Daily Lumina News 020623

Demand for diversity, equity, and inclusion specialists on college campuses is high—and so is turnover. Many in the field say the work can be isolating, and support from top leaders is rare.
Compounding those challenges is an increasingly aggressive political attack on DEI initiatives by conservatives across the country.

A training program in Oregon is chipping away at the workforce gap in construction and engineering while setting up currently incarcerated adults for success after they’re released. By offering new training in heavy equipment operation, the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility is also breaking the gender stereotypes for the trade.
CCCF is a women-only prison.

Black students face ever-increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. But some students in California are working hard to reverse those challenges—one personal connection at a time.
Bennie Williams is one of only a handful of Black students at his high school in Stockton. A statewide coalition called Black Students of California United gave him a place to share experiences, learn about Black history, and advocate for improved mental health and educational opportunities beyond high school.

The number of colleges offering support programs for students on the spectrum has doubled over the past five years, reaching roughly 100 in 2022, according to an analysis by members of the College Autism Network. But only a small subset of the programs offer job preparation.
The Rochester Institute of Technology is trying to change that.

The first year of college is hard enough on its own, as students learn their way around campus and figure out how to study and balance classes. It's been much harder for this year's freshmen, who spent more than half of their high school careers dealing with the disruptions of COVID-19.
In their own words, first-year college students offer insight about the pandemic's lingering challenges.

Jason (not his real name) entered prison at the age of 19. In 1990, he started serving a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for a first-degree murder charge. The first time he saw a cell phone was in 2002.
For people in prison, contraband cell phones come with consequences. But for some, it's worth the risk because they can be a lifeline to an education behind and beyond prison walls.