contracts with the Department of Homeland Security have students calling for greater scrutiny of LexisNexis and Westlaw and demanding that law schools wield their political power to renounce these ties. Students have also expressed a desire for law schools to invest in alternative legal research tools. At the heart of the issue is how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deploys these tools. Critics say that ICE uses them to aggregate data from multiple sources to build dossiers on individuals who may be targeted for deportation, stitching together profiles from criminal records, credit and employment history, utility bills, and license plate numbers, among many other data points.
Inside Higher Ed
Study documents key ways that white (and sometimes Asian) students have an advantage in admissions over Black and Latinx students.
By Scott Jaschik
Laws that barred Black students from enrolling at colleges and universities are long gone. But what about other systems in the college admissions process that, whether by intent or not, favor white students? Art & Science Group, which advises colleges on their enrollment strategies, wanted to explore the issue. Today, it is releasing a study of the views of high school seniors that documents significant advantages of white students (and sometimes Asian students) in the admissions process. …The reality is that “college admissions offices still struggle to level the playing field for students within a system in which various forms of privilege—racial and ethnic, financial, access to social networks, family’s educational aspirations—confer advantages on some groups at the expense of others,” said a report Art & Science is releasing about the data.