Harvard

There's a growing skepticism in this country about whether college is really worth it. Now, one of higher education’s heavy hitters is weighing in on that national debate.  On Friday, Harvard President Drew Faust kicked off the university’s campaign to make the case for college, writing an op-ed in the USA Today and delivering a speech to high school students and teachers in Dallas.

Professors at Harvard Law School are urging the university to revoke new procedures addressing on-campus sexual misconduct, saying the rules go too far.

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The buzz around open online courses - often free and occasionally for credit - is fading. But as tuition prices and student debt soar, online learning continues to grow. One of the largest providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, is Harvard and MIT's edX. Some 2.5 million people have signed up for these classes, ranging from the Introduction to Computer Science to The Ancient Greek Hero.

So what do most students get for completing one of these courses? New knowledge and maybe a certificate of completion, but no credit. WGBH’s On Campus caught up with a student-researcher who predicts colleges and universities will soon offer some form of credit for MOOCs.

Harvard will implement its first university-wide sexual assault policy this fall. As part of the policy, a team of trained civil rights investigators, working out of a new centralized office, will review all sexual assault cases at each of the university's thirteen schools. Previously, academic administrators had been the ones to investigate those reports.

Former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg advised Harvard University graduates “to do a better job of promoting tolerance of diverse ideas.” On Thursday, Bloomberg delivered Harvard’s commencement address and cited incidents where students have shouted down speakers on campus and elsewhere. 

More than a hundred faculty members at Harvard are calling on the university to divest from fossil fuels. The professors want Harvard to better align its investment and intellectual values.

In an open letter, the professors said they know that fossil fuels cause climate change and carry unprecedented destructive potential. 

One of the world's most prestigious business schools is going digital. After much anticipation, Harvard Business School is launching its first online learning initiative.

#itooamharvard.

If you search the hashtag on the web you'll get a whole slew of responses -- from articles in the Washington Post and Boston Globe, to a Buzzfeed link with over a million views.

The social media campaign, born from an independent study project on minorities' experiences as part of the Harvard community, has gone viral and reflects frustrations with stereotypes by students of all races.

On this Martin Luther King Day, Americans are remembering the civil rights leader's fight for the poor, commemorating his service and sacrifice.

In October 1962, Reverend King addressed students on campus at the Harvard Law School forum. He talked about the future of - and struggle for - integration.

“We’ve been able to say to our bitterest and most violent opponents, ‘We will match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering,’” King said.

Listen to Dr. King’s full remarks here, courtesy of Harvard Voices:

Two years later, in 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial and economic prejudice. At 35, as the youngest recipient of the award, he then donated his winnings to the civil rights movement.

Harvard University is taking a step towards sustainable investment -- the company that invests Harvard’s $32 billion endowment is looking to fill a new position: vice president of sustainable investing.

The job description, posted on the Harvard Management Company website, calls for an individual to serve as the in-house expert on environmental, social, and governance -- or ESG -- issues.