Latest news with #JohnAdams
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Department store wants to cut hours for 70 staff
A well-known department store has announced it wants to cut hours for some staff due to rising costs and changes in shopping habits. About 70 members of staff working in front of house and hospitality at Jarrolds in Norwich have been asked to voluntarily change their contracts. The situation will be reviewed at the end of June to assess the uptake for these shorter contracts. John Adams, managing director for retail, said: "All retailers have been hit by rising costs since last year and we must make sensible decisions to protect both jobs and the future of the business." The history of the retailer dates back to 1770 when John Jarrold opened a grocer's and drapers in Woodbridge, Suffolk. The Jarrolds Group closed its store in Wymondham , Norfolk, after nearly four decades in September, following what the company referred to as the evolvement of "customer buying habits". Mr Adams said the retailer had recorded a "definite shift" in footfall, with the bulk of transactions taking place between 11:00 and 15:00. A change in hours would help the retailer be "more flexible" and the traditional 09:00-17:00 working pattern "no longer makes sense", Mr Adams added. "We have therefore asked colleagues working in sales and front of house hospitality roles to consider voluntarily changing their contracts to better align to footfall and sales volumes. "While this ultimately reduces their committed weekly hours, we will be offering overtime to cater for busier periods." One employee told the BBC that staff were "unhappy" and "frustrated" about the decision. Mr Adams continued: "Our priority is always to be open and honest with our team members and to try and safeguard jobs through practical solutions." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Store to close after change in High Street - owner Prominent former mill could become 88-bed hotel Jarrolds
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Jarrolds in Norwich wants to cut hours to 70 staff members
A well-known department store has announced it wants to cut hours for some staff due to rising costs and changes in shopping 70 members of staff working in front of house and hospitality at Jarrolds in Norwich have been asked to voluntarily change their situation will be reviewed at the end of June to assess the uptake for these shorter Adams, managing director for retail, said: "All retailers have been hit by rising costs since last year and we must make sensible decisions to protect both jobs and the future of the business." The history of the retailer dates back to 1770 when John Jarrold opened a grocer's and drapers in Woodbridge, Suffolk. The Jarrolds Group closed its store in Wymondham , Norfolk, after nearly four decades in September, following what the company referred to as the evolvement of "customer buying habits". 'Safeguard jobs' Mr Adams said the retailer had recorded a "definite shift" in footfall, with the bulk of transactions taking place between 11:00 and 15:00.A change in hours would help the retailer be "more flexible" and the traditional 09:00-17:00 working pattern "no longer makes sense", Mr Adams added."We have therefore asked colleagues working in sales and front of house hospitality roles to consider voluntarily changing their contracts to better align to footfall and sales volumes."While this ultimately reduces their committed weekly hours, we will be offering overtime to cater for busier periods."One employee told the BBC that staff were "unhappy" and "frustrated" about the Adams continued: "Our priority is always to be open and honest with our team members and to try and safeguard jobs through practical solutions." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Did Trump go to Harvard? A look at 8 presidents who graduated from the university
Harvard has recently come under fire from the Trump administration for failing to adhere to federal norms and guidelines. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's Student and Visitor Exchange Program (SVEP) certification, stripping its ability to host foreign students. The development has led to several non-immigrant students being forced to switch schools mid-semester or risking their legal status being stripped away. The government accused the university of 'fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus' and failure on the part its administration to turn in footage and disciplinary records of foreign students. This leaves the future of Harvard's ever-increasing foreign demographic at stake and threatens the reputation of the university responsible for producing some of America's most eminent contributors in fields ranging from science and law to public policy and decision-making. According to an article published in The Harvard Gazette, the university's official news website, 'Harvard has educated more U.S. presidents than any other university. Yale University has produced five U.S. presidents, with George W. Bush counting for both Harvard and Yale.' John Adams (in office 1797-1801) America's second president and first vice president enrolled at Harvard back in 1951. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1755 and passed out at a time when graduates were still arranged according to the dignity of their birth ranks rather than merits. Adams developed a keen interest in literature and law during his time at the university and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1758. John Quincy Adams (in office 1825-29) Son of John Adams, John Quincy Adams followed in the footsteps of his father's alma mater when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1785. His education before was handled by private tutors and schools in Paris and the Netherlands. Adams graduated second in a class of 51 pupils. Rutherford B. Hayes (in office 1877-81) After finishing his schooling in Connecticut and graduating as valedictorian from Kenyon College, the 19th President of America enrolled at Harvard in 1843 to pursue law. Hayes is remembered for his efforts to cut across divisions of the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt (in office 1901-09) A pioneer for granting women equal marital rights among other progressive policies, Roosevelt was considered eccentric by his classmates during his time at Harvard. The former President had a knack for natural sciences and participated in a range of extracurricular activities. He passed out in 1880 with a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude after graduating with honors. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (in office 1933-45) A distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt is remembered for leading the country through the Great Depression and World War II over the course of his four terms as President. Captain of the freshman football team and reporter for the student paper The Crimson were only some of Roosevelt's attempts to gain a social standing rather than any sort of academic excellence. His rejection from the university's most elite club Porcellian left the former President dejected. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1903. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (in office 1961-63) Kennedy's senior honor thesis during his time at Harvard, about Britain's lack of preparation for World War II, went on to become his famous publication Why England Slept years later. Though he was never academically inclined and always in his brother's shadow, Kennedy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government with a concentration in international affairs in 1940. He is known for being America's youngest president and dealt with the Cold War, space race, and civil rights advancements during his time in office. George W. Bush (in office 2001-09) George W Bush originally followed in his father's footsteps by earning a degree in history from Yale. Following the rejection of his law application to the University of Texas, Bush enrolled at Harvard Business School instead. He passed with a Master of Science degree in business administration from the university in 1975, making him the first American President to hold an MBA. Rather than starting in the legal division, Bush got his start in the oil business and went on to lead America in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the Iraq invasion. Barack Obama (in office 2009-17) America's first president of color was originally born in Hawaii but passionate about following in his father's footsteps to study at Harvard. After getting a degree in international relations from Columbia, Barack Obama pursued a legal education at Harvard in 1988. During his stint as a student, he was also elected president of Harvard Law Review, a student-run journal of legal scholarship. Obama also received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the university's Law School magna cum laude in 1991 and went on to spend his time in office focusing on reforms in healthcare and economy. Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, did not attend Harvard University. He originally enrolled at Fordham College in New York in 1964 and then went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 after transferring there two years prior.
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
These Founding Fathers Were Frenemies. Maybe We Can Learn Something.
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is one of the most beloved sites in America, drawing more than 300,000 visitors a year up a steep mountain road to enjoy majestic views of the Virginia Piedmont and house tours that can feel like stepping into its creator's complicated mind. But in 1775, it was a muddy construction site — and, as a guide told a tour group gathered on its front portico on a recent morning, a pretty good metaphor for the not-quite-born United States itself. 'Things were just getting started, and they weren't going great,' the guide said. After a decade of escalating tensions between Britain and the colonists, a shooting war had broken out in Massachusetts. The Continental Congress formed an army, appointing an upstanding Virginian, George Washington, to lead it. 'Which, by the way,' the guide noted wryly, 'was John Adams's idea.' Virginia may be a purple state these days, but the area around Monticello is still rock-ribbed Jefferson country. Heading south, you can follow Thomas Jefferson Parkway to Jefferson Vineyards. Go a few miles north, to downtown Charlottesville, and you hit 'Mr. Jefferson's university,' as some still reverentially call it. But as the 250th anniversary of American independence approaches, his fellow founder and sometime nemesis is getting prominent billing up at Monticello, thanks to 'Founding Friends, Founding Foes,' a new tour built around the fraught 50-year relationship between Jefferson and Adams. The tour uses spaces in the magnificent house Jefferson designed, and items he kept close to him, to unpack their lifelong frenemyship. That often-fractious relationship stretched from their collaboration on the Declaration of Independence to Jefferson's defeat of Adams in the 1800 presidential election to their deaths, hours apart, on July 4, 1826. The tour explores the vicious partisan politics of the 1790s, and the rise of the two-party system we know (and may love or hate) today. And it invites guests to reflect on parallels with today's toxic politics and hyperpolarization, whether on the drive home or during special dinner table civic conversations — or as Jefferson would have put it, 'feasts of reason' — held on the grounds after some tours. These days, the Mountaintop, as Jefferson called the upper reaches of his 5,000-acre estate, is in exquisite condition, thanks to a multiyear effort to restore its buildings, gardens and fields to the way they looked in his retirement years. But down below, in the country he helped create, many fear that the grand edifice of American democracy is teetering. And Monticello is asking a question: Can leaning into the messy, complicated, nasty, origins of our partisan political system save us? A Complicated Legacy Monticello, which is owned and operated by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, a private nonprofit group, has dealt with difficult questions before, if not always willingly. For decades, it presented a hagiographic image of Jefferson, saying little about the nearly 400 people enslaved there over his lifetime. That started to shift in the early 1990s, when the foundation created its first tour focused on slavery, even as some accused it of continuing to downplay the darker side of Jefferson's story. But things changed drastically after 2000, when the foundation announced, in the wake of DNA research and scholarship by historians led by Annette Gordon-Reed, that it had accepted longstanding claims that Jefferson had fathered six children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman. Today, Monticello is seen as a leader among historical houses grappling with slavery. It runs a continuing oral history project about the enslaved community there and its descendants, who have gathered here for reunions. And it offers various in-depth tours and exhibits dedicated to slavery, a subject that is also woven into every tour, including 'Founding Friends, Founding Foes.' At Monticello, the new tour is described not as a pivot, but a continuation of its commitment to difficult conversations — and to meeting its diverse stakeholders where they are. Jane Kamensky, a historian of the American Revolution who left Harvard last year to become president of Monticello, said the new tour grew out of research showing that many visitors wanted more political history, and more about Jefferson's career. It also reflects her conviction that Monticello can be a 'civic engine' for thinking about our current divides — and modeling how, as she puts it, to disagree better. 'On the tour, you hopefully feel a sense of inspiration around the possibility of this political friendship recovering itself, this civic friendship recovering itself,' Kamensky said. 'And then maybe you're inspired to call your uncle who you fell out with over Thanksgiving because you supported Trump and he supported Harris.' That might sound like 18th-century pie in the sky thinking, even without the ratcheting tensions of the second Trump administration. In a much-noted 2019 paper on partisanship, two political scientists reported survey data showing that 16 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats had sometimes thought the country would be better off if large numbers of people from the other side 'just died.' But for Kamensky, the fact that Jefferson himself is a lightning rod, who draws defenders, haters and everything in between, gives Monticello an advantage. 'I don't envy the president of the Lincoln presidential library,' she said. 'Everyone knows how they feel about Lincoln and feels affirmed in their admiration of him. But Jefferson is a nonconsensus figure.' Monticello's research shows it draws a broad mix of visitors from across the political spectrum, including more conservatives than other historic houses and museums, whose visitors skew more liberal than American adults as a whole. For some here, that reality was driven home on Jan. 7, 2021, when people stopped by for tours on their way home from Washington, wearing shirts and hats from the 'Stop the Steal' rally the day before. Sam Saunders, a retired civil engineer who has been a guide for nine years, said that was a challenging day at Monticello, though there were no incidents, and it was impossible to know if any of those visitors were among those who had gone on to storm the Capitol after the rally. 'Maybe some of the fuss was in our own emotions,' he said. And even on normal days, he added, it was important not to pass judgment on visitors based on hats, clothing or other cues. 'You can't assume people feel a certain way,' he said. Holly Haliniewski, a guide here for nearly seven years, said that in the intense months since President Trump returned to office, Monticello had been a tonic. 'It's been so good to come to work here, rather than sitting at home in my silo,' she said. 'This is one of the last places where people do come together, which makes me hopeful.' Bridging the Divide Guides at Monticello are familiar with emotional, and sometimes hostile, visitor reactions, particular around slavery. Still, at a recent all-day training session, some guides expressed nervousness about inviting a conversation about 2025 politics, even on a tour whose overt content stays firmly in the past. Brandon Dillard, Monticello's director of historic interpretation and audience engagement, offered reassurance. 'All of you are excellent at talking about racism and the legacy of slavery in America,' he said. 'I think you can handle a conversation about partisanship.' Each of the roughly four dozen guides at Monticello writes their own tour, within set parameters. Earlier this year, as part of the training for 'Founding Friends, Founding Foes,' Monticello organized daylong sessions with historians and political scientists. On this day in late February, the speakers were leaders from BridgeUSA and Living Room Conversations, two of the hundreds of 'bridging' organizations that have sprung up in recent years on campuses and in communities, with the mission of promoting civil disagreement and dialogue. Becca Kearl, the executive director of Living Room Conversations, which was founded in 2010, began by asking everyone to pull out their smartphones and, using a QR code, contribute to a word cloud, using the prompt 'America is….' The screen at the front of the room started to fill with responses like 'under attack,' 'not a democracy,' 'complicated' 'an oligarchy,' 'Trump,' and 'a mess.' But there was also 'an inspiration' and 'my home.' Kearl ran through some discouraging statistics about polarization. But like many in the 'bridging' world, she prefers to emphasize recent research showing that a large majority of people across the political spectrum want honest, fact-based history that honors shared American values without glossing over hard things. 'We feel divided, but a lot of that is coming from the top down,' she said. 'I'm not saying things aren't happening now that are really divisive. But research shows we really want to be united.' What that means on the ground is complicated. One guide asked whether the civic dialogue approach downplays the degree to which people from minority groups may feel less empowered to speak, if they are present at all. (Monticello's visitors, according to its data, skew heavily white, as they do at museum sites as a whole.) Another noted the challenge of navigating the political gap between, say, Charlottesville, which voted 84 percent Democratic in the 2024 presidential election, and Greene County, a heavily rural Republican stronghold only about 20 miles away. Kearl, describing herself as a registered Republican who feels conservative in a national context but 'super-liberal in Utah,' where she lives, said that political identity can be complicated. And for some who are right of center, even well-intentioned efforts by progressive-dominated institutions to reach across the political divide can come off as condescending. 'With conservatives, there's often a sense you are being drawn in to be re-educated, and you are just going to be told how you are wrong,' she said. Dillard reminded the guides that the point wasn't to win a debate or change anyone's mind, but to foster civic connection. 'Do you want to prove a point?' he said. 'Or do you want to make a difference?' Dreams of the Future The following morning, about three dozen students from the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee, a nearby school with a more conservative reputation, arrived for an early test-run of the new tour. 'You're all probably very familiar with Thomas Jefferson,' the guide, Wyatt Falcone, said, kicking things off. But what comes to mind when you think about John Adams? 'Curmudgeon,' one student offered. 'Actually,' Falcone said, 'he had a pretty good sense of humor!' The group, which included some students from campus bridging groups, was primed for dialogue. But there wasn't much time for questions, as Falcone raced to keep the complex story under the tour's one-hour limit. (It clocked in at an hour and 20 minutes.) Stepping into Monticello, with its eccentrically shaped spaces, rich colors and cutting-edge 18th-century gadgets, can feel like entering an Enlightenment version of Willie Wonka's factory. And in the entrance hall, Falcone noted mainstays of every house tour, including a museum-like display of Native American artifacts brought back by the Lewis and Clark expedition and, over the door, the elaborate 'Great Clock' designed by Jefferson, which has been running for more than 200 years. But by the time the group moved into the library, Falcone was deep into the history of the debates of the 1780s over the newly proposed Constitution, and the rifts that began opening over the nature and practice of American democracy. Adams, Falcone explained, believed that the new nation needed a strong executive to contain the class of people who, in every society, would rise above the rest, and seek to accumulate power for themselves. Jefferson, he said, was 'more of an optimist.' 'He believed the American Revolution was the first step in a global revolution that would wipe away the systems and tyrannies of the past and create a new world of freedom and equality,' he said. (Though not for everybody — Jefferson, Falcone noted, was 'horrified' when enslaved Haitians overthrew their masters and established a democratic republic in 1804.) So far, so Jeffersonian. But moving into the bedchamber — where a bust of Adams was tucked into a corner, near the foot of the bed — Falcone described how this civic friendship, and the new democracy's fragile consensus, started to seriously fray. It started with the election to succeed George Washington in 1796, when Adams narrowly defeated Jefferson. And by their 1800 rematch, the brutal politics of the 'factions' that many of the founders had warned against produced what is still seen as one of the nastiest, most bitterly partisan elections in American history. Adams's Federalists accused Jefferson of being an anarchist, an atheist, a traitor and a French spy. Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, meanwhile, denounced Adams as a warmonger, a monarchist and a tyrant. And then — as fans of 'Hamilton' will remember — the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where it took more than 30 ballots for Jefferson to prevail. Adams left office in 1801, in the first peaceful transfer of power to a political opponent in American history. But the two men did not exchange a single word for more than a decade. Then, in January 1812, three years after Jefferson had retired to Monticello, a courier — 'probably an enslaved person,' Falcone said — arrived with something unexpected: a letter from Adams. The brief letter included New Year's wishes, and a book written by his son John Quincy Adams, who Jefferson had known as a child. The missives started flying back and forth, and didn't stop. 'You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other,' Adams wrote to Jefferson in July 1813. But explaining themselves, Falcone noted, did not mean changing the other's mind. The tour — with its discussions of the partisan press, the deportation of 'enemy aliens,' debates over executive power and racist rumor campaigns — offered plenty of rhymes with our political present, without overtly spelling them out, or telling anyone what to think. Visitors are left to decide what message, if any, they will carry back down from the mountaintop to the messy country below. But Falcone ended the tour with a hopeful line from Jefferson: 'I like the dreams of the future rather than the history of the past.'
News18
25-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Amid Row With Trump, A Look At The History Of Prestigious Harvard University
Last Updated: Harvard University has had disputes with federal governments. In 1970s, it adapted to race and gender equity mandates. During the Cold War, it was accused of having Communist ties The row between US President Donald Trump and Harvard University has brought attention to the historical significance of the Ivy League institution, its contribution towards American education and the political challenges it has faced over centuries. The Harvard University has been in Trump's hair since January, when he took office, over issues related to academic freedom, campus protests, federal oversight and immigration. The recent order, which was revoked by a federal judge, to bar the Harvard University from enrolling international students, has been the latest aggressive stance against the institution by the Trump administration. Foreign students constitute more than a quarter of the university's strength for the past three years. Let us look at the history of the university, which is often described as 'older than the United States". When Was Harvard Founded? The university was established in 1636, and was founded by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after John Harvard, a Puritan minister whose bequeathed his library and half his estate to lay the foundation for the college. Initially focused on training clergy, the college evolved into a broader liberal arts institution by the 18th century, educating early American leaders like John Adams (Class of 1755), the second US President. By 19th century, Harvard expanded to establishing academic schools like the Harvard Law (1817) and Harvard Medical School (1782). It became a melting pot for intellectual and cultural elites, with figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau among its alumni. The university's endowment grew, laying the foundation for its financial strength, though it remained tied to traditional hierarchies. Under President like Charles W. Eliot (1869–1909), Harvard transformed into a modern research university, stressing on the value of meritocracy, sciences, and elective curricula. It navigated tensions during national crises, such as World War II, when federal partnerships for research funding began, a practice now central to the Trump dispute. The 20th century also saw Harvard's global influence grow, with alumni including eight US presidents (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Rutherford B. Hayes) Post-World War II, the institution faced federal pressure to comply with civil rights and gender equity mandates in the 1970s, agreeing to race and gender targets and oversight, as noted in a 2025 post by @harvardrepclub. It provided financial aid, launched initiatives like the Radcliffe Institute under President Drew Faust (2007-2018), and co-founded edX with MIT for online learning. However, it also faced criticism for elitism and disconnect from broader American sentiment. What's The Recent Dispute With Trump? Over the past few months, the Ivy League institution has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas-Israel conflict and alleged ideological biases. In March 2025, the Trump administration demanded Harvard eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes, audit faculty and student viewpoints, and cooperate with federal oversight, citing alleged civil rights violations and anti-semitism during campus protests. When Harvard did not comply, the administration froze $2.3 billion in federal funding (mostly research grants) and later cut an additional $450 million. On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students via the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), affecting 6,800 international students (27% of its student body). A federal judge temporarily blocked this action following a lawsuit filed by Harvard. In response, Harvard's President Alan Garber called Trump's action an attack on academic freedom, arguing they violate Harvard's First Amendment rights and exceed federal authority. On April 14, Harvard sued the administration in federal court, calling the funding freeze 'arbitrary and capricious." A temporary injunction on May 23, 2025, blocked the SEVP revocation, providing relief to international students. Garber allocated $250 million from Harvard's endowment to support affected research, signalling defiance. More than 200 university presidents, including those from Princeton, Brown and Columbia signed a joint statement to condemn Trump's 'government overreach". The Harvard University has had periodic tensions with federal governments. In the 1970s, Harvard adapted to federal mandates on race and gender equity, suggesting a precedent for negotiation. During the Cold War Era, during McCarthyism, universities faced scrutiny for alleged communist ties. But Harvard resisted loyalty oaths and maintained academic autonomy, a stance mirrored in Garber's defiance. top videos View all Harvard navigated student activism in the 1960s-70s, balancing free speech with institutional stability, similar to today's protest-related tensions. Harvard's defiance could galvanise other universities to resist Trump's government's aggressive policies. The outcome may shape the balance between federal oversight and academic independence, and the American higher education system. First Published:
