Nearly four years after its inception, 50 homes have been purchased as a result of the College Park City-University Partnership's homeownership program. The program, which provides $15,000 in forgivable loans to full-time, benefits-eligible University of Maryland and city employees, reached the milestone about two weeks ago, said Eric Olsen, the partnership's executive director. The program was established in July 2015 to help encourage more university and city employees to live in College Park, reducing commutes, building community and strengthening the city's economy, which can struggle when classes are not in session. The Diamondback

When the new batch of University of Iowa students come to campus this fall, one of their first lessons will be a little unexpected: suicide prevention. All first-year and transfer students will need to complete the new module, which is part of an online course that teaches students information they need to adjust to life there. Students learn how to navigate the grounds and the surrounding city and how to find academic resources, and for the first time next academic year, they will be trained in how to identify suicidal tendencies among their peers. Administrators said this mandate is the first of its kind for colleges and universities across the country. Inside Higher Ed

This year, the ITGA is piloting a community service pre-conference event as a way to give back to the State College community. The volunteer event, organized by the host, in concert with ITGA Board member Gary Stewart, associate vice president of Cornell University Community Relations, will take place Sunday, May 19. Stewart sees this as a way to give back while possibly starting a new tradition for future conferences. This year, we will work with Taproot Kitchen, a local culinary venture that employs and empowers adults with autism and intellectual disabilities and utilizes excess produce from nearby farms. If conference attendees are interested in volunteering, contact Beth@itga.org or sign-up using the registration form sent to you by Friday, May 10. Learn more at www.itga.org.

A proposed law to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Illinois would allow possession of up to 30 grams of the plant for residents 21 and over, a $20-million, low-interest loan program to promote social equity in business ownership, and expungement of misdemeanor and Class 4 felony marijuana convictions. At the heart of the measure is ensuring that communities that have been disproportionately affected by enforcement of lower-level drug crimes would be able to benefit from the legal pot business in Illinois, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker and lawmakers who worked on the measure at an announcement Saturday morning. The governor and lawmakers touted a central social justice provision of their proposal: expunging what they estimate would be 800,000 low-level drug convictions. Los Angeles Times