Spring Break
Thirty-three people were killed in the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute campus April 16 in Blacksburg, Va. The violence began at 7:15 am when police received a report that two students had been shot in the West Ambler Johnston dormitory.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced April 19 his intent to sue the University for its relationship with the student loan provider Education Finance Partners as part of the first legal action against a school. Drexel responded by saying it would defend its position and questioned Cuomo's tactics.
A male carjacker was killed in a struggle with a University of Pennsylvania police officer April 16 after he carjacked a van from a UPenn parking garage. Prior to the incident, the carjacker led police on a brief chase before crashing into a parked car at the intersection of 40th and Spruce Streets.
Only hours after the tragedy began at Virginia Tech, Drexel public safety officials were working to implement a plan to protect the University community. Senior Vice President for Public Safety Ben Gollotti explained that preparing for a crisis has been part of his work since before the Virginia Tech killings and on the day of the shootings Drexel began a full response.
Dragonfire, the online journal of the Pennoni Honors College, has a new identity: The Smart Set. The Smart Set will retain some of the features of Dragonfire, while some other aspects will be unique to the new publication. Mark Greenberg, Dean of Honors College said in a University-wide email, "the Dragon in Dragonfire has grown up, successfully graduated from Drexel, and is now known as one of The Smart Set.
DragonForce, a new handheld communication tool for Drexel Public Safety was unveiled April 18. This technology makes it easier for DPS officers to track each other using GPS enabled PDAs. Senior Associate Vice President for Public Safety Ben Gollotti and James Sim, the president and chief operating officer for Drakontas, were present at the ceremony.
Even though the NCAA swimming and diving season may be over, University students can still cheer on the Dragon in one last marathon swimming event. The only difference is that this time the Dragon is a turtle. Drexelina, a leatherback sea turtle representing Drexel University, is one of 11 competitors in The Great Turtle Race.
Dr. Pragnesh Jay Modi, a Drexel University professor of computer science, died April 9. Modi graduated with his Ph.D. from University of Southern California in 2003 and completed a postdoctoral research position at Carnegie Mellon University before he came to Drexel in September 2005.
"What would you do if you fell in love with someone who is HIV-positive?" It's not exactly a question you would ask on a first date, but it's one that Gwenn Barringer is making sure people think about. Barringer is married to Shawn Decker, who has been HIV-positive since age 11.
