Daily Lumina News 071720

Defunded police. Inclusive coursework. Faculty members who look like them.
As the COVID-19 pandemic and outrage over police violence converge, college students are demanding radical change. They want Confederate symbols toppled, police departments defunded, coursework diversified, departments restaffed with people of color, and a host of other actions.

As the nation struggles to recover from the economic downturn amid the coronavirus pandemic, workforce experts are calling on Utah and other states to ramp up efforts to ensure that more workers have post-high school education and certificates.

The direction that the post-pandemic world takes—whether we will see a reset or a return to our old ways—will depend largely on governments, businesses, and international organizations. But the landscape in which they will be working has changed. People power, in one form or another, seems here to stay.

Colleges and universities are gearing up for what will be an unusual school year, offering a mix of online and in-person classes. But as coronavirus cases continue to surge in parts of the country, students, faculty, and staff grapple with what a semester on campus might mean for their health and safety and, conversely, what another semester online might mean for learning outcomes.
NPR's Elissa Nadworny and Rebecca Givan of Rutgers University unpack the future of higher education on this episode of Radio Times.