Case in Point

Sep 23: Data Breach: The University of Minnesota is required to start paying out a class action lawsuit this week to people impacted by a 2023 data breach, according to the terms of a settlement in U.S. district court. Several plaintiffs settled a lawsuit against the university in August. The agreement requires the U to set up a $5 million fund to cover claims from people who were impacted. (link)

Sep 19: Data Breach: Columbia University Health Care (CUHC) has agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a class action lawsuit over a cybersecurity incident that affected 29,629 current or former patients. The data breach in question occurred between September 11, 2023, and March 7, 2024, when cybercriminals had access to an Internet-accessible platform used by Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the academic medical center of Columbia University, and the largest campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. (link)

Sep 02: Outage: Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center says the 48-hour network outage this weekend wasn't caused by a cybersecurity incident. The university said a routine upgrade to its systems caused the outage. The late Friday outage temporarily closed an urgent care center and two emergency rooms, diverting ambulances to other hospitals. (link)

Sep 01: Data Breach: University of Iowa Health Care and University of Iowa Community Homecare have sent letters to roughly 211,000 people who are impacted by a data breach. In a release, UIHC says someone accessed the computer system for UI Community HomeCare on July 3 without permission. Servers were quickly shut down and cybersecurity experts started to investigate, restoring systems within a business day. (link)

Sep 01: Cyberattack: Dordt University has begun issuing data breach notifications to 34,251 people following a cyber attack that started in April 2024. This attack was claimed by ransomware gang BianLian in June 2024, with 3 TB of data allegedly stolen. According to Dordt’s notification, "a limited amount of data was potentially accessed and acquired from our network between approximately April 21, 2024, and May 16, 2024." Dordt University hasn’t confirmed BianLian’s claim and whether or not a ransom was demanded/paid. (link)

Sep 15: Ethics: A federal horse racing agency alleged it received falsified test results related to a potential banned substance from a University of Kentucky lab. That was just the beginning of the lab's issues. Now, more than 18 months after the allegation, the University of Kentucky terminated the former director of the equine testing lab. (link)

Sep 26: Research Security: The University of Arizona is closing its micro campuses in China at the end of the current semester. These campuses, part of a collaboration with local partner universities, allowed students to earn dual U.S.-accredited degrees primarily while studying in China. The decision to shutter the four micro campuses comes after a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. (link)

Sep 25: First Amendment: A University of South Dakota art professor can keep his job -- for now, at least -- despite his private Facebook post in which he called Charlie Kirk "a hate spreading Nazi" after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Utah college. A judge’s temporary restraining order keeping Phillip Michael Hook in his position while his lawsuit proceeds highlights that at least some employers may have overstepped legally in taking actions against employees for their speech about Kirk, the Trump-allied activist who has been eulogized as a free speech advocate. (link)

Sep 23: State Law: Former UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Chris Clemens, who served in the role for three years before stepping down in May, on Monday sued the university and its Board of Trustees, alleging violations of North Carolina’s open-meetings and public-records laws. (link)

Sep 22: Lawsuit Ruling: A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to restart the flow of about $500 million in funding for scientific research it withheld from the University of California, Los Angeles, sparing the university for now from a devastating fiscal blow. (link)

Sep 22: Federal Compliance: The U.S. Department of Education on Friday gave Harvard University 20 days to provide "documents and information" on its undergraduate admissions process as part of an Office of Civil Rights investigation, threatening its access to federal student aid if it did not comply. (link)

Sep 19: First Amendment: A former Texas State University professor has filed a lawsuit against the school, arguing his firing violated his First Amendment rights and his contract after he made comments at a socialist conference where he said he was not affiliated with the university. Dr. Thomas Alter II, a former associate professor of history, said the university’s decision "turned my world upside down and my family’s world upside down." (link)

Sep 19: Federal Compliance: The president of Texas A&M University, roiled by an online video of a confrontation between a student and professor in a class that discussed gender, said Friday that now is the time to leave, but he did not offer a specific reason. Mark A. Welsh III and the school had faced political pressure and criticism, including from the governor, after the video was posted on social media. Colleges and universities around the country have been weathering controversies over gender identity, sexual preference and diversity, issues derided as part of a "woke" agenda. (link)

Sep 16: Employee Conduct: A lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park, has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of indecent exposure after he allegedly exposed himself to a group of youth volleyball campers on campus. The campers who witnessed the incident were between 13 and 17 years old, according to court documents. (link)

Sep 13: Federal Compliance: The University of California, Berkeley, said on Friday that it has provided the names of students, faculty and staff in cases of alleged antisemitism to the federal government, complying with the Trump administration’s investigation of universities that it has accused of failing to protect Jewish students. The university said in a statement that it notified about 160 people on Sept. 4 that they were named in documents provided to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. (link)

Sep 11: NCAA Compliance: The NCAA said Thursday it is investigating 13 Division I men’s basketball players at six schools -- including Temple and Arizona State -- for alleged violations of gambling rules and failing to cooperate with investigators. The association said allegations vary in each case but include athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information to be used by bettors and knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes. (link)

Sep 01: Research Compliance: Auburn University has been cited by federal officials for a recent incident where an alpaca died after being trapped under a gate. On Feb. 27, an alpaca named Anna at a biological research facility died after being trapped underneath a gate panel that had been removed for cleaning purposes. The incident is Auburn’s first critical incident for alleged animal mistreatment since 2014, according to federal officials. (link)

Sep 26: Academic Freedom: In a first for Texas higher education, the Texas Tech University System has ordered faculty across its five universities to limit classroom discussion of transgender and nonbinary identities, but gave little guidance on how academic endeavors or instruction should proceed. The vague directive rattled Texas Tech students and professors, many of whom expressed fear that they will face academic or professional repercussions for pushing back. (link)

Sep 26: Assault: University of Pennsylvania Public Safety is warning students and residents of recent attacks in the University City section of Philadelphia. Public safety officials said there have been multiple reports of young people hitting victims, unprovoked, in the head. (link)

Sep 25: Campus Security: A Rhode Island sheriff is charged after allegedly recording a woman in a bathroom in downtown Providence last Monday. It happened at the Starbucks on Chestnut Street on the Johnson and Wales University campus. This Starbucks on Chestnut Street is a hub for Johnson & Wales students, faculty, and staff. (link)

Sep 24: Safety Threat: A junior college student in Modesto has been arrested after several recent incidents of an apparent weapon being flashed on campus. Police say the first incident happened on Sept. 18. During a class at Modesto Junior College that day, authorities say a student allegedly displayed what appeared to be a knife. Then, on Sept. 23, Modesto police allege that the same student lifted up his shirt and revealed what looked like a gun. (link)

Sep 24: Hazing: A former student at the University of Southern Mississippi has filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that a hazing incident at the university left him with injuries so severe that he was unable to walk. Rafeal Joseph claims in the lawsuit that the abuse began in December of 2022, when the student pledged with USM’s Nu Eta chapter of Omega Psi Phi. He claims members of the fraternity subjected Joseph and other pledges to "severe abuse." This included, he claims, intimidation and threats, sleep deprivation, and the beating of pledges with a plank of wood. (link)

Sep 24: Hate Crime: Two Syracuse University students were arrested Wednesday after police say one of the students tossed a bag of pork in a fraternity on Rosh Hashanah. The court papers filed by city police said the crimes were a "religiously motivated attack" on Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT), a historically Jewish fraternity. (link)

Sep 23: Vandalism: The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday said an Oakland man will serve nearly 20 years for a firebombing in Berkeley and an attempted firebombing at an Oakland federal building. The plea agreement stated that [the man] admitted to placing six "molotovs" under a UC Berkeley Police patrol car and setting it on fire on June 1, 2024. (link)

Sep 23: Academic Freedom: Another Texas university appears to be undergoing changes amid a debate about what students and staff can say and do on campus. Angelo State University, or ASU, has given guidance about how employees can speak and teach about transgender people, according to reporting from San Angelo newspaper The Concho Observer. (link)

Sep 22: Hazing: The Texas A&M University chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity has been suspended pending an investigation into hazing allegations, KPRC 2 News has confirmed. Several pledges had to be hospitalized, according to one of the victims, after an "almost torturous" workout at The Kappa Sigma Lodge on Sunday, Sept. 14. (link)

Sep 22: Campus Security: Utah Valley University is launching an independent, external review of the fatal shooting of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk on its campus earlier this month. The university announced the move Monday in an effort to improve safety practices amid fallout over security lapses and the shattering of the serene image the institution had cultivated. (link)

Sep 17: Student Death: Mississippi police on Wednesday awaited autopsy results for a Black student found hanging from a tree at Delta State University, in a case that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a history of racist violence. The 21-year-old student was found near the campus pickleball courts early Monday. While police have said they saw no evidence of foul play, his family is demanding answers and has hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump. (link)

Sep 16: Free Speech: Since Charlie Kirk’s murder on September 10 at Utah Valley University, higher education has come under intense scrutiny due to the reactions of faculty, staff, and students. A pattern has emerged: The college employee or student says something negative about Kirk -- mostly online, but occasionally in class or on campus. State and congressional lawmakers and right-wing social-media accounts amplify the comments and advocate for the colleges to take disciplinary action. Some lawmakers have threatened to pull funding or enact other consequences if the colleges don’t fire the employees. (link)

Sep 12: Threat: A midshipman was injured after mistaking law enforcement for an active shooter after misinformation spread online, according to a US Navy official. The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was locked down Thursday after threats were issued, and concerns of an active shooter posted anonymously on a chat platform. But there was no active shooter on campus, according to communications from the school’s commandant seen by CNN. (link)

Sep 11: Threats: Multiple historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, have gone into lockdown after threats were directed at the campus, school officials announced. Alabama State University, Hampton University, Virginia State University, Southern University and A&M College, and Bethune-Cookman University locked down the morning of Thursday, Sept. 11, each citing potential threats made against the campuses. The lockdown at Southern University was later lifted, but all campus activities and classes were cancelled through the weekend, school officials announced on social media. (link)

Sep 11: Free Speech: A Texas State University professor was fired on Wednesday after he was accused of inciting violence in a video of him speaking at a socialism conference posted on social media. In a video circulated on social media platform X, Thomas Alter, an associate history professor, can be seen talking during a Zoom meeting as part of the Revolutionary Socialism Conference, an online meeting organized by several socialist groups. (link)

Sep 10: Free Speech: A new survey of nearly 70,000 college students across the United States has found that a majority oppose allowing speakers with controversial viewpoints, whether liberal or conservative, to speak on their campuses. The findings come from the sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, released on Tuesday by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire), a free speech watchdog, in partnership with College Pulse. (link)

Sep 10: Academic Freedom: A professor at Texas A&M University was fired and others were removed from their positions after a video surfaced in which a student confronted the instructor over her teaching of issues related to gender identity in a class on children’s literature. The firing of a senior lecturer in the English department with over a decade of teaching experience came after political pressure from Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who had called for her termination. (link)

Sep 10: Shooting: Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, died Wednesday after being shot at a college event, Trump said. The co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, the 31-year-old Kirk is the latest victim in a spasm of political violence across the United States. Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans "The American Comeback" and "Prove Me Wrong." (link)

Sep 05: Living Conditions: Thousands of students enrolled in California’s public colleges and universities face homelessness every year, even at prestigious universities like UCSD. According to 2024 data from the state, 24% of California’s community college students reported being homeless, as did 11% of those enrolled at a California State University campus and 8% of those in the University of California system. (link)

Sep 03: Assault: A State College man faces multiple charges after police say he carried out a series of racially and sexually motivated assaults on Penn State’s campus and CATA buses over the summer and early school semester. [A man], 27, of State College, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, ethnic intimidation, resisting arrest, harassment, and disorderly conduct in connection with incidents that occurred between July 23 and August 27. (link)

Sep 01: Campus Climate: A pro-Palestine group at Indiana University has been ordered to cease and desist all activity and comply with a university investigation into alleged misconduct. A letter to the group from the Office of Student Conduct references a "report that the Palestine Solidarity Committee may be involved in an alleged incident" at some point in the past two academic years. (link)