The Huntington News September 3, 2021
The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community
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Q&A: PRESIDENT AOUN DISCUSSES RETURNING TO NORTHEASTERN, DIVERSITY ISSUES By Matt Yan and Rachel Erwin | News Staff
Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun spoke with The News in an hour-long, in-person conversation Aug. 25 about returning to in-person activities amid rising cases of the Delta variant and progress regarding his goals for diversity, equity and inclusion The Huntington News: As we head into this new school year, what do you think worked best with Northeastern’s approach to COVID-19, and what would you have changed? President Aoun: I think that what worked very well is the guiding principles and execution that followed those guiding principles. We were among the first universities in the nation to declare that we’re going to open. But, it wasn’t enough to say that we’re going to open. We made it clear that the wellness and the health of the community is paramount, so we had to be guided by that. And this is why we established the whole system. We had a system of testing, which we did every three days, and we have our own labs. That was a move that was important to us because we didn’t want to be dependent on any other lab because sometimes they may have problems. We wanted to run our own labs, and this served us very well. The first aspect is that the guiding
Photo courtesy Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
principles were there, and the execution was done by the community superbly well. We also reduced the density. We leased hotels, rooms, etc., in various places; we reduced the density in the classrooms and in the labs, everywhere. More importantly, that wasn’t enough — that was the preamble. What worked superbly well is that the community at large, the faculty, staff and students wanted to have a safe environment and made sure that this environment was also conducive to safe interactions. You can put plans, you can put infrastructure, but it’s the people ultimately and the community that will make it successful. The question is, why did we decide to open? We decided to open because we had many, many interactions with students. And the students said, “Look, we want to come to school. We want to be here with our peers, with our friends, with our faculty, advisers and counselors,” and the message was very strong: The students wanted to be here. AOUN, on Page 2
Northeastern welcomes record-breaking class of 2025
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By Grace Comer News Staff Despite the unprecedented circumstances this past year’s applicant pool found themselves in, more students chose to apply to Northeastern than ever before. Northeastern saw a 17% increase in applicants from last year, receiving 75,223 applications, according to an email to The News from university spokesperson Jessica Hair. International applicants, while inhibited by restrictions on travel due to COVID-19, still showed an increase of 6%. Some incoming first-years who spoke with The News said Northeastern’s appeal comes from its unique programs. The co-op program is one of North-
eastern’s biggest and most popular career-building initiatives, as it is a program that few other American universities offer. “What made me apply was the co-op program,” said Lorena Sosa, an incoming first-year environmental studies and political science combined major. The co-op program allows students to apply skills learned in the classroom in a real-world job, gaining valuable work experience while still a member of the university. “I think the concept of co-op is just so cool. You get so much experience for your planned career before you even graduate,” said Lucas Dunker, an incoming first-year planning to major in computer science.
Additionally, Northeastern’s combined majors attract students with multiple interests because they allow students to pursue multiple topics within one degree. “I realized that I could combine two interests that I have, because I have various avenues of interest,” Sosa said. “I knew that at Northeastern, I could do data science too, if I wanted to,” said Avi Krishna, an incoming data science and business administration combined major. For some incoming first-years, the location of Northeastern’s Boston campus was important as it offers the benefits of living in a city, while also having a central campus. 2025, on Page 3