This summer I am working with 300 young people who are taking classes at my university. In preparation I am combing through the emergency and disaster plan prepared by the institution, so that my staff and faculty can know what to do if something happens. For example, today three Metro lines had to be put out of service because of smoke in the tunnel. Our students are often off site for learning opportunities, and I want to be sure that we do our best to keep them safe.

I have now worked in higher education for almost a decade, and this is the first time I’ve really read a campus emergency plan. One would think that after the active shooter at Virginia Tech, and the challenges of 9/11 that we all would be more vigilant about these policies. However, it isn’t something we attend to unless we are responsible directly for students. We forget that we are also responsible for ourselves.

I once had a student in class begin to get violent. Until that moment it never occurred to me that the University Police telephone number should be programmed into my phone. Now, I don’t even need to program the information. I have both the emergency and non-emergency numbers memorized. I also know where they are located in case phone service is down. I have introduced myself to several I see on campus just in case. In case of what I do not know.

I encourage every student, parent, faculty and staff person to review their campus policies. Do not leave it up to student affairs to know what to do with students. Even the mild earthquake my city experienced a few years ago impacted classes. Bring in health and safety professionals to your staff or faculty meetings once per year to get an update. Update your CPR and defibrillator training. There is no use in the university buying life saving equipment if no one knows 1) where it is kept, and 2) how to use it!

Be safe and well.

First Generation University has been busy in the past year working with high school students and transfer students. Empower Magazine caught up with us and one of our students to discuss how we help first generation students. Check it out here: First Generation College Students Overcome Struggles

The season between Thanksgiving and spring semester is usually a joyous break for universities. Students celebrate Chanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or winter solstice after slogging through final exams. Faculty grade final papers and exams and then look forward to the time off. We staff try to take the time we’re in the office to catch up on paperwork. However, not everyone enjoys the slow period between Thanksgiving and New Years and these are the students we need to keep an eye on.

This winter period for some students is the end of their collegiate career. Many students go home and hear from their families that they cannot return to school because the family cannot afford to send them anymore. Although the greater economy has “recovered,” many of my students’ personal economies have not – not at all. Families wait until the student is home to tell them so that they can at least pass their fall classes.

Some students do not receive family or community support to attend school in the first place, and retreat home where they feel valued. Many of these students actually do not return after Thanksgiving. Many times this group includes first generation college students because they are learning new values and cultural norms that may be in conflict with what they learned at home. Families may reject the student for being too “uppity” “brand new” or “out of their place.”

Finally, many students experience depression and suicidal thoughts. They aren’t coping well with school already and the change in the weather to dreary days exacerbates their illness. If grades come in and the student has not done well this problem can descend into deadly territory quickly. Some students do not have consistent families and the cheer and love of the holidays feels like someone is steadily reminding them of their lack.

What should we do as practitioners? Be a bit more mindful that sometimes the grades we see and the excuses we get have some underlying cause. This time of year can be especially frustrating as we get students “grade grubbing” for marks they did not earn, or students come in with problems we could have helped them solve had they talked to us months ago. We not be able to work with every student to become an academic superstar, but we can let them know that no matter the outcome of their grades or academic standing that they are valued as people, and there are options.

Families, and community members, hug your students this winter break. Remind them of why you care for them outside of their accomplishments or lack thereof. If they have not met your expectations certainly remind them of where you stand, but try to be gentle. If your student comes home with “newfangled” ideas talk to them about their new beliefs and see if you can find some way to have a family discussion about your own values with them.

We in academic affairs want all of our students to come back to us in the spring semester, or at least be well enough to live out their dreams through a different path. We want our students to be mentally well and to feel supported. The most wonderful time of the year is not always so wonderful for everyone, so let’s try to help make it a little better where we can.

Being a minority student at a predominantly white institution is a situation that affects several students whether they are Black, Asian American, etc. A number of factors contribute to the composition of racial diversity on campus such as socioeconomic status, parental education level and gender. Even though most of these issues underlie the means in which the campus environment is constructed, they are farfetched to be completely controlled all at once. What can administrators do to promote racial equality or how can students “find themselves” even if they are a minority on campus? These are the questions we face every year and is an important topic that should be covered across the nation.

For many first generation students, race and cultural diversity at the university level can be an important factor. For many others it might have been an afterthought but is now a present issue once they spend more time developing during their undergraduate career. For me, it is an issue that has been more prominent in recent years as I have worked on research and explored other campus environments. Being a first generation Latino male student has placed me in a unique position in that I can take away different experiences in comparison to the largest population on the UT Austin campus: Whites.

As I am sure that other minority students can attest to, especially during their first year as undergraduates, there are instances in which we can become stereotyped or channeled into the “token” role. I remember during an outing with some of my roommate’s friends I was the only minority in the group and while driving a song in Spanish came up on the radio to which they all immediately asked me what certain words meant. This may seem a small gesture but to me it signified that they assumed the fact that because I am Mexican American I must know Spanish. Another instance was more recently in working on a group activity in class. We were discussing events from our past and when I mentioned I had frequently visited Mexico, the White male group member asked if I had ever “ridden any chivas (goats) or round up any animals.” Even though these experiences seem small, other students may have experienced more blatant accounts of racism and prejudice.

For the most part I believe minority students have not been rejected or ostracized from the mainstream population on campus. Reiterating the question of how students can find their place in a historically white university, there have been initiatives and student centers that they have access to in which they can relate to other students belonging to their culture. Along with multicultural centers, labs, fraternities and sororities minority students have the potential to find the group they feel most comfortable with and can reduce any anxiety or social problems dealt with belonging to a small population on campus.