News

After a national search for potential candidates, Michael Benitez Jr. will be appointed to serve as the Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Puget Sound. This position will provide Benitez with the responsibility of organizing and strategizing Puget Sound’s Plan for Diversity in order to create the most inclusive learning environment possible for the University’s students. “This includes overseeing access and achievement programs, monitoring and evaluating the campus environment, developing new resources, and collaborating with campus leadership, faculty, and students to advance the college’s diversity goals,” the University’s press release...

In his tenth year as President of the University of Puget Sound, Ronald Thomas assumes new responsibilities as a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  Thomas was elected by his peers and formally appointed on Wednesday, Feb. 6 in Washington, D.C.  President Thomas’ term will last three years. The NAICU represents private, non-profit educational institutions nationally and consists of a 44-member board of directors, of which President Thomas is now one.  This board directs the association’s action in issues of federal higher education policy and financial...

The University’s Accreditation Review Committee recently released a draft of the Year-Three Self-Evaluation Report, a necessary step in order to become accredited.  The University is in the third year of a seven-year process to become accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Most institutions of higher education in the U.S. pursue accreditation because this process validates educational quality.  The U.S. Department of Education notes that the lack of a federal authority over post-secondary education affords institutions of higher education a great amount of independence.  Accreditation is a means...

In 2013, yet again, the University of Puget Sound maintained its national ranking as one of the Top 10 schools in producing Peace Corps Volunteers. The Peace Corps, started in 1960 by Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. is a volunteer organization dedicated to promulgating peace and friendship worldwide. When JFK challenged the college students of the University of Massachusetts to “devote a part of their lives to living and working” in foreign countries, he set in motion an attitude about sharing American resources with the rest of the globe that...

    As Thanksgiving rapidly approached, tickets to see the infamous Bill Cosby became available for presale. Many students were seen lined up by the information center in the S.U.B. on Tuesday to purchase tickets to see the famous Bill Cosby. A legendary comedian who once had plans to be a physical education teacher, Bill Cosby has made many strides in the art of social comedy. With hit sitcoms and comedy shows, Cosby has been keeping people laughing for over 40 years. His iconic voice has been on television screens...

As one of Puget Sound’s seven state professors of the year, Karl Fields has faced wave after wave of consideration from both students and colleagues in order to earn the title. Having taught Politics and Government classes at Puget Sound for the past 22 years, Fields has earned respect on-campus and now nationally. Each university can nominate a professor each year, so when the decision came to Academic Vice President Kris Bartanen, she recognized Fields as the primary nominee from Puget Sound. Fields’ nomination was dependent on how his application...

Residence Life held the first ever fall housing lottery from Nov. 26 to Nov. 30 as a way for rising juniors and seniors to secure on-campus housing arrangements early. A commitment to the on-campus housing for the full academic year is mandatory for participation in the housing lottery, which brought some concerns to the study abroad community. In order to partake in the fall housing lottery, students that intend to study abroad for one semester next year were required to find a partner studying abroad the opposite semester, so that...

What with the rising hysteria surrounding the budget, I thought it best to take some time to dispel the fallacious and misleading arguments surrounding the upcoming fiscal crisis, as well as provide some context for the issue. Let me start off though, by laying down the shame on every part of mainstream news in this country. I’m looking at you NPR. And Fox. And MSNBC, CNN, New York Times, USA Today… you get the idea. Should one listen to these news sources (I use the term loosely), you would get...