Daily Higher Education News: 25 February 2013

The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 22 February 2013.

Florida Southern College to build dormitories for feral cats

Florida Southern College is to add six new dormitories to its on-campus housing. However, there’s a twist in the tale, or perhaps we should say a twist in the tail: they are for cats, specifically the 100 or so feral cats which live on the university’s campus in the city of Lakeland. The university is known for its collection of buildings designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, so fittingly the dormitories – or more accurately cafés, say university officials – are being built in his distinct style, reports The Ledger.

Wealth-X releases university billionaire ranking

Wealth-X, A US firm which specializes in (you guessed it) wealth, has released a list ranking universities across the world in terms of the number of US dollar billionaires which can be counted among their alumni. US colleges dominate the upper reaches of the ranking, with 17 of the top 20 located in the world’s richest country. Harvard University, perhaps unsurprisingly, leads the way with nearly 3,000 super rich men and women calling the university their alma mater. Notably, 74% of its billionaire alumni made their own fortunes! The UK’s University of Cambridge and University of Oxford and India’s University of Mumbai are the only non-US institutions in the top 20, reports The Huffington Post.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology rocked by gunman hoax

A campus-wide alert was released to students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this weekend, after a gunman was reported to be on the campus of the world’s number one university. The initial report made to the police, however, was reported to be a hoax. No details on where the warning came from or who made it have yet been released. Officials at the university have drawn criticism for a delay in sending out the warning, having been aware of the potential situation for over an hour before taking action, and for not instantly confirming it was a hoax after it became clear, reports The Boston Globe.

University of Oxford students considering Israel boycott

On Wednesday, students at the University of Oxford – one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious institutions – will vote on whether to boycott Israeli products and companies “in protest at Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its hindrance of attempts to create a Palestinian state”, reports The Guardian. If passed, the motion would be brought to the table at the annual conference of the UK’s National Union of Students in April. The proposal has drawn much criticism from students, as did the actions of MP George Galloway (no stranger to controversy…or pretending to be a cat for that matter), who walked out of a debate on the matter after he found out his opponent was Israeli.

Stanford becomes first university to raise US$1 billion in a single year

Stanford University has broken the record for fundraising, raising US$1.035 billion in 2012. This is the first time any university has raised over US$1 billion in a single year. In total, US universities raised US$31 billion, with Harvard (US$650 million), Yale (US$544 million), the University of Southern California (US$492 million) and Columbia University (US$490 million) making up the top five along with Stanford, which tops the list for the eight consecutive year. The top ten universities in terms of fundraising, reports the Daily Herald, account for 17% (US$5.3 billion) of the total, despite only accounting for 0.3% of the 3,500 universities accounted for.

More recent higher education news:

• Prospective students invited to ‘visit’ Canada, virtually >
• US v everyone else: Who does better on the GRE >
• Germany wants one million Indian students to learn German >