Roberto J. Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education, delivered the keynote address at Hope 2023 in New Orleans.
Hundreds of educators, students, and community partners gathered in the Crescent City this week to support Generation Hope, a project aimed at generating new ideas and connections on how to best support parents of students across the country. The first national conference of the non-profit organization that provides direct support to parents was held. Supporting universities and their children through comprehensive two-generation programming.
Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope, said that when she founded the organization in 2010, she knew its mission was bold and ambitious. Told.
“At the heart of Generation Hope's work is the belief that families are the experts when it comes to the problems we are trying to solve,” says Lewis, the book's author. Pregnant Girls: Stories of teenage mothers, college, and building a better future for young families. “Our vision for this conference is to create an open and inclusive space where the voices of those most affected can be heard and respected.”
During the first two days of the conference, ideas from a variety of disciplines and sectors were shared and solutions were collaboratively formed through a variety of plenary panels and breakout sessions.
“The power of our stories cannot be overstated,” Lewis told attendees, and encouraged them to “concrete next steps they can take in their lives, their jobs, and their communities.” I asked him to think about it, he added.
Maraja Lopez, a young mother of two, gave a powerful speech at the conference's opening plenary session. Her senior year at the University of New Orleans (UNO), she plans to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies and dreams of earning her MBA.
In 2018, at the age of 17, Lopez learned she was pregnant.
“I couldn't apply to any college other than New Orleans because I was about to become a mother,” Lopez recalls, adding that she ultimately decided to attend UNO because the school was a place where she and her newborn She added that this was because she was ready to provide housing for the baby. his father.
“The summer before my first semester was different than most freshmen,” she said. “Not only was I preparing to go to college and move into my first apartment away from my family, I was also preparing to become a mother myself.”
Seven months after her first son was born, Lopez was pregnant with her second child, but now she had to contend with the reality that the father of her two children was incarcerated.
“The thing I was thinking about the most was how to balance being a mother of two children, providing for us, and being a full-time college student,” she said. He added that he had studied hard because he believed that a university education was important. “There is no room for negotiation.”
Despite all the setbacks and challenges, Lopez was introduced to Generation Hope during her junior year and became a Generation Hope Scholar. She applied and received her scholarship, which introduced her to a community of young mothers like me.
Now in her final year of college, Lopez has not only provided her with financial aid, but also the opportunity to share her experience with other student mothers who are much younger than her. She said they also provided the following.
Roberto J. Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education, believes in uplifting, empowering, and supporting parents of students like Lopez on their path to a college education. said it was important. Rodriguez said these strategies are consistent with policies being implemented by the Biden administration.
In his conference keynote address, he praised the organization's two-generation approach and focus on equity as a necessary element of change.
“We need a more student-centered approach to higher education policy, one that is no longer defined by a bygone era of what a traditional student is, and one where college students are more important than ever. “It’s about recognizing diversity,” he said. . “They're more likely to be older. They're more likely to be balancing work and home and raising a family. Maybe they're caring for an elderly person. They're more likely to be the first in their families to attend college, and they're dealing with real-world barriers within our system.”
He said one in five parents of students experience food insecurity, adding that many do not have access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and many states across the country are unable to pay for child care. continues to exceed university tuition and tuition fees, he said.
“A measure of our ability as a nation to adhere to our best principles is a measure of our ability to build and support an education system that creates opportunity for all, not just some,” he said.
