Daily Lumina News 091421

The Latino experience with college is complex, nuanced, and unique. While there is not a single path that students follow in their higher education journey, certain factors overwhelmingly characterize the Latino college experience today: being first in the family to go to college, growing up in poverty or with low-income status, and facing the legacy of systemic discrimination filtering through their neighborhoods and schools.
A new report highlights where the Latino experience diverges from the conventional student experience through powerful words and stories of Latino students and their parents.

President Joe Biden is trying to get the economy back. The infrastructure bill is a key part of that strategy. But even if it becomes law, some are flagging the shortage of skilled infrastructure workers as a serious challenge ahead. Worker shortages persist across different sectors of the economy, but in the trades, they were a problem even before the pandemic.
Andy Van Kleunen, CEO of the National Skills Coalition, talks about the challenges ahead.

A highly regulated semester is underway for unvaccinated college students and employees.
Last fall, before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available, many campuses mandated masks, required regular or random testing, and barred large gatherings. Now, colleges are developing parallel sets of policies, depending on vaccination status—employees and students who are not fully vaccinated will experience stricter rules, while those who are fully vaccinated will see many of those rules pared back.

As students return to campus, community colleges are finding new ways to address mental health issues and broaden access to resources and support.
For example, students at Holyoke Community College will have access to counselors both in-person and through telehealth. The school also is partnering with the Center for Human Development (CHD), a Massachusetts non-profit, to provide mental health services.

Nazrawi Allen is about to begin his fourth year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but he—like thousands of other students in the UC system—doesn’t have a place to live.
The pandemic and the desire to maintain physical distancing has prompted some landlords and renters in Isla Vista to limit the density in shared houses and apartments. The result is fewer rooms available for students, and campus dorms can’t always handle the extra demand.

After three decades as president at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Freeman Hrabowski will step down at the end of the academic year. As one of the most dynamic leaders in American higher education, Hrabowski challenged the narrative that only prestigious, wealthy institutions can deliver quality education.
In this interview, Hrabowski reflects on his tenure, leadership strategies, and his plans post-UMBC.