William Jewell

An independent group at William Jewell revealed the college founders’ deep ties to slavery, including the fact that enslaved people helped build Jewell Hall and that the college's namesake Dr. William Jewell did not free all the people he enslaved, contrary to previous accounts.

At the liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri, a group of researchers called the Slavery, Memory and Justice Project has caused a reckoning with the college's past.

Ongoing concerns about the coronavirus keep venues closed. Two Liberty-based opera artists, a singer and a stage director, try to embrace the situation instead of fighting it.

Among other things, local colleges are planning to limit classroom capacity, put new restrictions on dorm life and end the fall semester early.

Smaller schools think they could be an attractive option this fall for students wanting to save money and avoid overcrowded classrooms.