Swarthmore College

Mia Ferguson was raped in her freshman year at Swarthmore College, she said, leaving her traumatized and unsure of what to do for months. When she decided to report the assault to the college more than a year later, she said, she received little support. "I was never offered academic accommodations, living accommodations, psychological support, a no-contact order . . . until I very actively pursued them myself a few weeks later," said Ferguson, 19, an engineering major from Cambridge, Mass.

Swarthmore College unveiled plans before the Borough Council Monday night for what officials called a multimillion-dollar renovation and construction project on the campus. Architect Margaret Helfand presented three variations of the plan, which school officials said included improvements to the social sciences building and construction of a 35,000-square-foot building that would house some academic departments, classrooms and a faculty lounge. The plan also would reroute vehicles around the perimeter of the campus to make the heart of the campus more pedestrian, said Larry Schall, vice president for facilities and planning for the college.

An incident involving nearly two dozen skinheads, some armed with knives and clubs, and an attack on a 15-year-old boy have prompted police and security forces to beef up patrols in and around Swarthmore College. "We're not going to let skinheads congregate in Swarthmore," said Mayor Guy Smith. "They're not going to start harming people. We are going to beef up nighttime patrols so we are on top of this. " Security officers and local police rounded up a disorderly group of skinheads on campus Jan. 26 without violence, according to Owen Redgrave, head of campus security.

David Fraser, the president of Swarthmore College for the last eight years, will step down from his post at the liberal arts school in August 1991, school officials said yesterday. Fraser, 46, a physician who is credited with heading a team of researchers who discovered the cause of Legionnaires' disease, said he had already been at Swarthmore three years longer than he intended. "I suspect that I have given to Swarthmore what I have to give," he said. Fraser said he missed the practice of medicine and public health, but had no plans to return to a specific job in those fields.

William Spock, senior vice president of Corroon & Black/Noyes Services insurance firm in Media, has been named vice president for business and finance at Swarthmore College. Spock will oversee nonacademic departments of the college and investment of Swarthmore's endowment portfolio, valued at about $280 million. Spock, of Wallingford, is a Swarthmore graduate and is on the school's board of managers. At Corroon & Black/Noyes Services, Spock is responsible for overseeing the personal property and casualty department, the life and benefits department and administrative operations.

Swarthmore College, widely regarded as one of the nation's leading private liberal arts schools, is expected to name Alfred H. Bloom, a linguist who is fluent in French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, as its new president. School officials said yesterday that Bloom's name would be submitted to the Swarthmore board for approval on March 2. He was recommended by a school committee after a nationwide search that considered 600 names. Bloom, 44, is now executive vice president and dean of the faculty at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif.

They met at a school party during the first week of classes. She was a freshman, and he a senior. First, he asked her to dance. Then they went outside, and finally he said, "You wanna go out to my dorm and hang out, have some coffee?" Debbie agreed. After 10 minutes of small talk seated on the bed, Bryan touched her hair and started kissing her. She responded, but wanted to go no further. "Bryan, please don't. " He ignored her. "Just close your eyes. " "I'm not really sure about this.

Gilmore Stott, 91, of Swarthmore, a Swarthmore College administrator and teacher who was a mentor to generations of students, died of a heart attack May 4 at Springfield Hospital. In 1950, Dr. Stott was appointed assistant dean of men at Swarthmore. For the next 35 years, he held various positions, including director of financial aid, registrar, associate provost, and special assistant to the president. He also taught philosophy and a popular course on ethics. For years he chaired the college's Upward Bound Program, which helps low-income high school students prepare for college.

A women's-rights lawyer said Wednesday that federal suits had been filed against several U.S. colleges, including Swarthmore College, alleging that the schools did not properly handle students' sexual-assault allegations. Two other complaints making similar claims were filed against Swarthmore last month. It was not immediately clear how many of the suits filed Wednesday were against Swarthmore. The complaints are not public, according to Gloria Allred, but they allege that the schools - Swarthmore, Dartmouth College, the University of North Carolina, the University of Southern California, and the University of California at Berkeley - did not comply with Title IX or the Clery Act. Title IX, commonly known as a law related to women's sports, also contains civil rights requirements.

As a high school student during the Depression, Eugene M. Lang wanted to be a social worker. His principal suggested business instead; that way, the more money Lang made, the more people he could help. Lang went on to make a fortune. Yesterday, the 78-year-old New York businessman gave much of it away: $30 million in an unrestricted gift to his alma mater, Swarthmore College. He said the money would likely be used for community-service projects, "something to make this a better world.

Mia Ferguson was raped in her freshman year at Swarthmore College, she said, leaving her traumatized and unsure of what to do for months. When she decided to report the assault to the college more than a year later, she said, she received little support. "I was never offered academic accommodations, living accommodations, psychological support, a no-contact order . . . until I very actively pursued them myself a few weeks later," said Ferguson, 19, an engineering major from Cambridge, Mass.

Ling Zhong's parents have come from China to watch her graduate from Swarthmore College on Sunday, and she surely wants them to understand the ceremony. So Zhong, 22, a Beijing native, and a younger classmate, also from China, will set up in a classroom on the third floor of the college's performing arts center, where they will translate the speeches into Mandarin. Zhong's parents and anyone else who cares to hear the Mandarin version can don headsets and listen at both the spacious amphitheater where the event will be held and an auditorium in the performing arts center where it will be projected onto a large screen.

A women's-rights lawyer said Wednesday that federal suits had been filed against several U.S. colleges, including Swarthmore College, alleging that the schools did not properly handle students' sexual-assault allegations. Two other complaints making similar claims were filed against Swarthmore last month. It was not immediately clear how many of the suits filed Wednesday were against Swarthmore. The complaints are not public, according to Gloria Allred, but they allege that the schools - Swarthmore, Dartmouth College, the University of North Carolina, the University of Southern California, and the University of California at Berkeley - did not comply with Title IX or the Clery Act. Title IX, commonly known as a law related to women's sports, also contains civil rights requirements.

IN THE DARKNESS of night, the complaints were etched in chalk up and down the walkways of Swarthmore College, a 399-acre oasis of green quads and liberal student activism southwest of Philadelphia. "Welcome to Swarthmore," said one of the scribblings that recently confronted students - and administrators - when the sun rose. "Home of my rapist. " The so-called chalkings, which infuriated Swarthmore's president, were a turning point in a controversy that has rattled one of America's top-ranked liberal-arts schools.

Swarthmore College is in rare company nationally as a school that collects nearly as much or more revenue from investments as it does from students. Its $1.5 billion endowment - about $1 million per student - allows the highly ranked college to spend more on each student, but it does not fully shield Swarthmore from the economic forces threatening higher education. "When we think about the future, we're worried about . . . economic growth in this country," said Suzanne Welsh, vice president for finance and treasurer at Swarthmore.

MORE ALLEGED victims of sexual misconduct are expected to join a complaint by 22 current and former students accusing Swarthmore College of violating a federal law that mandates reporting of crimes, advocates say. The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month, claims that the elite Delaware County college underreported incidents of sexual misconduct - a violation of the federal Clery Act. Students also plan to...

Students at Swarthmore College say they plan to file a second federal complaint claiming that the school has not adequately responded to reports of sexual assault. A coalition called Swarthmore Assault Prevention and Survivor Advocates (SAPSA) said the new filing will allege that the college violated Title IX provisions by allowing a sexually hostile environment and denying women equal access to education opportunities. The Title IX law, commonly associated with funding for women's sports, also contains civil-rights regulations.

Two Swarthmore College students, claiming that the school has failed to adequately address reports of sexual assault, filed a formal federal complaint days after administrators announced plans to review their policies and procedures. Mia Ferguson and Hope Brinn accused the college Thursday of violating the Clery Act, according to the Daily Gazette student newspaper. The complaint, accompanied by testimony from 10 other students, said the school discouraged students from reporting crime to local law enforcement agencies and underreported incidents of sexual battery, sexual assault, and rape, the newspaper said.

Swarthmore College announced this week that it would commission an external review of its policies and procedures for handling sexual misconduct on campus. Its decision comes in the week the student newspaper, the Daily Gazette, launched a series exploring problems with the college's handling of sexual assault on campus. The story Monday reported that few cases make it to the judicial committee, and told of a 2011 case in which the attacker withdrew from college before the process could be completed.

The former president of the World Bank has withdrawn as one of Swarthmore College's three 2013 commencement speakers after critical comments sparked a debate in the campus media. Robert Zoellick, a 1975 alumnus, also declined to receive an honorary degree, according to an announcement by Swarthmore's president, Rebecca Chopp. "I don't want to disrupt what should be a special day for the graduates, their families, and friends. Nor do I have an interest in participating in an unnecessarily controversial event," Zoellick said, according to an e-mail Chopp sent to the college community on Friday.