Quarterly: The Stress You Hand Down
In the winter issue of the Mary Christie Quarterly, reporter Nichole Bernier delves into the impact of parents’ anxiety on their grown children. Young people are “emotional detectives,” Bernier explains, keen to pick up on hints of tension in the air at home, however subtle. Parental anxiety can be situational or chronic, but, either way, college students may end up blaming themselves for their parents’ stress or missing out on crucial care because they don’t have a reliable support system. As one expert said, “That’s why it’s so important for adults to be self-aware, able to separate what we’re sharing as information from what we’re feeling emotionally as our experience. Not everyone has to share our experience.”
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
A new survey of student affairs administrators conducted by NASPA and UWill, a college teletherapy provider, offers insight into the “Current State of College & Student Mental Health.” According to The Chronicle, more than three-quarters (77%) of respondents reported an expansion of mental health services on their campuses in the last year. Still, 84% said investments in this area need to continue to grow. Higher Ed Dive calls attention to the fact that 72% of respondents indicated believing student and employee mental health had worsened in the last year, though 93% also said they think students have become more comfortable talking about mental health in the last five years.
Other News
The Washington Post reports that Yale has updated its mental health withdrawal policies after facing accusations, including a lawsuit, that administrators force struggling students to take time off and make it overly difficult for them to return.
The Christian Science Monitor describes how college students are feeling academically and emotionally unprepared as their professors begin scaling up workloads to pre-pandemic levels.
Diverse Education covers a new report from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University, finding “observable benefits” from Caring Campus, a program that involves faculty in establishing a culture of student care.
Higher Ed Dive features a Q&A with psychology professor Jordan Booker, whose recent research found that young people who focused on positive change early on in the pandemic tended to fare better mentally down the line.
For The Atlantic, the director and associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development discuss their latest conclusion: “Good relationships lead to health and happiness. The trick is that those relationships must be nurtured.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
As concerns tying college diversity efforts to left-wing indoctrination swirl, The Chronicle details a report from two conservative think tanks, revealing how schools can “dismantle the administrative structures that support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at public colleges.” One of the legislators at the forefront of efforts to break down perceived liberal bias in universities is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, The Chronicle explains, whose request last month for all public colleges in the state to submit their spending on diversity measures sounded alarm bells for some. The sunshine state also made waves this week after its education department defended the decision to reject an A.P. African American Studies course for high schools, per The New York Times.
The New York Times reveals that Columbia University has elected its first woman, Nemat Shafik, to be president of the university. An economist, Dr. Shafik will leave her current role as president of the London School of Economics for New York beginning in July. Several other high profile institutions, including Harvard, Dartmouth and M.I.T., have also recently appointed women to their highest position.
Student Buzz
The Yale Daily News investigates whether the university’s changes to its leave of absence protocol will be enough to satisfy the current students and alumni advocates who initiated a lawsuit against Yale over its former policies.
The Dartmouth announces the return of the Student Support Network, a training program first established in 2017 to teach students how to support a peer in crisis.
The Daily Tar Heel highlights the UNC parent-founded support group HAPPEE (Hugs and Pups Posse – Encouraging and Empowering), which aims to raise spirits by bringing dogs to campus.
The Daily Northwestern reports two students launched a chapter of the national organization “If You’re Reading This,” which publishes letters from struggling students and allows others to connect with and support them.
Also in The Daily Northwestern: after learning their hours but not their wages will be increasing, resident assistants (RAs) are advocating for more say in Residential Life decisions, as well as mental health support.
The Iowa State Daily reveals that Lyndsey Fennelly, a former Iowa basketball player who became a mental health advocate, will be the lead speaker at this week’s Community Conversation on Mental Health Resiliency, a speaker series at Iowa State focused on mental health.
Academic Freedom
In two headline-generating disputes over academic freedom, both Harvard and Hamline University appear to have been swayed by public opinion. Harvard will offer the former director of Human Rights Watch a fellowship many believe he was previously denied due to his criticism of Israel, The New York Times says. Meanwhile, Hamline University officials admitted to making a mistake when they called an incident in which a professor showed an image of Muhammad to her art history class Islamophobic, also according to The Times.
Student Success
As efforts to combat declining college enrollment numbers prolong, Diverse Education and Higher Ed Dive cover a recent study from the Brookings Institute that suggests decreasing disparities in academic preparation in secondary school can help close the college enrollment gap between high and low income high schoolers. Meanwhile, GBH explores the results of a recent report from National Student Clearinghouse, finding that Black women re-enrolled in college for the 2020-21 school year in higher numbers than white men or women, as well as Black, Latino, and Native American men. As for community colleges, Inside Higher Ed considers the impact of age on enrollment, as numbers are down overall but especially for recent high school graduates.
Following the example of many top tier law schools, Harvard Medical School announced last week that it would no longer be submitting information for the U.S. News & World Report university rankings, leading other elite medical schools to do the same. The schools are expressing concern that the rankings place too much value on “wealth and prestige,” The Washington Post writes, suggesting that undergraduate programs might be next in line to reject the system.
Sexual Assault & Title IX
Although California originally passed a law requiring public universities to provide students with the abortion pill over three years ago, Inside Higher Ed reports it is only now going into effect. While some states have begun enacting partial or complete bans on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, others, including California, Massachusetts and New York, are looking to expand reproductive services across the state.
The Chronicle covers the restricted access to higher education for incarcerated women, compared to men. One report suggests that men in prison have access to as many as three times the number of college programs as women, limiting the types of degrees women can receive and prolonging the time it takes them to graduate.
Greek Life and Hazing
Almost two years after sophomore Stone Foltz died of alcohol poisoning following a fraternity hazing event, The New York Times reveals his parents reached a $2.9 million settlement with the school, Bowling Green State University. The Foltzes also declared their intention to put the settlement money towards the organization they started in their son’s honor, the iamstonefoltz Foundation, to eradicate hazing.
College Affordability
After student borrowers finalized a $6 billion settlement with the Education Department over claims their universities defrauded them, a group of schools accused in that case is trying to overturn the ruling, The Washington Post says.
The Post also describes how concerns abounded when families were unable to access all the funds in their Maryland Prepaid College Trusts through the agency Maryland 529, leading the head of the organization to resign. Given the breadth of confusion surrounding tuition costs and payment plans, The Post says some states are passing or proposing laws that would require colleges to release information that reflects whether attending is a good investment.
Campus Safety
After privacy concerns prompted regulations prohibiting use of TikTok on U.S. government devices, The Guardian reports “the new frontier” for these bans is university campuses. According to The New York Times, the government bans are trickling down to devices and internet networks of public institutions like Auburn University and leaving students “surprised and bemused.” Both The Times and Inside Higher Ed highlight that students have been able to rather easily maneuver around the restrictions, using cellular data rather than school WiFi to access the app. Yet Business Insider says some students in Texas are more angry than indifferent, arguing that university security efforts are prioritizing social media over gun control.
