Photo: Shawn Spence

Aisha Rashid, who is working on a degree in physical oceanography and marine biology at the University of Washington, expects the warming planet to create a major tipping point very soon. She is convinced that people will increasingly demand solutions as the impact of climate change hits closer to home.

Rashid also predicts that the answers will come from the private sector. The profit motive will accelerate the demand for a skilled environmental workforce, she says, and put to rest concerns that many environmental careers are economically unsustainable.

As college leaders confront what’s been called a crisis in student mental health, many of them are asking professors to play the part of first responders. 

On a growing number of campuses, professors are stepping up to the role, introducing “mindfulness minutes” in their classes, doing away with midnight deadlines, and offering no-questions-asked mental-health days. At the same time, some professors say they are uncomfortable serving as wellness coaches or trying to recognize what counts as a crisis. 

The Debt Collective, the nation’s first debtor’s union, is canceling close to $10 million in student debt for Morehouse College students.

The no-strings gift, which eliminates 2,777 accounts for the Fall 2022 term and prior, will enable thousands of Black men to receive their diplomas, access their transcripts, pursue further education, and move on with their lives, say organizers.