The week in higher education – 4 January 2024

Students at Central Saint Martins, one of the UK’s most illustrious arts and design schools, recently encountered an unusual fashion disaster: an outbreak of scabies, blamed by students on a contaminated roll of fabric. The itchy rash, caused by an infestation of burrowing mites, prompted the temporary closure of five rooms as well as the university fabric store for deep cleaning, according to an email sent to students seen by Metro. The mites struck at an unfortunate time, as first-year undergraduates prepared for the London institution’s annual fashion show, seen as an audition of sorts for the design luminaries of the future. “People were so nervous because they had been sitting in the studios all day without knowing that they could have contracted something,” one student told Metro.

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse fired its chancellor, Joe Gow, after the board discovered that he was filming pornographic videos with his wife, Carmen Wilson, and sharing them online. Dr Wilson was also dismissed from her unpaid role as associate to the chancellor, The New York Times reported, after the pair posted a series of videos under the username Sexy Happy Couple, including sex scenes together and with others. In a statement, the head of the University of Wisconsin system’s board of regents, Karen Walsh, said the board was “alarmed, and disgusted, by [Dr Gow’s] actions”. Dr Gow, who led the university since 2007, making him its longest-running chancellor since the 1960s, said the regents were “not following their own policy on academic freedom and freedom of speech”, saying, “They don’t seem to realise that the First Amendment would be critical in this situation.”

On the day South Korean high school students sit the national college entrance exam, or suneung, planes are temporarily grounded and construction work stops to avoid distraction, while police escorts ensure that those running late arrive at their testing sites on time. Described by the BBC as an “eight-hour marathon with back-to-back papers in multiple subjects”, the suneung determines admission to South Korea’s most prestigious universities – which, in turn, often determine future career success. Little wonder, then, that at least 39 students are suing the government after the bell signalling the end of the first paper rang 90 seconds early at a test site in Seoul. According to the BBC, some students said the error compromised their performance during the rest of the exam, while others gave up altogether and went home. The students are suing for 20 million won (£12,000) each – “the cost of a year’s studying to retake the exam”, the BBC reported.

A former trainee PE teacher is suing a US university, claiming that he was discriminated against because of his weight and disabilities when it refused him permission to do his teaching virtually. David Lopez, who weighs more than 178kg, passed every requirement of his Wayne State University course apart from the student teaching element, but was told not to report for the second half of a placement. He has diabetes, obesity, hypertension and asthma, and a doctor’s note indicated that he could not stand or walk for prolonged periods of time. Mr Lopez told The Detroit News that even though he isn’t able to physically participate in some sports, he could still be a good PE teacher. “They don’t think I fit the description of what a PE teacher is because I’m very overweight,” he said of the university, which has asked for the “frivolous” lawsuit to be dismissed.

University of Oxford undergraduates often find themselves living in listed buildings, the city’s dreaming spires visible from their bedroom windows. But the university isn’t immune to the student housing crisis troubling institutions across the UK. Building work on new student accommodation at St Peter’s College and New College has been delayed, with the latter reportedly turning to “wealthy benefactors” for financial help. Where, then, to house the undergraduates out of a room? In four-star hotels, of course. According to The Times, 20 St Peter’s students are currently rooming at Voco Spires, equipped with spa, gym and indoor pool, while 100 New College third-years are staying at the Leonardo Royal, complete with Marco Pierre White steakhouse. Typical nightly rates range from £100 to £150; thankfully for the students, their colleges are footing the bill.