Announcing Generation Hope's "Our Campus, Our Voice"​ Challenge

When I was in college, I didn’t feel welcome or safe sharing what was really happening in my life. I knew I was different, and it was clear that most of the administrators, faculty, and staff didn’t even know I existed.

This wasn’t because I went to a big school. In fact, my predominantly white, four-year school was small. It was because as a teen mother and a student, I wasn’t supposed to be there and without an environment that recognized me and valued me, I fell through the cracks in higher education. Adding the fact that I was a young Black woman to those responsibilities meant I was pushed to the fringes even more. Like the nearly 5 million parenting undergraduate students across the country, who are disproportionately students of color, I felt invisible and the odds were stacked against me.

Back then, I would have really benefited from a campus community that was more welcoming and supportive of parenting students. Today, 1 in 5 college students is parenting, which means more than ever we need higher ed environments that make it clear that parents are valued and considered assets to their institutions. A transformation like this wouldn’t just benefit student parents, it would benefit all students and every member of a campus community.

Generation Hope is working with higher ed institutions every day to expand their capacity to create these innovative campus communities through our technical assistance program FamilyU. Now we’re taking it one step further. Through our inaugural initiative, the #OurCampusOurVoice Challenge, we have selected 12 current and former Generation Hope Scholars, all parenting students, to receive microgrants of $500 or more to implement their own ideas for creating more #FamilyFriendly campuses at their colleges or alma maters. 

In short, we are putting resources and decision-making power in the hands of the experts – those who are most impacted by the issues. We’re asking them to tell us what truly family-friendly campuses look like. Our hope is that their projects will not only impact the 9 institutions, but that it will inspire colleges across the country to similarly seek the expertise of their parenting students when it comes to this work.

I am so blown away by their ideas, creativity, and insights, and I know you will be, too. Learn more about their projects and stay up to date with their progress by following Generation Hope.