Campus Currents

Febuary 17, 2026

What's the Tea with Harlaxton?

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Miles Bibb Confernece Room

Have you heard us talking about Harlaxton, but you can't quite figure out if you want to go? Need more information besides the “advertising material”? Then come to our Afternoon Tea in the Ecumenical Center!

Join the Office of International Student Services and Study Abroad and Jordan Hall, our Harlaxton rep, for actual tea (or coffee, if you prefer), scones, and cucumber sandwiches!

The basic Harlaxton info is below, but for all the tea on life at the castle, student activities, classes, ease of travel, the surrounding town AND MORE, come talk to Jordan!

Please note that this is a drop-in event, and you are welcome to stop by at any time between 11am and 3pm to grab a drink, a snack, and a chat. There will be no formal info session scheduled.

Are you in the ��ϲ�� Honors program, OR you have a 3.0 GPA? Is your family not into the idea of you studying abroad, but you want a way to convince them? Why not study at Harlaxton College?

Harlaxton College is a beautiful manor/castle where you eat, sleep, and take classes. The best part? ��ϲ�� professor Dr. Sandy Hartwiger is coming, too! Dr. Hartwiger will teach two ��ϲ�� classes, and then you can take up to four additional classes at Harlaxton…you could even get ahead on your degree!

"100 days Until Graduation" Recent Alumni Share Career Advice with Students

Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. on Zoom

Hear from recent ��ϲ�� Alumni about how they navigated the first years after graduation.

The Right to Eat: Food Security, Service, and Dr. King’s Vision

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 8:30 – 11:30am, McCarthy Center Lobby

The Food and Nutrition Department invites the ��ϲ�� community to explore how food security intersects with Dr. King’s mission to end poverty and promote equity. Learn about the importance of access to nutritious, affordable food, and discover ways to get involved in upcoming Days of Service at local MetroWest food pantries.

We will also welcome our Tribal Member in Residence, Shani Turner of the Native Nipmuc Tribe, who will share about Indigenous foodways and lead a meaningful seed-planting ceremony.

Panel Discussion: How has Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shaped your journey?

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 1:30 – 2:30pm, Center for Inclusive Excellence

Join us for a meaningful panel discussion with ��ϲ�� faculty and administrators as they reflect on the ways Dr. King’s teachings have influenced their personal and professional lives. Through stories of challenge, resilience, and growth, our panelists will explore how MLK’s vision of justice, equity, and service continues to guide their identities and their work here at ��ϲ��.

The Arthur Nolletti, Jr. Film Series: Nickel Boys

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 6 – 8:30pm, Heineman Ecumenical Center

Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Nickel Boys follows the harrowing experiences of Black youths trapped in a reform school’s violent, racist system. By confronting buried histories of abuse, the film urges viewers to reckon with the structures of inequality that continue to shape American life today. Winner of the National Society of Film Critics for Best Picture and Nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2025 Academy Awards.

DICE Professional Development Series: Supporting Students with Diverse Learning Needs and Abilities

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 1:30 – 2:30pm, Center for Inclusive Excellence

This session will be faciltated by Julianne Lilienfeld, Disability/Access Services Coordinator for the Center for Academic Success and Achievement; and Tanya Milette, Associate Director of Disability and Access Services for the Center for Academic Success and Achievement

Neurodivergent students—such as those with dyslexia, ADHD, or processing disorders—face unique challenges in Higher Ed. This workshop offers UDL strategies, legal context, and inclusive teaching practices to reduce stigma and support learning. Faculty will leave with concrete ways to empower students with diverse learning needs and abilities.

English Language Programs Study English with us this Spring!

The new six-week Saturday session starts on March 14
Register now! We welcome students of all languages and backgrounds.

In this section

Scholars discuss the historical context and aftermath of the Challenger Disaster

By Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez
Publications Intern

Reflecting on the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster requires learning about both its historical context and the impact it left on everyone in the counry, which was the focus of a recent McAuliffe Center Challenger Anniversary event.

Dr. Jon Huibregtse, professor emeritus, said a historian talking about a whole decade in only 10 minutes was a difficult task, but he decided to do so through “screenshots of events.”

The 1980s was not a great decade for blue collar Americans as the United States lost about two million manufacturing jobs throughout the decade, he said.

“It was in the 1980s that the phrase ‘working poor’ entered the American lexicon, meaning people who worked full time but were living around the poverty line despite of all of their hard work,” Huibregtse said.

President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 foreign policy speech has been dubbed by many historians as the “evil empire speech,” Huibregtse said. “It signaled a sharp break from the détente that had existed with the Soviet Union.”

In June of 1981, the CDC first reported five cases of particular pneumonia that is now known as “common among people infected with HIV/AIDS, which was just starting to enter public consciousness, but the government was silent as this crisis devastated communities,” Huibregtse said.

This was the backdrop for the disaster that occurred on January 28th, 1986. Jennifer Levasseur, the space history curator at the National Air and Space Museum, said she was very aware of the space program as a child and had turned nine years old when she saw on television the Challenger disaster.

The moment became a “shared collective public memory. This is a moment that many people, not just children, shared in, just like my parents could recall where they were when President Kennedy was shot,” Levasseur said.

She said NASA had chosen people from diverse backgrounds to make up the Challenger’s crew.

It consisted of Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian American astronaut, Judith Resnik, the first Jewish American astronaut, and Ronald McNair, one of the first African American astronauts, she said.

The crew also included Richard Scobee as commander, Michael Smith as pilot, and Gregory Jarvis and, of course, Christa Corrigan McAuliffe '70 a non-professional astronauts selected for the Teacher in Space program.

Before 1981 there were already concerns about the shuttle designs, she said.

The engineers who voiced their concerns were pushed aside to keep the program going, she said.

“The incidents that caused both of the tragedies were well known. It was a managerial problem in the end,” Levasseur said.

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