Daily Lumina News 010821

The events of the last 36 hours have so many implications and cut across so many areas. Personally, I’ve felt a complex combination of emotions from what we all saw unfold. Anger. Fear. Disbelief. Pain. Injury.
Moving forward, we must work toward a process of reconciliation, working together, in uncomfortable ways, to repair the damage that has been done. Of course, reconciliation will be extremely difficult until we fix what’s broken, starting with greater inclusion, with greater opportunity, and with an education-supported economic and social renewal.

In 2019, Long Beach City College provided hot breakfasts for about 1,800 students across 10 separate events. This past fall, the college provided a food pickup service to about 390 students (helping about 1,820 household members total) in one day.
The California institution is far from alone. Many community colleges across the country are working to meet a surge in demand for food and other basic necessities. Staff members who run these programs are concerned about what the future will hold if the pandemic, and thus the need, doesn't subside soon.

After a long and challenging fall, college leaders learned a few important lessons about how COVID-19 spreads on their campuses, and what might work to reduce student cases.
Entering the spring of 2021, many campuses that operated mostly online in August have opted to do so again. And many colleges that held in-person classes and housed students are planning to remain in person—knowing, however, that their carefully laid plans may end up going out the window.

Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick has a message for Black America: When the time comes, get the coronavirus vaccine. The private historically Black college released a public service announcement this week showing Frederick and several essential health-care workers getting the vaccine.
Nationally, African-Americans are almost three times as likely to die of COVID-19 as whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Frederick hopes his participation in the PSA will encourage vaccine acceptance within communities of color.