Happy New Year 2025

Tag: universities

  • Meal Monday or Oatmeal Monday 2025 Date in Scotland: Know Aim, History and Significance of the Traditional Holiday Observed in Universities Across the Country

    Meal Monday or Oatmeal Monday 2025 Date in Scotland: Know Aim, History and Significance of the Traditional Holiday Observed in Universities Across the Country

    Meal Monday, also known as Oatmeal Monday, is a traditional holiday observed by the ancient universities of Scotland. This annual event is celebrated on the second Monday of February every year. Meal Monday 2025 falls on Monday, February 10. The annual event of Meal Monday was a traditional observance in Scottish universities during the 17th century and was originally a designated holiday for students. Scottish university students lived in a basic accommodation facility and were required to bring their own fuel and firewood to maintain a fire. Their diet was meagre too, largely consisting of oatmeal, which they would make into porridge. February 2025 Holidays and Festivals Calendar: Get Full List of Major Events in the Second Month of the Year. 

    As most students at the time thrived on an oatmeal diet and had to bring their own provisions to university, this break allowed them to return home to restock their food supplies. This lifestyle was typical until the late 19th century. In this article, let’s know more about the Meal Monday 2025 date and the significance of the annual event in Scotland.

    Meal Monday 2025 Date

    Meal Monday 2025 falls on Monday, February 10.

    Meal Monday History

    Until 1885, these Meal Mondays would occur regularly in several universities across Scotland. The University of Edinburgh had one on the first Monday of every month. However, by 1896, Edinburgh established just one official holiday, on the second Monday in February. Meal Monday or Oatmeal Monday was widely observed in Scotland during the late 19th and 20th century, with Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities also having the academic holiday. As the students’ homes were at a distance from the city universities, an occasional long weekend was scheduled to permit them to replenish their supplies. By the beginning of the 21st century, however, the Universities no longer afforded their students an official Meal Monday holiday.

    Meal Monday Significance

    Meal Monday tradition highlights the simple lifestyle of Scottish students during the 17th century, which continued the same until the 19th century. Oatmeal was a staple food due to its affordability and nutritional value, making it an essential part of their daily meals. Over time, as university accommodations and food provisions improved, the need for Oatmeal Monday diminished, and the tradition eventually faded.

    (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 10, 2025 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

  • Trump Education Dept launches probe into ‘explosion of antisemitism’ at 5 universities

    Trump Education Dept launches probe into ‘explosion of antisemitism’ at 5 universities

    The Education Department (DoEd) is probing five institutions of higher education with large-scale reports of alleged antisemitism after the 2023 deadly terrorist attack in Israel.

    The terrorist group Hamas coordinated an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, provoking an ongoing Israeli military response that in turn prompted anti-Israel protests to break out on college campuses across the U.S. Many protests were not immediately shut down, and Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony due to safety concerns. 

    Two weeks after assuming office, Trump’s DoEd is alleging that “the Biden Administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable,” prompting a new federal probe into five universities the administration identified as having reports of “widespread antisemitic harassment.”

    The DoEd announced it will investigate five universities: Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

    DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DOLED OUT OVER $200M TO UNIVERSITIES TO INJECT DEI INTO COUNSELING COURSES: REPORT

    President Donald Trump is shown in the Oval Office on Jan. 30, 2025. (Getty Images)

    “Too many universities have tolerated widespread antisemitic harassment and the illegal encampments that paralyzed campus life last year, driving Jewish life and religious expression underground. The Biden Administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable,” Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the DoEd, said in a statement. 

    TRUMP PREPARING TO MAJORLY REVAMP DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AS MATH, READING SCORES SHOW STUNNING LOWS

    “The Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses, nor will it stand by idly if universities fail to combat Jew hatred and the unlawful harassment and violence it animates,” Trainor wrote.

    The investigation comes days after Fox News Digital reported that Trump ordered the potential removal of anti-Jewish protesters with student visas from the country.

    Officers, pro-Palestine protesters clashing

    Police make an arrest as they confront anti-Israel protesters at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (Etienne Laurent)

    Northwestern University, Portland State University and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, told Fox News Digital they would comply with the department’s investigation.

    “There is no place for antisemitism or any form of identity-based discrimination or hate at Northwestern University. Free expression and academic freedom are among our core values, but we have made clear that these values provide no excuse for behavior that threatens the well-being of others,” Jon Yates, vice president of global marketing and communications at Northwestern University, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

    “Portland State University is dedicated to upholding a safe, inclusive and respectful community for all community members. We take these concerns seriously,” Portland State University told Fox. “The university continues to support and engage with efforts to combat antisemitism and mitigate the impact of hate and bias.”

    The school noted that “it is the university’s understanding” that the investigation notice “initiates a directed investigation — which means it is not based on a specific complaint from an individual, but instead is prompted by the new administration.”

    Students march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians

    Anti-Israel protesters are shown at Columbia University in New York City on April 29, 2024. (David Dee Delgado)

    The University of Minnesota said in a statement that they are “confident in our approach to combating hate and bias on our campus and will fully cooperate with this investigation.”

    Columbia University did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time of publication.

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    The Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Education and the Workforce sent a letter, obtained by Fox, to Columbia University in September asking whether the university was “maintaining a safe environment for all members” as a recipient of funding through Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants.

    Columbia University reportedly received $611,173,605 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants in fiscal 2024, according to the HHS public page on NIH funding.

    Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

    Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

  • DEI office closures at universities pile up after another state orders end to ‘woke virus’

    DEI office closures at universities pile up after another state orders end to ‘woke virus’

    West Virginia University became the latest college to shutter its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) office, as a wave of state and federal leaders urged an end to what critics call a paradigm of reverse-discrimination.

    As of Monday, the Morgantown school’s DEI division webpage was still active, advertising an “interactive social justice experience” called the “Tunnel of Awareness” later this month.

    It also invited students to take an “Implicit Bias Test,” take part in a “Yappy Hour” with therapy dogs, and join WVU Vice President Meshea Poore in discussions on how to “live, learn and work together with care and respect for each other” on campus.

    The Mountaineers’ DEI office will be replaced with an ADA and Title IX-centric Division of Campus Engagement and Compliance.

    MOUNTAIN STATE CRACKDOWN: GOVERNOR’S ORDER LEADS TO NEARLY 60 SUSPECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINAL DETENTIONS

    The closure of the department came pursuant to GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s executive order declaring DEI practices to be in conflict with the Mountain State and U.S. Constitutions.

    “No [entity] under authority of the governor or … receiving state funds shall utilize …resources [to DEI positions, activities procedures or mandatory training],” part of the order read. 

    The Republican governor’s order preceded President Donald Trump’s similar federal order by a few days, as the latter’s inauguration fell one week later.

    Morrisey said the “woke virus” needs to be “eradicated” in schools and that he is “a believer… that God looks at us [and] the rule of law looks at us as equals.”

    DOGE ANNOUNCES $1B IN SAVINGS AFTER NIXING 104 DEI CONTRACTS

    “We don’t want special preferences unlawfully benefiting one group of another race, color, age, ethnicity. We have to make sure that we’re taking steps to treat everyone the same under the law.”

    Morrisey thanked WVU for taking the necessary steps to close its DEI office, remarking that too often there is public pressure to “do the wrong thing.”

    April Kaull, executive director of communications for WVU, said Monday the new office is not a rebranding but a “shift in focus that will align with the governor’s directive.”

    “The new West Virginia University Division of Campus Engagement and Compliance is positioned to carry out its core mission and to serve all within our university community. It will focus on ensuring the university adheres to federal and state guidance and fulfilling the needs of our campus community, including compliance with Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is its primary focus,” Kaull said.

    In December, another big football school — Michigan — dismantled its DEI apparatus and said it would no longer “solicit diversity statements as part of faculty hiring, promotion and tenure.”

    The nonaccredited University of Austin in Texas nixed any iteration of DEI in 2024 as well, with an official saying the college will promote freedom of speech and merit-based admissions.

    “They talk about safe spaces. We want to create an environment that’s safe for ideas to be explored and where there’s not risks to the student for taking positions as they explore,” UATX Vice President Michael Shires said at the time.  

    At least six other states — Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Utah — have banned or limited DEI teachings or initiatives within application processes.

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    Meanwhile, an official for Mount Holyoke College in Northampton, Massachusetts, said she hoped higher education will not capitulate to Trump’s vision in this regard, and that such executive orders are ripe for legal challenge.

    “I don’t believe that the value of saying we live in a multiracial democracy is wrong,” President Danielle Holley said in part to the AP.

    Northeastern University in Boston changed the name of its DEI office to “Belonging in Northeastern” in what it called a “reimagined approach.”

    In New Brunswick, New Jersey, a professor at Rutgers University had to cancel an upcoming session geared toward internships for students from HBCUs after a contractor informed her federal funding for the conference was put on-hold.

    Last week, Missouri State University in Springfield announced an end to its DEI programs — a move administrators said was supported by its Board of Governors.

    College President Richard Williams said the school “values diverse thought and actions and support[s] all our students faculty and staff.”

    But, Williams added that leaders in Jefferson City had outlined new requirements because nearly two-fifths of MSU’s budget is earmarked from state funding.

    Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].