Berkeley, CA and Wellington, New Zealand – Go Overseas and Education New Zealand have announced the winner of their 3rd annual full-tuition scholarship to study abroad in New Zealand for a semester. Alicia Cotsoradis, a junior biochemistry major at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, found out that she has won the $15,000 (USD) scholarship towards semester tuition and accommodation stipend.

With this scholarship, she will have the opportunity to gain a world-class education, make lifelong friendships, have unbeatable experiences and learn new ways of thinking – all for free. In addition, STA Travel will be sponsoring the student’s round-trip flight.

Originally from Lawrence, Kansas, Cotsoradis who plans to eventually study medicine, wrote in her application, “I chose to study abroad in order to eventually make me a better doctor. My patients will have such a large array of backgrounds, and during this semester abroad I want to work to know cultures other than my own so I can better my empathy skills and set myself up for success.”

She continued, “Specifically, I chose New Zealand because it represents a culture of imagination and an appreciation for all things beautiful. Between the incredible scenery, the love for adventure, and a culture based on long standing traditions, New Zealand holds all the elements necessary for me to explore myself and merge my science background with more hands on skills that will help me later in life.”

Representatives from Go Overseas and Education New Zealand traveled to the DePauw University campus in Greencastle, Indiana, to deliver the news.

Photo of Alicia Cotsoradis, a junior biochemistry major at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, who is bound to New Zealand.

Alanna Dick, Field Director for North America for Education New Zealand, said, “After meeting Alicia and her family and friends at the DePauw campus, I am even more excited for Alicia to start her semester in New Zealand. Alicia’s drive to become a better doctor by experiencing New Zealand culture and meeting people from diverse backgrounds is inspiring and we are excited to be able to support her dream and follow her on this journey.”

The two past winners of the scholarship have had incredible adventures during their semester abroad in New Zealand. The 2014 winner was Emma Faucher of Castleton University in Vermont. Last year’s winner, Colin Murchison, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, from the University of Arkansas has extended his stay and launched a blog called Adaptography with the goal of promoting cultural, financial and environmental sustainability through multiple forms of artwork including photography, videography and the written word.

Murchison said, “During my semester here, a passion and drive was lit inside me, and I knew I needed to do whatever I could to promote and educate others on environmental, cultural, and financial sustainability. To do so, I went through much self-evaluation and determined a way to best utilize my skill sets, ultimately creating Adaptography.com.”

“We’re incredibly excited that the New Zealand government shares our enthusiasm about international education and it’s so rewarding to offer such a meaningful scholarship,” says Mitch Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of Go Overseas. Safe, culturally diverse and outstandingly beautiful, New Zealand is ranked in the top 10 countries in the world for its higher education and training.

The paperless scholarship application is unlike a traditional essay format. The goal is to get students engaged and excited about New Zealand from the get-go so even if they don’t win the scholarship, they will still be invested in studying abroad. Students can find information about the prestigious New Zealand universities they can attend, as well as learn about what it’s like to live in the island nation. During the application, students can choose whether they’d like to apply for Spring, Summer or Fall terms. They can also select up to three programs, either directly through a university or a study abroad program provider. The final step is to submit a high quality essay and New Zealand themed photo. The application for next year’s scholarship opens in late August on the GoOverseas.com website.

About Go Overseas
Go Overseas has a mission to empower everyone to engage in meaningful travel. Peer reviews, interviews, articles, and more help people make educated decisions on their travel programs. Go Overseas strives to provide reliable resources for our nearly 1 million monthly visitors so they are inspired to travel with a purpose.

About Education New Zealand (ENZ)
Education New Zealand’s primary role in student recruitment is to market New Zealand as an education destination to international students. Through their research and marketing programs, collaboration with international education partners and involvement in student recruitment and business development initiatives, ENZ aims to help their industry achieve growth. They have staff in 18 overseas locations and their head office is in Wellington.

Contact Information and Social Media Links

Mandi Schmitt, PR & Special Projects Director, Go Overseas
Mandi@GoOverseas.com | +1 (410) 533-9987 | @Mandi_Overseas | LinkedIn
Go Overseas: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Google+ | LinkedIn

Deborah Pleva, Weinstein PR for Education New Zealand
Deborah@WeinsteinPR.com | +1 (503) 250-4750
Education New Zealand: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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New PEN America Report Sets Out Principles to Defuse Campus Free Speech Controversies

NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17, 2016 – Addressing concerns that recent campus controversies may lead a rising generation to grow alienated from core American values of free speech, PEN America today released the “PEN America Principles on Campus Speech” to help guide university students, faculty, and administrators to advance inclusion and equality while safeguarding intellectual and academic freedom.

The Principles were released as part of the groundbreaking investigative report And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at U.S. Universities, which examines the future of free speech in American higher education. While declaring that there is no current crisis for free speech on campus, the report notes that “Free speech advocates face an urgent task to articulate how unfettered expression can be reconciled with acute demands for greater equality and inclusion, and, indeed, how such freedoms are essential to the realization of these goals.”

Coming from the American arm of the world’s leading free expression organization, the PEN America Principles on Campus Speech stand to shape the direction of these raging debates nationally, offering a way to address some of the most polarizing campus unrest in decades over issues such as sexist speech, racial epithets, controversial campus speakers, trigger warnings, and so-called “safe spaces” and “microaggressions.”

“The debates over racism, sexism, and homophobia that are rocking the national political discourse are also roiling American campuses, at times seeming to pit activists demanding diversity, fairness, and inclusion against advocates of free speech,” said Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of PEN America. “The PEN America Principles on Campus Speech recognize that our universities are more diverse than ever before, but not everyone feels heard. We aim to point the way toward a campus that is truly open to full participation by students of all backgrounds and viewpoints, while upholding–and in fact advancing–the values of free speech and unfettered inquiry that have made the American system of higher education the envy of the rest of the world.”

The report combines extensive research and thorough analysis of all sides of recent debates as well as three case studies informed by exclusive interviews with protagonists in some of the most pitched campus battle in recent years: skirmishes over free speech and issues of race at Yale, conflict around anti-Semitism and the movement to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israel at UCLA, and controversies over the implications for free speech of specific provisions of Title IX, the law that bars sex discrimination at educational institutions, at Northwestern University.

The PEN America Principles offer concrete guidance on how universities can approach campus speakers, the concept of safe space, campus civility, microaggressions and the language of harm, trigger warnings, and the relationship between speech and harassment under Title IX, among other topics.

In addition to releasing the report, PEN America will be continuing the conversation at a convening November 17-18 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, featuring Yale Dean Jonathan Holloway, UCLA’s Jerry Kang, Slate’s Michelle Goldberg, and a number of the most prominent student leaders active in these debates.

The report, executive summary, and PEN America Principles are available at http://pen.org/on-campus.

To encourage and support informed media coverage of this important issue, PEN America will offer student journalists privileged access to cover the release with a conference call briefing on the report and the related free speech issues at 5pm today, featuring a Q&A with PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel, award-winning journalist and lead investigator for the report EJ Graff, and PEN America Trustee and Buzzfeed Culture Editor Saeed Jones. Journalists who wish to join the conference call should register at http://bit.ly/2dVUU56 or call in directly:

The dial-in number is 1-888-585-9008.

You will be then prompted to enter a “conference room code.” Enter: 731-634-296.

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PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

CONTACT
Omar Safadi
osafadi@pen.org
(708) 663.0807

Emily Whitfield
emilyawhitfield@gmail.com
(917) 686.4542

EMBARGOED
For Monday, October 17, 2016

CONTACT:
Omar Safadi, PEN America: osafadi@pen.org, +1 (646) 779 4830

STUDENT JOURNALIST BRIEFING:
And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at U.S. Universities
New PEN America Report Examines the State of Free Expression on Campus

NEW YORK—On Monday, October 17, PEN America will release the groundbreaking new report And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at U.S. Universities, which examines the future of free speech in American higher education. To encourage and support informed media coverage of this important issue, PEN America will offer student journalists privileged access to cover the release with a conference call briefing on the report and the related free speech issues at 5:00pm on October 17, featuring a Q&A with PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel and award-winning journalist EJ Graff, the lead investigator for the report.

And Campus for All combines extensive reporting and thorough analysis of all sides of recent debates, as well as three case studies informed by exclusive interviews with protagonists in some of the most pitched campus battles in recent years: skirmishes over free speech and issues of race at Yale, conflict surrounding activism on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at UCLA, and controversies over the implications for free speech of specific provisions of Title IX—the law that bars sex discrimination at educational institutions—at Northwestern University. Coming from the American arm of the world’s leading free expression organization, the incorporated “PEN America Principles on Campus Speech” stand to shape the direction of these raging debates nationally. The PEN America Principles offer a way to address some of the most polarizing campus unrest in decades over issues such as sexist speech, racial epithets, controversial campus speakers, trigger warnings, and so-called “safe spaces” and “microaggressions.”

Participants in the briefing call will be eligible to apply for financial support to attend a follow-up closed-door symposium with 30 prominent figures involved in campus free speech controversies at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on November 17-18, 2016.

WHO: PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel and Journalist EJ Graff

WHAT: Student journalist briefing call for new report And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Freedom of Speech at U.S. Universities

WHEN: Monday, October 17, 2016, 5:00pm

WHERE: Conference call dial-in will be provided upon registration

WHY: Amid concerns that recent campus controversies may lead a rising generation to grow alienated from core American values of free speech, PEN America will release on Monday the “PEN America Principles on Campus Speech” to help guide university students, faculty, and administrators to advance inclusion and equality while safeguarding intellectual and academic freedom.

Journalists who wish to join the conference call must register here. An embargoed copy of the report and dial-in number for the conference call will be provided to all those who register.

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PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. PEN.org

Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Law Schools Show Continued Optimism, but Fragile Recovery Leads Most to Favor the Closure of Existing JD Programs and Limiting New Ones

New York, NY (October 6, 2016) – This past admissions cycle, the legal education community saw something they haven’t seen since 2009: an increase in the number of law school applications and LSAT® takers. This momentum is reflected in continued optimism that Kaplan Test Prep finds in its 2016 survey of law school admissions officers.* Of the 111 law schools from around country that participated in the annual survey, 92 percent say that they are feeling “more optimistic about the state of legal education” than they did one year ago. That optimism leads 78 percent of respondents to express confidence that their law school will see another increase in applications for the 2016-2017 application cycle — a far cry from the 46% who expressed such confidence, when Kaplan conducted its 2014 survey.

But perhaps still wary from a multi-year application slump and the continued tight job market for law school graduates, America’s law schools want to tread carefully. Nearly two-thirds of law schools (65 percent) agree that it “would be a good idea if at least a few law schools closed.” Additionally, 52 percent support a recent recommendation by the National Advisory Council on Institutional Quality and Integrity to the U.S. Department of Education, which was ultimately rejected, that the American Bar Association be stripped of its ability to accredit new law schools for a period of one year.

“Law schools are in the midst of what we might call a fragile application and financial recovery. We see cautious optimism, but by no means are they roaring back to life, so opening additional law schools could set things back by contributing to a job market saturated with too many lawyers looking for a limited number of jobs,” said Jeff Thomas, executive director of pre-law programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “The good news for pre-law students is that the data shows that the worst of the law school application crunch and job crisis is likely over, but we encourage aspiring attorneys to be thoughtful about what they want from law school and what that want to do with their degree.”

Kaplan’s survey also found that just 24 percent of law schools cut the number of seats for their 2016 class of first-year students, lower than the 35 percent who reported doing so for the 2015 class of 1Ls and and the 54 percent who did for the 2014 class.

“It is exciting to see increasing interest in attending law school,” said Robert Schwartz, assistant dean of admissions at UCLA School of Law. “With the job market for lawyers improving, it’s entirely plausible that we will continue to see another increase in applications this year. In the meantime, it remains imperative for law schools to keep innovating and keep tuition in check to help make law school a more attractive place for would be professionals.” Schwartz noted that UCLA Law froze tuition for the class of 2019.

“Law school is, and has been, an investment,” added Stephen Brown, assistant dean, Fordham University School of Law. “The happiest and most successful law students are the ones who come to school with a reasonable goal, a plan to achieve it – and passion.”

* For the 2016 survey, 111 of the 205 American Bar Association-accredited law schools were polled by telephone between August and September 2016. Included among the 111 are 12 of the top 25 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council, which neither sponsors nor endorses this product.

About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)
Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanLSATPrep

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