Liberation in Authenticity: The Relational Beauty of Post-Pandemic Higher Education

The COVID-19 pandemic permanently altered the field of higher education and created a broad culture shift in labor across the country. In this commentary, I explore the idea that the demands of student affairs practitioners are intensifying as students crave connection to others, yet student affairs professionals may be seeking to build an identity outside of work. I offer the perspective that as higher education becomes more relational, it creates room for the exploration of personhood, humanity, and the liberation of authenticity

Community Colleges Meeting Students’ Basic Needs

https://sites.google.com/view/dsp-community-college/home Of the students currently enrolled in post-secondary education institutions, more than 50% of college students are attending community colleges. Of these students, 36% are nontraditional students who are between the ages of 22 and 39, 29% first-generation students, and 20% are disabled students. Community colleges and their students are transforming what it means to participate in higher education by providing resources for students with diverse identities, overcoming exclusionary practices that sacrifice students’ physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. As part of a digital storytelling project, we aimed to think critically about injustice in higher education by focusing on a special population or concept, explore these topics through critical theoretical lenses, analyze existing research and best-practices, and present our work in a creative, digital medium. We decided to focus on how community colleges serve low-income students by supporting some of their basic needs: food, housing, healthcare, and technology. Drawing on our research and examples of community colleges who have led the way, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a website as an attempt to demonstrate some of the ideal ways that community colleges could support some of students’ basic needs, thus constructing our ideal community college. Resisting the long history of elitism, exclusion, and sacrifice in higher education is difficult but community co leges are leading the way. Dismantling these oppressive structures by elevating community colleges and their practices that support the basic needs of students is a first step in a revolutionary reimagining of student success

Focus on children murdered by parents in Italy: A sad reality

With a documented history of over a century, it is noted that child murders, perpetrated by their own parents, are an interesting and dramatic phenomenon in the Italian territory. There are three forms of child homicides: neonaticide, infanticide and filicide. Thanks to several legal reports and studies, it is possible to draw the profile of the typical murderer: usually a young, Northern Italian woman, unemployed, in a conflicting relationship and suffering from psychiatric disorders. In most cases, the crime takes place at home. No particular method for committing the murder is preferred, but the death of the child can be due to different causes. Precautionary measures should be taken: parents should never be left alone facing health or psychiat-ric problems, families should be helped and supported during difficult times, women should be well-in-formed and aware of their rights