May 11: Danielle Allen ’93 Says History Can Help Students Become Allies

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen ’93 said history curricula are often inadequate, and it’s a lost opportunity to teach students how to be an ally to those in need. — WGBH Boston
 
Anton Treuer ’91, who is working to preserve the Ojibwe language, said about half a dozen fluent speakers in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe died this year, most from COVID, taking with them knowledge about language and culture. — The Circle
 
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel ’79 said three new wind-energy parks that will supply power to the Ann Arbor campus will help transition the university to “local, renewable clean power.” — Mlive.com
 
Paramount Television Studios has acquired the rights to turn Laura Hankin ’10’s mystery novel, A Special Place for Women, due out May 11, into a television series. The novel follows a reporter who infiltrates a secret women’s club. — Deadline
 
University of Washington politics professor Megan Ming Francis *08 said after the Trump administration’s narrative that “government is wasteful,” Biden's narrative seems to be: “government is on the side of people.” — The Grio

During a Howard University ROTC commissioning ceremony, Army Gen. Mark Milley ’80 said Black service members remain vastly underrepresented in areas including senior ranks, and the U.S. must do better. — The Associated Press
 
National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru ’95 said Republicans won’t beat President Biden with personality-based criticism, like nicknames. — Bloomberg
 
Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck ’81 released a statement calling Facebook hypocritical for banning former President Donald Trump while allowing a fan page for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that promotes falsehoods about democracy and human rights abuses in Syria. — Newsweek

“The diet industry has gotten impressively subtle, even as it’s incessantly in your face. Buzzwords like ‘wellness’ and ‘strength’ have replaced ‘diet’ and ‘calories.’ ... I have one word for you: Resist.”

— Novelist Jennifer Weiner ’91 on how the weight-loss industry is aiming dieting plans and products at people who gained pounds during the pandemic. — The New York Times 

There’s “reason for guarded optimism” as researchers await the results of a trial for a drug for motor neuron disease, said Don Cleveland *77, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, and a consultant for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which developed the treatment. — Nature
 
Gen. David Petraeus *85 *87, former commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and former CIA director, said he worries the U.S. will regret pulling troops out of Afghanistan, which “is not going to end the endless war” there. — France 24
 
Architectural designer Leen Katrib *18 received Syracuse University’s Harry der Boghosian Fellowship, in which she’ll spend a year “developing a body of design research” while also teaching. — Archinect
 
Jodi Picoult ’87 will publish a new pandemic-inspired novel in November, Wish You Were Here, about a young woman’s life unraveling in lockdown. — The Bookseller

Want more Alumni in the News? Subscribe to the emails.