Students climbed up a rock wall and dropped down into a dunk tank at Tuesday’s Diversival.

The Diversival, sponsored by the Residence Hall Association, took place on the quad and featured dunk tanks, a “moon bounce for equality” and “rock climbing for change,” according to RHA Vice President of Programming Amanda Silva.

Participation in any of the activities, including the moon bounce, rock climbing, tie-dying T-shirts, face painting, inflatable Twister and the dunk tank, gave Hall Wars points to the residence hall that the participatory student lives in.

Silva said the highlight of the event is “having something on the quad in general. I think the people are attracted to the color [of the activities].”

Wearing just T-shirts…

Asian Flavors opened its doors to more than 1,000 customers during its first week, according to owner Tom Gera.

Just before 7 p.m. on March 16, two dozen students unexpectedly rose out of the crowd in the Mary Graydon Center and broke out into dance.

Although Mary Soto is a Terrace Dining Room chef by day, she spends her nights chowing down on microwaveable popcorn.

Since President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the McKinley Building in 1902, 11 U.S. presidents have been to AU for various reasons.

A look back at AU’s presidential visits.

AU was ranked as having one of the highest numbers of Peace Corps volunteers in the nation this year.

AU is currently considered the greenest university in the country, according to a recent sustainability rating.

Q&A with junior Catherine Litten, one of the AU students evacuated from Egypt while studying abroad in Cairo.
• 11 AU students evacuating Cairo
• Students protest at Egyptian Embassy, White House

Mariam Aziz heard gunshots through the phone as she talked to her best friend in Cairo at 5 a.m. on Jan. 29. 

AU proposes to move the Washington College of Law from its current location on Massachusetts Avenue to the Tenley Campus in 2013.

AU raised $7.6 million above its AnewAU campaign goal for endowments, allowing the university to increase the number of scholarship awards for the incoming freshmen class.

The Eagle Endowment’s first prize award went to the Latino Youth Conference in a ceremony April 16.

The Student Government started a new campus campaign called “Fan Fridays,” during which prizes will be given to students on campus sporting AU apparel.

Members from AU’s EcoSense spent their Saturday picking up trash for the Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, an annual event that has removed three million tons of trash since 1954, according to an event press release.

Hybrid cards – not cars – will come to AU Monday, according to Housing and Dining Programs. These cards will bring together student IDs and SmarTrip passes for the first 300 students who come to the Housing and Dining office in Anderson Hall on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

Students reacted positively to the February launch of AU’s branch of the Zimride rideshare program, according to Curtis Rogers, national account manager of Zimride.

D.C. is working to become more bicycle-friendly as more bicycle lanes are being added to downtown streets.

The unfinished building on the corner of Albemarle and Wisconsin avenues is expected to be completed this Friday, but there is no tenant for it yet, according to George Pedas, vice president of Circle Management, the company that owns the space.

At least four dorm room thefts of televisions, laptops and iPods occurred in one day in Anderson and Letts Halls.

Despite projections that there would be a serious lack of on-campus housing for people who desired it, everyone who participated in the lottery Wednesday through Friday last week was able to get housing.

This was partly because not everyone who signed up for the lottery actually participated, according to Chris Moody, executive director of Housing and Dining Programs.

Student Government President Andy MacCracken said it is unlikely that all universities in D.C. will be able to obtain a Metro discount for their students.

One student in the SPA program in Haiti died as a result of January’s earthquake. Dean of SPA William LeoGrande said he expects the program to continue.

While last week’s blizzard kept many students indoors, it also provided money-making and saving opportunities, like shoveling driveways for AU’s neighbors and discounts at Z-Burger.

Z-Burger sold hamburgers for $1 during the twin storms if customers mentioned the word “snow” during their purchase. Students who asked for a “snow burger” or said “it’s snowing outside” were given the discounted burger.

Lauren Heinz, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, lives close to Z-Burger and went there with her friends during the blizzard to take advantage of its $1 burger deal, she said.

“We decided to get the $1 snow burgers — it was cheap,” she said. “Originally, they charged me full price, and I was like, ‘Oh, isn’t…

Last week’s blizzard ravaged regular campus activities.  The administration canceled classes from Monday to Thursday, put up staff overnight nearby and limited Bender Library’s hours, though the library remained open selectively each day. Some trees on campus and the canopy beside the Mary Graydon Center succumbed to the snowfall and collapsed.

This winter’s unusually heavy snowfall and low temperatures in D.C. are evidence of climate change, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

The record-breaking, two-punch snowfall that has blanketed campus for the last week has led to AU staff being housed nearby or on campus as well as nearly a week of class cancellations.

Only half the 20 students in the School of Public Affairs’ public financial management program in Haiti have been accounted for since the earthquake, and the program’s facilities have been destroyed, according to William LeoGrande, dean of SPA.

Though college-age people are one of the most susceptible groups for contracting the H1N1 virus, some AU students do not believe the vaccination for it is necessary.

AU received a “B” on the annual College Sustainability Report Card, a survey conducted by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, and improved its score for the third year in a row

About 20 bikes were stolen on campus this semester after the locks were destroyed with wire cutters.

The biggest problem with the revised shuttle system is the Super Loop route, AU Student Government President Andrew MacCracken said in a town hall meeting Tuesday. 

An AU student was recently moved out of his dorm room in McDowell Hall because the presence of mildew was making him sick.

After some students reported cases of H1N1 flu in AU dorms, the university is preparing for the worst, as health officials expect the frequency of swine flu cases to increase significantly this fall, AU President Neil Kerwin said in a memo.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found an open glass flask containing traces of the chemical agent mustard two feet below ground at a vacant home behind AU on Aug. 12.

The findings were at 4825 Glenbrook Road, behind AU’s Public Safety building.

David Taylor, chief of staff to President Neil Kerwin, said the flask posed no threat to the surrounding area, and the chemical did not seem to have leaked into the surrounding soil.

Loud AU students, off-campus parties and complaints from residents prompted the administration to send out letters to the AU community reminding students about AU’s Good Neighbor Relations Guide.

The university strongly advises students against underage drinking and encourages students to be good neighbors, said Dr. Rob Hrdasky, assistant vice president of Campus Life and dean of students, in an Aug. 20 e-mail he sent out to students. 

Most complaints about AU students are related to public drunkenness and disorderly behavior like vandalism, according to Chief Michael McNair, director of Public Safety.

Most of these complaints are made directly to the Metropolitan Police Department. It is rare that complaints go directly to AU, McNair said.

“Since most cases are…

Welcome Week is a time for freshmen to get to know each other. For many, that means attending frat parties. They can be a great place to meet new people, but there are risks involved with the newly acquired freedom that freshman finally find in college, according to Lieutenant Rima Sifri, Crime Prevention and RAD Coordinator at AU.

Sifri listed a number of things to watch out for when attending parties. Car-stuffing is one of her main concerns. Students pile as many people into a car as they can fit to get to or from a party.

“Everyone piles in one car, and I actually pulled someone out of the car and asked, ‘Do you know who the driver is?’…