Mental Health Advocate Kelsey Matthews’ Story of Resilience and Perseverance
In a new episode of the Quadcast, Kelsey Matthews, a mental health advocate and member of MCI’s new National Youth Council on College Mental Health, shares her powerful story of perseverance that defined her path to a college degree. Youth Council Chair Carson Domey co-hosts with Dana Humphrey in an episode that touches on resilience, the first-generation student experience, and the impact of college affordability on access and wellbeing. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Webinar: Rethinking Higher Education’s Purpose
LearningWell magazine, published by The Mary Christie Institute and The Coalition for Transformational Education will host a webinar on Tuesday, November 14th at 1:00pm ET.
As higher education grapples with how to maintain public trust, colleges and universities have an opportunity to reshape their approach to preparing the next generation of leaders, prioritizing wellbeing to ensure that each student leaves campus not only with a diploma, but with the tools to embark on a meaningful life. This webinar will invite a shift in perspective, exploring new initiatives to design (and redesign) our institutions to better serve the lifelong health and fulfillment of students. A panel discussion will explore how wellbeing factors into some of the most important questions in higher education today. The webinar will be moderated by Marjorie Malpiede, editor-in-chief of LearningWell magazine. Panelists include Randall Bass, PhD, vice president for Strategic Education Initiatives & professor of English at Georgetown University; Joslyn Johnson, PhD, assistant dean of Student Development & Career Initiatives at the University of Michigan; Daniel Porterfield, PhD, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute; and Eric Wood, PhD, director of Counseling and Mental Health at Texas Christian University. Register today!
Mental and Behavioral Health
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has launched his “We Are Made to Connect” campus tour to address the loneliness epidemic on college campuses, Inside Higher Ed reports. Murthy has called loneliness a national epidemic linked to health risks such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, premature death, and suicidality. Murthy suggests increasing public awareness and designing social infrastructure to foster a sense of connection and belonging among students. Murthy advises that universities differentiate between social isolation—limited day-to-day interaction—and loneliness—the psychological state of unmet social and emotional needs.
A new study from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education reveals that 36% of young adults (aged 18-25) reported experiencing anxiety, and 29% reported experiencing depression, Inside Higher Ed reports. The study identified financial stress, world events, and loneliness as contributing factors to poor mental health in young adults. Financial worries and achievement pressures were the most common negative influences on mental health, while loneliness (34%), feeling unimportant (44%), and a “sense that things are falling apart” (45%) were also significant. To support young people’s mental health, the report states that leaders in higher education should encourage students to find meaning and purpose, establish relationships, and enjoy life beyond academic and professional achievements.
A brief from the American Council on Education has identified six areas for colleges and universities to prioritize mental health for students and employees, according to Inside Higher Ed. The report highlights the growing issue of anxiety and depression among young people and suggests that investing in counseling centers is insufficient, as there is a shortage of mental health providers. The report advises that promoting counseling careers, reducing degree completion time, and encouraging a healthy lifestyle can all support young adult mental health, as well as urging college leaders to ensure that their mental health resources reflect post-Covid-19 wellness concerns.
Campus Safety
The Education Department has issued a letter to colleges and universities, reminding them of their legal requirement to protect students from antisemitism and Islamophobia. The statement follows complaints made to the Office for Civil Rights regarding antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents on campuses, according to Inside Higher Ed, and marks the second reminder in the last six months that a university will violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if it fails to address unlawful discrimination against students. Campuses are experiencing a rise in antisemitic incidents and protests, as well as increased Islamophobia. The Israel-Hamas war is causing tensions to rise on college campuses, with both Jewish and Muslim students facing threats of violence, NBC reports.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against 21-year-old Patrick Dai, a junior at Cornell University, who allegedly posted online threats calling for the deaths of Jewish people, NPR reports. Dai’s remarks included alleged threats to stab male students, sexually assault female students, and bring an assault rifle to campus. Joel Malina, a spokesperson for Cornell University, said in a statement, “We remain shocked by and condemn these horrific, anti-semitic threats and believe they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” If convicted of the felony charge of intent “to kill or injure another using interstate communications,” Dai will face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities have opened a hate crime investigation into a hit-and-run incident that injured an Arab Muslim student at Stanford University, The New York Times reports. The student reported the incident to the university’s public safety department, describing the car as a black SUV and the driver as a white man in his mid-20s who yelled “F— you people” during the attack. Stanford’s president Richard Saller and provost Jenny Martinez said in a statement that they are “profoundly disturbed to hear this report of potentially hate-based physical violence on our campus.” The investigation comes amid tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and threats of violence on university campuses.
A student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was arrested and banned from campus after allegedly punching a Jewish student and spitting on an Israeli flag following a campus demonstration organized by UMass Hillel, The Boston Globe reports. The event, called “Bring Them Home: Solidarity Walk and Installation,” featured empty seats representing the 240 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. UMass officials said there were no indications of credible threats to the UMass community but urged students to report any safety concerns to UMass police. Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League New England, called the incident “the latest proof that Jewish students are under attack.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In an op-ed for The Chronicle, David Stoll, a professor of anthropology at Middlebury College, assesses recent criticisms of the field of anthropology and accusations of Eurocentrism, colonialism, and racism. The American Anthropological Association (AAA) has called for a racial reckoning to decolonize US anthropology, despite what Stoll characterizes as its long-standing opposition to racism and colonialism. The op-ed argues that such a reckoning implies that anthropologists can be reduced to their racial identity, leading to identity-first argumentation, a process whereby “who we claim to be counts for more than our evidence, and contrary evidence can be dismissed as racist,” Stoll writes. According to Stoll, calls for solidarity can disengage anthropology from evaluating claims through immersive research, and reliance on racial classification may stifle academic debate.
As colleges and universities enroll increasingly diverse student populations, students across the country have called for their institutions to include non-Christian religious holidays in their academic calendars. Increased security risks faced by Jewish and Muslim students in the past month have amplified this demand, The Chronicle reports. The City University of New York (CUNY) has closed during Jewish holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but on Eid al-Fitr, the holiest day on the Islamic calendar, the college remains open. Muslim students have campaigned for a non-class day during Eid al-Fitr, claiming they are excluded from the treatment afforded to major Christian and Jewish holidays. College officials denied the request, stating that students who miss class for religious observances have the right to request accommodations and receive an equivalent opportunity to make up missed assignments.
Title IX and Sexual Assault
The US Department of Education delayed its October deadline to finalize two Title IX regulations, with the Office of Management and Budget not reviewing either set. The delay comes as 130 civil rights, gender justice, and survivor advocacy organizations call for immediate action, Higher Ed Dive reports.
Access and Affordability
A new study by the Art & Science Group reveals that cost significantly influences high school students’ college decisions, as do their perceptions of the college experience an institution offers, according to an analysis by Inside Higher Ed. The majority of students rank cost at an eight out of ten on a scale of importance, with availability of majors and academic quality ranked as equally important. Students of color reported that cost was of slightly higher importance compared to white respondents. The study also found that students’ anticipated college experience can be more important than cost in some cases. “Ultimately, students aren’t just looking for the lowest-cost institution,” said Craig Goebel, a principal at Art & Science Group. “They’re looking for an experience that’s going to transform their lives.”
Researchers at the Common Application have released a report on the meaning of first-generation status, a term that lacks a universal definition, The Chronicle reports. The research aims to clarify the definition of first-generation students, finding that colleges use varying definitions of first-generation students and that small changes to these definitions can have major consequences for applicants. Setting a threshold of “any attendance at a higher-education institution” by an applicant’s parents would result in about 127,000 fewer students being considered first-generation compared to a bachelor’s-degree threshold. The researchers also note that many students don’t grow up in two-parent homes, with nearly 12% of applicants having limited information about one or both of their parents. The Common App’s findings may underscore a need to consider the nuance of first-generation status.
Academic Freedom and Free Speech
The American Studies Association (ASA) released a signed letter criticizing its executive committee’s statement on the Israel-Hamas war, Inside Higher Ed reports. The letter, signed by around 70 members of the ASA, criticized the statement for omitting the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians, calling it “a stunning omission.” The signatories further demanded that the ASA include antisemitism in its “historic opposition” to racism, as well as calling for immediate humanitarian aid and the liberation of all hostages. The letter urged the acknowledgment of “a common ground of shared pain and suffering” as essential for a path to peace.
Columbia University faculty members have been divided over the Israel-Hamas war, with hundreds signing opposing letters in response to unfolding events and campus protests, The Chronicle reports. The university has been in turmoil since Hamas’s attack on October 7th, with an Israeli student allegedly assaulted and a “doxxing truck” displaying the names of students who had been critical of the Israeli government. A group of over 170 faculty members released a letter defending the targeted students, linking to a pro-Palestinian statement signed by over 20 student organizations. A counter-letter with over 400 faculty signatories urged Columbia to protect Jewish and Israeli students “in the same way that the university defends other groups from this sort of disgusting conduct,” citing recent antisemitic incidents and rhetoric on campus. The clash among faculty demonstrates a heated divide at Columbia and throughout higher education.
In an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed, Cyndi Kernahan, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, emphasizes that teaching about race and racism must not be hindered by government censorship. Kernahan urges educators to resist legislative attacks on higher education and organize against political interference, emphasizing that censorship, such as that put forth by the Florida College System to limit curriculum on race, is harmful to all students, especially students of color.
A federal judge refused to temporarily block a Florida law that restricts teaching content in public colleges, Higher Ed Dive reports. The judge ruled that professors’ and students’ concerns about free speech were “entirely too speculative.” Professors and students at New College of Florida filed the complaint, claiming that the statute violates the First Amendment and suppresses free speech. According to US District Judge Mark Walker, the plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence to establish negative consequences of the law. The judge has previously called Florida’s Stop WOKE Act “dystopian” and said it violates the free speech rights of educators.
Former President Donald Trump has proposed an all-online “American Academy” to provide a college education to combat “wokeism” and promote free speech without increasing national debt, The Chronicle reports. The proposal is unlikely to pass Congress due to partisan gridlock and the program’s potential resemblance to Trump University. Trump believes the academy would counter “woke” ideology on college campuses, citing protests and demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war as evidence of what he believes to be higher education’s left-leaning bias.
