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NPR Education
When Colleges Shut Down, Some Students Have Nowhere To Go
By Anya Kamenetz
March 17, 2020
Lee Myers is a senior at Berea College in Kentucky. Up until March 14,
he was living in a dorm called Deep Green, majoring in philosophy with
a minor in economics, and looking forward to a future career in social
justice. Now that the campus has closed and graduation is canceled due
to coronavirus, he and his classmates have bigger things to worry about.
"Some people are panicking, rightly so," he says, "because they don't
know what they're going to do. It's sort of like a bombshell that
dropped on campus."
Every day, more colleges and universities are canceling in-person
classes due to the threat. Most are keeping dorms and dining halls open
for now, but a growing number have asked students to pack up and leave
campus indefinitely. That presents a problem for the significant
fraction of students who depend on their school for basic needs — food,
housing, financial aid, health insurance and on-campus jobs. And, as
colleges shift to online learning for the remainder of the semester,
not everyone can afford the necessary laptops and broadband.
The Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University
does an annual survey of college students, which found in 2019 that
around half of all two-year students and almost one-third of four-year
college students experienced housing insecurity, food insecurity or
both. (The voluntary survey includes disproportionately few private
colleges).
Around 700 colleges have established food pantries in the past several
years, including Georgetown, University of California, Berkeley, and
the University of Washington, according to the College and University
Food Bank Alliance. .
Sara Goldrick-Rab, founder of the Hope Center, says now is the time for colleges to really step up.
"When you're trying to help a group of people, especially during a
crisis, it's really important to center the most vulnerable people."
Her organization has started an emergency fund, and released guidance
for institutions, covering not only what colleges should be telling
their students, but how they should be communicating it. "The biggest
problem right now is that students are stressed and scared."
At Berea College, Lee Myers agrees: "A lot of students are really not
sure whether they can actually get the housing or stay on campus. And
many of them are facing the prospect of homelessness or like living
with a friend for a little bit."
Berea is what's called a "work college." Nearly all students come from
households where the income makes them eligible for Pell Grants.
Students pay no tuition, work at jobs on campus for small cash
stipends, and graduate without debt.
Myers, who comes from White House, Tenn., also depends on the school
for his health insurance — he's thinking of applying for Medicaid.
Tim Jordan, a spokesman for Berea College, said the school is offering
financial assistance to help students with traveling home. Myers asked
the college for gas money.
NPR contacted 86 of the hundreds of colleges that have closed so far.
Most told us they're still deciding exactly what they're going to do.
"Students currently are meeting with Student Life representatives who
are talking with them about whether or not they have a place to live
and if they need to stay on campus for the duration," said Vige Barrie,
a spokeswoman for Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. "We anticipate that
there will be students - those who are homeless, who are from other
countries and fear they may not be able to get back to Hamilton, etc.,
who will be allowed to stay on campus."
Barrie says the college will offer food service for all who stay on
campus, and for those lacking laptops or wifi, "we are giving them the
necessary equipment." In addition, he added, "for those who can't
afford it, we are buying them tickets to fly home plus transport to the
airport."
Mark Alesia, a spokesman for Indiana State University in Terre Haute,
told NPR that during spring break, some students will remain in
residence halls. "They will have limited on-campus options for food,
although that would have been the case regardless of COVID-19."
As official responses vary, some students and alumni are stepping up to
help their classmates and build community. At Tufts University in
Massachusetts, and the University of Virginia, mutual aid Facebook
pages have been set up, so students and community members can help each
other with money, housing, frequent flyer miles or anything else they
need.
Isabella Liu, a 19 year old student council member at UVA, runs her
school's page, which is called Hoos helping Hoos. She told NPR that in
the first 48 hours, they raised $3,700 of aid and fielded $4,500 worth
of requests.
"There are cases of students saying they cannot go home due to
extenuating familial circumstances — unhealthy, toxic or even abusive
environments," Liu says. She's back at her dad's in Atlanta for now,
but says she's planning to return to campus in Charlottesville for a
few days to help restock the food pantry. "We are hoping to come in and
fill in those gaps and support students."
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