Daily Lumina News 030223

This week's arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court over President Joe Biden's student debt cancellation left some borrowers feeling isolated as they heard such a personal subject reduced to cold legal language.
Borrower Niara Thompson had a seat in the audience. Like many borrowers, she says the arguments missed the bigger picture around college affordability.

Mental health is the next frontier for some community colleges, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing into clearer focus the need to improve mental health services to help fulfill their academic mission of educating students.
Two community colleges—Alamo Colleges District and San Diego City College—are taking novel approaches to delivering on-campus mental health support.

The New College of Florida’s reshaped board of trustees voted this week to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the school after a heated public comment session—events that follow Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to move the college in a conservative direction.
Students and others expressed strenuous opposition to the new direction before the vote at the Sarasota institution, both at the meeting and at a rally.

The movement to make college tuition free continues to grow at the state level. Just last week, Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh introduced a proposal to make college tuition free for some Minnesota residents.
While free college plans vary in scope, support, and programmatic design across states, one thing has become increasingly clear: State governments do not need to wait for federal action to make college more affordable.

Only 15 U.S. colleges and universities are older than Salem College, a women’s college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, founded in 1772.
But in the fall of 2021, Salem College had only 45 new students. Even for colleges in the pandemic, the numbers were so low that some questioned the college’s ability to go on. But Salem College had a plan, adopted earlier in the year, and it appears to be working.

For the last few years, legislators and other state leaders have tried to restrict what can be taught and discussed on college campuses regarding race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities.
A new guide from the American Council on Education and PEN America aims to help college leaders argue for institutional autonomy in cases when lawmakers try to restrict these and other topics.