Welcome to Tuesday, March 28. Today’s Briefing was written by Kate Hidalgo Bellows, with contributions from Julia Piper. Write to us: kate.hidalgobellows@chronicle.com.

In notice to bondholders, the University of Hartford lowers amount available to pay back debt.

Nothing seemed obviously amiss when the University of Hartford shared its end-of-year expense projections for the 2022 fiscal year with bondholders last summer. Anticipating a 3-percent decline in operating revenues, the university forecast that it would wind up spending around $171 million by the close of the fiscal year, around $4 million less than it had the year before. And even though a $3.8-million gap between operating revenues and expenses was expected, the university had enough cash on hand and credit available to absorb the losses without raising alarm.

But when Hartford released its audited financial statements last December, a more distressing set of circumstances began to surface. Hartford’s actual operating deficit for the year exceeded $17 million — a loss that was $13.3-million deeper than its earlier deficit projection. Likewise, not only had Hartford failed to generate any positive net cash flow from its operations for a second consecutive year, but the university also quietly revised calculations of its net operating cash flow for the 2021 fiscal year from -$6.9 million to -$35.7 million. All of sudden, alarm bells were ringing.

Read more from our Dan Bauman.

Quick hits.

• Ohio State University advised its out-of-state students not to vote in person on Election Day, after Ohio passed a strict photo-ID requirement for voting. The fear is that students could lose their financial-aid packages if they get the necessary Ohio ID card and their home states void their driver’s licenses. (Associated Press)
• Pennsylvania State University at University Park plans to cut the funding it provides to The Daily Collegian, an independent student newspaper, by more than 50 percent for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The paper is appealing the cut. (The Daily Collegian)
• A University of Memphis women’s basketball player struck a Bowling Green State University player in the face as they walked through the handshake line following Bowling Green’s win in the Women’s National Invitation tournament. The Memphis player has been charged with assault. (CNN)
• The New York Times’ Opinion section created an interactive tool to “build your own college rankings.” Users can generate a customized list of top colleges using sliders and filters. (The New York Times)

Stat of the day.

219.

That’s how many antisemitic incidents occurred on college campuses last year, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League. The number marks an increase of 41 percent from 2021, following a trend of rising antisemitism on and off college campuses.

According to the report, the incidents took place at more than 130 campuses. There were 127 incidents of harassment, 90 incidents of vandalism, and two assaults. A third of the incidents included swastikas, and 19 percent included references to Israel or Zionism.

Embattled Connecticut College president announces resignation.

After facing calls to resign over a planned fund-raising event for weeks, Katherine Bergeron will step down as president of Connecticut College at the end of the spring semester, she announced on Friday.

For more than a month, Bergeron has faced blowback over the private college’s decision to host an event at the Everglades Club, a venue in Palm Beach, Fla., that reportedly has a history of excluding Black and Jewish members. Until now, Bergeron, who has led the college since 2014, maintained that she would not resign.

But in a statement on Friday, Bergeron wrote that the past few weeks had been especially difficult.

“As president, I fully accept my share of responsibility for the circumstances that have led us to this moment,” she wrote.

Read more here.

Comings and goings.

• Sydney Gruters, district director for U.S. Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, has been named executive director and vice president for advancement at the New College of Florida Foundation.
• Derek A. James, coordinator of multicultural programs for the College of Agricultural Sciences at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, has been named dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Juniata College.
• Denise Taliaferro Baszile, associate dean of diversity and student services in the College of Education, Health, and Society at Miami University, in Ohio, has been named dean of the College of Education at Wayne State University.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote.

Consider the greatest food debates in history. Is cereal soup? Does pineapple belong on pizza? Is a hot dog a sandwich? What is the best way to eat an Oreo?

For people invested in that final question, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sought to figure out the perfect ratio of chocolate to cream in the cookie. Crystal Owens, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, assembled a team of scientists to investigate this quandary. She spoke to NPR’s Weekend Edition about the research.

The team tested several different ways to break apart an Oreo. In one of the methods, a machine spent five minutes twisting apart the cookie. (Personally, I believe that splitting an Oreo should take less time than eating one, and my Oreo consumption doesn’t usually take more than a few seconds).

The team also tested helical motions. “Because maybe if you twist while you’re also pushing down or pulling up, that could affect what the results are,” Owens told NPR.

And what they found was … *Oreo roll please* … there is no wrong way to eat an Oreo.

“It’s a little bit comforting, though,” Owens said. “It means that there’s no sort of risk when you eat an Oreo.”

I respect this very scientific result, with one caveat: If you lick the outside, you’re a monster!