Daily Lumina News 051120

Hunger and homelessness have become a growing crisis for student parents who must now navigate higher education in the coronavirus era. They need help—and a lot of it.
Some schools are stepping up. At LaGuardia Community College, the school’s foundation has raised $150,000 for emergency student funding, including food, rent, and hot spots for those without internet.
The school also maintains its food pantry once a week, and staff members keep student parents aware of emergency grants and other ways of getting help.

Students, staff, and faculty at tribal colleges have a lot on their minds as they deal with the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Internet access is limited while the need to get online for courses is burgeoning. Student parents are helping their children with schoolwork while balancing their own courses. Many students have lost jobs as tribes have had to lay off employees.
Despite these challenges, tribal colleges are working hard to preserve a sense of normality for students and provide them with the support and resources they need to move forward.

A new proposal to start testing 5,000 students at the University of California San Diego for the coronavirus is raising hopes about a possible way to safely reopen California universities.
The plan, called “Return to Learn,” is a first-of-its kind attempt to ensure campus health standards at a time when colleges and universities are wrestling with whether to restart in-person courses and fully reopen dormitories this fall. The plan could eventually test all 65,000 students, faculty, and staff at UC San Diego.

The coronavirus pandemic has created financial and educational challenges for countless college students in the United States, thousands of whom are out of work and studying from home.
But it's been particularly devastating for undocumented students and their families, who were living precarious lives even before the virus struck. Many work in hard-hit sectors like child care, food service and retail, and they've been excluded from the new federal relief programs, including emergency grants for college students.