10 biggest stories at Boston-area colleges in 2013

Boston-area colleges and universities made national headlines time and again in 2013.

There were tragic deaths, a bomb scare, and a condom controversy–not to mention all those college redevelopment projects.

We take a look at the most important Boston higher education stories of 2013.

BU student killed in Boston Marathon bombings

The third fatality of the Boston Marathon bombings was a Chinese graduate student at Boston University.

Lingzi Lu, 23, loved music and played the piano, her friend Meixu Lu recalled after her death. Lu was excited about her new life in New England, calling it a “New Beginning at BU’’ and gushing over a trip to New Hampshire on her Facebook page.

Lu was remembered at Boston University by her family, friends, and the greater university community at a vigil (pictured) in the days following the bombings.

One of the BU students with whom Lingzi was watched the marathon was hurt in the blasts. Additionally, three Tufts University students, seven Emerson College students, three Northeastern University students, two Boston College students, and one Berklee College of Music student were among the more than 260 injured, according to the schools.

• Boston University student among the dead from Marathon explosion
• Boston University releases name of graduate student killed in Marathon bombing

MIT officer slain by alleged Marathon bombers

Three days after terror struck the Boston Marathon, MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot multiple times in a late-night confrontation with, law enforcement officials believe, the two men responsible for the bombings. Collier, 26, of Somerville was later declared dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Besides this being absolutely heart wrenching, it’s also a tremendous loss of a huge talent,’’ MIT Police Chief John DiFava told the Globe, following Collier’s death.

Collier was remembered in vigils and services, memorial runs, and a human chain formed at MIT.

• MIT’s fallen officer built enduring connections
• Human chain formed at MIT in honor of Sean Collier
• Slain MIT Officer Sean Collier remembered as brave, devoted policeman

BC students face disciplinary action for distributing condoms

Boston College officials threatened a group of students distributing condoms out of the dorm rooms with disciplinary action in March, saying the act violate the university’s mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution.

The students who run “Safe Sites,’’ a network of dorm rooms and other locations where contraceptives and safe sex pamplets are available, with action in a letter sent out on March 15.

“We were very disappointed that the signatories of the letter never contacted us beforehand,’’ Lizzie Jekanowski, chair of the Boston College Students for Sexual Health, told Your Campus. “We’ve had a very open relationship and it’s been very positive. This letter was very warmongering and threatening.’’

The conflict gained national attention and was written about in The New York Times, CNN, and other national news organizations. The American Civil Liberties Union vowed legal action against BC, saying the university violated the students’ free speech. The Boston College chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement supporting the students.

Pictured: Jessika Parry (right,) a Boston College sophmore, headed BC Students for Sexual Health. She was photographed with Erika Bjerklie, another BC sophmore, who is also on the board of the group in Parry’s dorm room, which is a “safe site”.

• Boston College threatens disciplinary action against students distributing condoms
• Boston College condom clash continues
• Boston College professors group backs students who may face discipline for distributing condoms

Bomb scare shuts down Harvard

Hundreds of Harvard students and faculty were displaced during the December finals period after “unconfirmed reports of explosives.’’

The reports, which came in around 9 a.m., were disproven around 3 p.m., after each of the four evacuated buildings were deemed bomb-free by police.

The threats were eventually linked to 20-year-old Eldo Kim, who police said sent them as a way to get out of a final exam.

The bomb-hoax charge under federal law carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

• Bomb scare at Harvard University forces cancellation of exams; warning came in an e-mail
• Harvard student, 20, is arrested in connection with campus bomb scare

Harvard’s expansion to Allston OKed

A year after Harvard unveiled its sweeping 10-year blueprint for new development and renovation in Allston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved the master plan.

The plan includes: a new 60,000-square-foot, 3,000-seat basketball arena and renovating and expanding the university’s historic football stadium; a 200-room hotel and conference center along Western Avenue; a 300,000 square-foot building with ground floor-retail and institutional use above on the site of the old Charlesview Apartments; three new business school buildings that will house a mix of academic, office and common spaces; and the renovation of two other student housing buildings on the business school campus.

“I truly believe that no institution of higher education has a more exciting opportunity for innovative growth, in an intellectual and entrepreneurial environment as dynamic as we have in Boston and Cambridge,’’ Harvard President Drew Faust wrote in a letter to Allston residents.

Harvard’s presence in Allston is hardly news. It became expanding into the Boston neighborhood during the 1980s and now owns 359 acres in Allston, nearly double the size of its Cambridge campus.

Allston residents, however, expressed concern about the development’s impact on traffic, parking, retail, and public spaces. The Harvard Allston Task Force said it plans to work with Mayor-elect Marty Walsh to address these issues.

• Harvard expansion in Allston gets okay from Boston Redevelopment Authority

Harvard graduate killed in Kenyan terrorist attacks

A pregnant Harvard University graduate and her partner (pictured) were killed during the terrorist attack at an upscale shopping mall in the capital city of Kenya.

Elif Yavuz, a 33-year-old Netherlands native who earned a doctor of science degree from Harvard’s School of Public Health earlier this year and was expecting to give birth to her first child next month, died during the attacks in Nairobi, the school’s dean Julio Frenk said in an email to faculty, staff and students.

Yavuz was working with the Applied Analytics Team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and completing her thesis in Kenya.

Yavuz and Langdon had traveled to Nairobi because the city is home to an esteemed maternity hospital, where Yavuz planned to give birth to their first child, said her thesis advisor Jessica Cohen.

“Both had dedicated their lives to working for a peaceful world. Both had so much to offer,’’ wrote Peter Adams, a longtime friend of Langdon’s, on his blog following their deaths. “Besides a personal loss for myself, this is a major global loss.’’

• Pregnant Harvard graduate among those killed in terrorist attacks in Kenya

‘Hack-tivist’ Aaron Swartz commits suicide

Web entrepreneur and political activist Aaron Swartz, who made headlines in 2011 when he was charged with hacking into MIT’s network and mass downloading millions of documents from a subscription-based archive, took his life in Brooklyn in January, according to a statement by his family and partner.

At the time of his death, Swartz faced up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine for hacking into the JSTOR archive system on MIT’s network in 2010.

An MIT internal review in July found that the university never “targeted’’ the Internet activist and committed no wrongdoing.

Swartz, 26, helped develop RSS feeds when he was 14 years old. He also cofounded the social network Reddit and founded the nonprofit political action group Demand Progress.

Many in the technology community grieved Swartz’s death, remembering him in rallies and hackathons, and in one extreme case, making unfounded claims about a gunman on MIT’s campus.

• Web activist Aaron Swartz, charged with hacking MIT archive system, dies at age 26
• In Aaron Swartz case, MIT remained neutral, internal report finds

Half of students in Harvard cheating scandal required to withdraw

More than half of the 125 Harvard students investigated by a college board in response to allegations of cheating were ordered to withdraw from the school in February.

Of the remaining cases, approximately half the students received disciplinary probation, while the rest of the cases were dismissed.

Harvard disclosed the cheating scandal in a Spring 2012 class in August 2012. It was widely reported to be the class “Government 1310: Introduction to Congress.’’

Many students and families voiced complaints about Harvard’s investigations, saying their delays took a financial toll on students.

Harvard alumnus Thomas G. Stemberg, co-founder of Staples, Inc., wrote a strongly worded letter to University President Drew G. Faust, condemning university officials for their handling of the scandal and calling their approach “Orwellian.’’

Pictured: Harvard biology student Michael Constant, 18, (left) and Economics student Rashad Smith, 18, reacted to recent news about disciplinary actions resulting from the cheating scandal.

• Half of students in Harvard cheating scandal required to withdraw from the college
• Concerns raised over Harvard’s handling of cheating scandal
• Staples co-founder Thomas Stemberg condemns Harvard’s handling of cheating scandal

Boston bans parties at MIT frats

Officials in Boston placed an indefinite ban on parties and other large gatherings at MIT fraternities, sororities and other independent living groups that are located within the city in October.

The decision came about a month after a 18-year-old MIT student and fraternity member fell four stories and suffered injuries during a party at a Kenmore Square frat house.

There are at least 18 MIT fraternities, three sororities and two independent living groups in Boston, according to a map of their locations.

In addition to the Boston ban, MIT imposed a temporary occupancy limit of three times the legal residential occupancy on houses in Brookline and Cambridge.

• Boston indefinitely bans parties, large gatherings at MIT frats, sororities, other off-campus groups

Bentley basketball player dies during game

A Bentley University basketball player died after collapsing at a men’s recreational summer league game in Watertown, university officials said.

Joseph “Joey’’ Glynn, 19, was taken to Mount Auburn Hospital, where he later died.

Glynn received a full scholarship to Bentley, according to a statement published on the New England Recruiting Report website in February 2012.

“I loved the kid, he was a great person,’’ program director and coach Mike Crotty Jr. told ESPN Boston. “He was quiet until you got to know him, and then he was a funny kid with a great personality that everyone responded to. He was a great brother to all of his sisters, the kind of son you would want to have — didn’t do anything wrong, did what he was asked. If I had a daughter someday, my hope is that she would meet a guy like Joey Glynn.’’

• Bentley University basketball player dies after collapsing at game