Daily Lumina News 061024

For years, conservatives condemned the use of diversity statements by universities, which ask job applicants to detail their commitment to improving opportunities for marginalized and underrepresented groups.
But the use of diversity statements continued to grow and eventually became a requisite when applying for a teaching job at many of the country’s most selective universities. That seems to be changing.

In his new book, From Foster Care to College, Royel M. Johnson shines a light on an often-forgotten subset of students: those from foster care.
Through capturing the lived experiences of foster youth in college, Johnson finds that, beyond the misconceptions that plague them, foster youth are a remarkably resilient group with college-going aspirations. They can also be reluctant to ask for help once they get there.

For King Bethel, his music helped carry him through the pandemic, when COVID nearly took his mother’s life, when he practiced alone at home, and when he changed schools in hopes of more opportunity.
Bethel is among the millions of American high school students who spent their freshman year online. Now, he's heading to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He describes the pandemic as a defining moment, one that challenged his strength and sharpened his understanding of the fragility of life.

The end of this academic year brought big changes for many institutions across the United States, with job cuts and program reviews underway or on the horizon.
The cuts announced in May are among the deepest reported so far this year. Layoffs, program reductions, and other belt-tightening measures are largely being driven by the usual suspects: declining enrollment and increased operating costs.

Lumina Foundation's Christopher Mullin spent four months digging into the history of credentialing in this country—and emerged with six recommendations to reduce the chaos and confusion.
Watch this video to learn more.

Longtime education faculty member Diana Waters first heard of Goddard College's closing from a student. She immediately dismissed the news as a misunderstanding. It wasn't.
Founded as a radical experiment in higher education, the Vermont institution’s closure follows years of leadership turnover, falling enrollment, and deep tensions between administration and rank and file.