University of Connecticut athlete stabbed to death

Jasper Howard, the starting cornerback for University of Connecticut’s football team, was stabbed to death outside of a school dance over the weekend. He was 20.

According to authorities, the stabbing took place during a scuffle between students and non-students outside of the dance hall after a fire alarm was pulled. Although 300 people were outside at that time, police have found no witnesses who were not involved in the altercation.

So far, only one arrest has been made, but not for the stabbing itself; Johnny Hood, a non-student from Hartford, was arrested on charges of interfering with an officer after it was discovered he gave a false name in his report. Hood was identified as being involved with the incident by a second wounded player, who has already recovered and been released from the hospital.

The team will wear Howard’s initials on their helmets for the remainder of their season and bring his jersey and helmet along when they play away-games, and the campus co-op store had sold out of his No. 6 jersey by Monday morning.

Controversy surrounds first non-black Miss Hampton University

For the first time, the historically black Hampton University in Virginia will be represented by a non-black Miss Hampton University: 22-year-old Nikole Churchill, a half-white Pacific Islander.

For her win, Churchill received a $1,500 scholarship, admission into the Miss Virginia pageant and a healthy dose of controversy.

Opinion on campus is apparently split on Churchill’s win, which was judged by representatives from Miss Virginia as well as some campus faculty. This is both because of her race and the fact that she attends a small offshoot of the main campus and not the main campus itself.

“They’re saying that people don’t know who she is,” Hampton University student Juan Diasgranados told the school’s Daily Press newspaper, “people don’t even see her, so how can she represent us if she’s not even from the main campus?”

In response to the controversy, Churchill sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to weigh in on her victory. She then immediately apologized for doing so, saying, “It was absolutely not my intention to bring negative attention to the university.”

Morehouse College publishes new, strict dress code

Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., has implemented a dress policy that now makes it a violation of the dress code to have sagging pants, to be barefoot in public or to cross-dress, among other things.

The new “appropriate attire policy,” as official literature calls it, bars offending students from entering classrooms or official events. This means students with “decorative orthodontic appliances” (e.g. ‘grillz’) will have to remove them before entering class, and students wearing jeans at Convocation or other formal events will have to change.

According to Morehouse officials, about 90 percent of students are already observing the dress code, taking all hats and do-rags off indoors, and only a small minority of students are complaining.

In a statement regarding the dress code, the vice president of student services said: “We are talking about five students who are living a gay lifestyle that is leading them to dress a way we do not expect in Morehouse men.”

Reach reporter Morgan Gard at news@dailyuw.com.