Hispanic Heritage Month puts Spotlight on the Mental Health of Latinx Student
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, an opportunity to focus on the unique mental health needs of Latinx students. As colleges and universities direct more attention and resources to student mental health, Latinx, and other BIPOC students, must remain top of mind. While Hispanic/Latinx people are similarly susceptible to mental health problems, they tend to struggle more than the general population when it comes to access to and quality of care (National Alliance on Mental Illness). For Hispanic adults between 18 and 25 years-old with serious mental illness, more than half may not be receiving treatment (NAMI). For all Hispanic adults with mental illness, only 35.1%, compared to 46.2% for the U.S. average, are receiving treatment (NAMI).
Moving forwards, mental health professionals and advocates can help promote the expansion and diversification of their field—to break down the language barriers and cultural competency issues that keep Hispanic/Latinx students from receiving the best possible care. Notable groups already engaged in advocating for Latinx student wellness include The Steve Fund, which focuses on the mental health of young people of color, and Excelencia in Education, which is dedicated to the success of Latinx college students. This month reinforces the importance of their work and all of our responsibility to follow their lead.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Higher Ed Dive features an op-ed by Dr. Zainab Okolo, President and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, which advocates for the need to expand counseling services and address loneliness amongst college students. She responds in part to the recent testimony of Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who spoke at a Lumina-sponsored American Council on Education Mental Health in Higher Education Roundtable: “We have to find ways to model what it’s like to talk about our mental health, to help people understand that mental health is health,” Dr. Murthy said. “It’s part of our health — no less important than our physical health.” Listen to more from Dr. Okolo on the Quadcast.
For The Hechinger Report, Paul Allen, a therapist in Ontario, California, highlights the need for more Black men to become therapists. Over his career, Allen, who is Black, has observed other Black men’s resistance to therapy and suggests the shortage of Black male mental health professionals exacerbates the problem. Going forward, Allen encourages normalizing therapy as a part of general wellness and supporting policies that break down barriers for Black men to access the care and the training they need to become care-takers.
Other News
The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student newspaper, explores the implications of the 988 mental health hotline for students with a number of wellness experts on campus.
Bowdoin College’s student paper, The Bowdoin Orient, covers the year’s first faculty meeting which evidently emphasized the need for careful attention to student mental health, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
A new report from Intelligent finds that “quiet quitting,” which regularly referred to employees refusing to go beyond the “bare minimum” for their jobs, now applies to college students, as they prioritize their mental health over their school performance.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
A new scholarship program from the University of California system is waiving tuition for students who belong to federally recognized Native American tribes. By offering assistance to students from federally recognized tribes alone, the system can comply with state law that prohibits granting benefits on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. At the same time, The Chronicle reveals the limitations to the scholarship seem to be leaving out the majority of Native students, leaving administrators questioning their approach.
Last year, a LGBTQ student group, YU Pride Alliance, sued its school, Yeshiva University, for refusing (for religious reasons) to officially recognize the club. After a New York state court sided in favor of YU Pride alliance, the university brought the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, NPR reports that the Supreme Court held up the New York court’s decision, and, in response, Yeshiva seems to be suspending all club activities on campus.
In response to the bomb threats that affected a number of historically Black colleges and universities this year, the U.S. Department of Education is awarding two schools grants via the Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV). According to The Hill, Tougaloo College in Mississippi will receive $420,000, while Fayetteville State University in North Carolina will receive $80,000—both to put towards supporting security efforts and mental health services.
The Hechinger Report explores the unique barriers to success for single mothers in college, as well as the latest initiatives to combat those issues: the nonprofit Education Design Lab has begun work alongside four community colleges to expand support and increase the likelihood of success for single moms. Among many priorities, the colleges have learned that streamlined support, flexibility, and a focus on making single moms feel they belong are key.
Inside Higher Ed highlights the importance of active learning spaces—those designed to promote deeper student engagement—especially in light of new research revealing the negative impact of more traditional classroom environments for “historically excluded groups.” That is, non-active learning spaces tend to encourage students to associate with their pre-set “social networks,” leading, for example, women to be excluded from male-dominated science fields.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
The 60-day comment period for the Department of Education’s proposed Title IX changes closed this week but not before garnering more than 200,000 comments. Inside Higher Ed’s review of the comments finds education organizations generally support the changes but have requested more clarity and more time to institute them. Meanwhile, Higher Ed Dive suggests the U.S. Department of Justice is appealing a federal judge’s decision to block Biden’s extension of Title IX protections to gay and transgender students.
Greek Life and Hazing
According to The New York Times, Virginia Commonwealth University is giving just shy of $1 million to the family of Adam Oakes, a 19 year-old student who died last year from alcohol poisoning related to fraternity hazing. In addition to the money, the university is introducing new regulations for campus Greek Life, including protocol for serving alcohol and additional hazing prevention training.
Student Success
Inside Higher Ed reports on admissions directors’ opinions of affirmative action, legacy admits, and standardized testing. According to the past surveys, there is widespread support for affirmative action from admissions counselors. The 2022 Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Admissions Directors reports that only 13% of admissions officers favored legacy admissions, and most admissions officers of institutions that went test-optional want their colleges to permanently remain so.
Higher Ed Dive and The Chronicle report on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s $100 million effort to help nonprofit programs drive student success. Over the next five years, recipients of the donation will work towards decreasing disparities in college graduation rates amongst low-income students and students of color. The six nonprofit recipients include: The American Association of State Colleges and Universities, The American Indian Higher Education Consortium, Complete College America, Excelencia in Education, Growing Inland Achievement, and The United Negro College Fund
The Wall Street Journal reports on many colleges falling short in their efforts to boost enrollment of low-income students. A recent report on enrollment trends showed that many colleges are unable to fill enrollment goals even with substantial investments in recruiting and financial aid. Tania LaViolet, director at Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program who co-leads the American Talent Initiative program, remarks that the trend “is just a testament to how challenging the last two years have been, especially for economically vulnerable communities.”
College Affordability
An op-ed for WBUR argues the issue of college affordability, despite incoming debt relief. “My family is looking at my university employer’s exchange network, in which member schools give scholarships to children of other member schools’ staff. We watch every sneeze in the stock market, hoping our 529 plan doesn’t catch a full-blown cold,” writes Rich Barlow. “My son is working part-time to save something for his studies.”
Higher Ed Dive reports on house democrats introducing a bill to double the pell grant for a revision of the federal loan system. On Thursday, two House Democrats introduced a bill that would increase aid for eligible Pell Grant recipients and alterations to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The LOAN Act would lower interest rates of student loans below 5% and allow federal financial aid for unauthorized immigrant students.
In an op-ed for The Chronicle, Kevin Carey, a director of education policy at New America, reports on the political landscape creating barriers for student loan forgiveness. Millions of Americans will receive loan forgiveness, following President Biden’s announcement to cancel $10,000 in student loans for graduates earning under $125,000 and $20,000 for former Pell Grant recipients. However, republican congress members are calling the loan forgiveness plan as an “unfair redistribution of wealth toward higher-earning people.”
Campus Safety
An investigation is underway after a package detonated at Northeastern University in Boston last week, leaving one person, a school employee, with minor injuries. Police also found a second package, The New York Times reports, that did not explode. The incident left numerous other colleges in the Boston area wary of similar events on their campuses.
Physical Health
Inside Higher Ed reports on survey findings showing how colleges have been able to influence vaccinating students. According to the American College Health Association, college students were more likely than the rest of the population of adults in the United States to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The report notes that college and university messaging and policies around COVID impacted students’ viewpoints of immunization.
