Brown and White Vol. 126 no. 1

              Vol. 126 No. 1
Friday, January 24, 2014
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
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LIFESTYLE
By CHRISTINA CAVANAUGH
Lehigh President Alice Gast an­nounced that she will be stepping down from her post this coming summer in an email to the Lehigh community early this morning. Gast will be heading across the Atlantic, where she will take up the post of president at Imperial College London.
“The collective energy each move-in day and commencement day bracket the joys each year in this great educational institution,” Gast said in her email.
Since coming to Lehigh in 2006, Gast has overseen a transformation of the university. The physical changes have spread to all three campuses. The Asa Packer Campus saw the addition of the STEPS building and the Caruso wrestling complex, along with the repur­posing of Williams Hall and parts of the University Center. A plan is in motion to transform Mountaintop Campus by ren­ovation of the former Bethlehem Steel research facilities that sit on its grounds, to make them usable for research. The Goodman Campus saw the addition of Mulvihill Golf Learning Center, and plans have been finalized to renovate the baseball and softball fields for the 2015 season.
Gast’s influence has extended beyond changes to facilities. Perhaps the most notable changes include doubling the money fundraised for the university, including a 50 percent increase in Asa Packer Society-level donors. The presence of international students on campus has also doubled, and Gast has made true on her commitment to international education: over one-third of Lehigh students have experienced the opportunity to study or work abroad.
The establishment of the Baker In­stitute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation and the Iacocca Inter­national Internships for Global Leaders program also took place under Gast’s direction. She also oversaw the forma­tion of an endowed scholarship pro­gram for women studying in the STEM fields, along with the Smith Funds for
Gast to step down from presidency in July
By KATIE HOMMES
Last semester, Lehigh was abuzz with calls to action for so­cial change, led by a group that named itself “From Beneath the Rug,” more popularly known as FBR.
Now, the university is at­tempting to reform social norms while under investigation by the Department of Education’s Of­fice of Civil Rights. This investi­gation was sparked by a Nov.12 complaint with the Office of Civil Rights filed by Lehigh alumna Susan Magaziner, ’77.
This is not the first time Magaziner has become involved with alleged matters of social inequality within an educational community.
In October 2010, Magaziner asked Connecticut State Com­missioner of Education Mark K. McQuillan to investigate al­legations of “gag orders” being imposed on students and teach­ers regarding the resignation of Principal Eric Rice at Valley Regional High School.
Upon his departure, students and teachers were allegedly threatened and told not to speak about Rice’s resignation. Maga­ziner claimed this was a violation of civil rights.
Former principal Rice has re­fused to talk about his departure from Valley.
Magaziner also filed formal complaints with the Connecticut Board of Education and the fed­eral Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights.
Following Rice’s resignation, a Valley student, Aaron Outama, used a school computer to print copies of a newspaper article that advertised an event in support of Rice. This act resulted in a 10-day suspension—a suspension that Magaziner and Outama’s father believed to be a result of his Asian-American background. Magaziner additionally brought this incident to light in her series of complaints.
McQuillan dismissed Maga­ziner’s complaint, however.
“Because your complaint does not show that you have attempt­ed to resolve the matter with Region 4; does not include any facts, materials, or documents to support your allegations; and does not appear to be a matter over which the Connecticut State Board of Education has jurisdic­tion, I am dismissing it,” McQuil­lan wrote in a November 2010 article from The Day Connecticut.
The investigation of Valley Regional High School found that the student and teacher’s civil rights had not been violated.
Magaziner moved from New Jersey to Connecticut in 2006 and now resides in Essex, Conn.
See COMPLAINT Page 3
Three Greek chapters placed on suspension
By BECCA BEDNARZ
Three of Lehigh’s Greek houses have been placed on indefinite suspension in the aftermath of recent hospitaliza­tions due to alcohol and/or drug consumption.
On the evening of Jan. 13, the semester’s first day of classes, two first-year students were hospital­ized for alcohol-related incidents, according to an email sent to Lehigh fraternity and sorority members from Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students Sharon Basso.
In each case, Basso said, the alcohol was provided by Greek students at Greek chapter-spon­sored activities. Sorority and fraternity members attempted to bring the visibly intoxicated and medically compromised students back to their residence halls in­stead of seeking immediate medi­cal assistance for them by calling LUPD, she said.
“The Greek members pre­vented medical assistance from being called in a timely manner after they attempted to drop the students off at their residence halls thereby endangering the students’ health and safety,” Basso said. “Whether that was willful or simply thoughtless, the potential consequences were the same.”
Two more first-year students were hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning related to Greek chap­ter activities Jan. 14.
Sororities Zeta Tau Alpha and Gamma Phi Beta were placed on interim suspension Jan. 15, along with fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha.
See SUSPENDED Page 4
B&W photos courtesy of LEHIGH PANHELLENIC and PI KAPPA ALPHA
Sororities Gamma Phi Beta and Zeta Tau Alpha, in addition to fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha, were placed on indefinite suspension Jan. 15 following a series of substance-related hospitalizations.
Lehigh alumna files a federal complaint
See GAST Page 3
n Lehigh President Alice Gast will move to Imperial College London at the end of this summer.
n Susan Magaziner has been working to stop dis­crimination in schools.
B&W photo courtesy of LEHIGH.EDU
President Alice Gast has overseen a transformation of Lehigh’s campus since her arrival in 2006.