Latest news with #CollegeUnbound
Boston Globe
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Providence's new flag policy isn't just about flags. It's about who gets to be seen, and who is silenced.
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up One major problem with the new flag policy is inconsistency. There was no need for special approvals before. Why now? Advertisement Second, the policy gives too much power to a few. It lets either the mayor or the Providence City Council decide who gets to be represented. This is dangerous because it makes public visibility subject to the comfort of a few officials rather than any clear or fair process. Third, this move discredits the real message behind raising the Palestinian flag: solidarity with people experiencing deep suffering. feels bad to those of us who are part of the Muslim and Arab community. It feels like we are being told our pain is too controversial to acknowledge. Advertisement This incident isn't isolated. It reflects a broader pattern known as the 'Palestine Exception' to free speech, where advocacy for Palestinian rights is often met with disproportionate censorship and suppression. A report by So what should happen now? Either the city allows all communities to be represented through flag-raising, or it stops the practice altogether. There's no middle ground that's fair. The policy must apply equally and without favoritism or fear. If Providence wants to stand for diversity, it must stand for all of us, not just the ones who make people comfortable. If the city is serious about equity, it needs to show it — not just say it. Khaled Soulaiman is a first-generation Syrian Lebanese Muslim and a student at College Unbound in Providence.
Chicago Tribune
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Faith leaders: Memorial Day often marks an uptick in violence in Chicago. Let's ensure 2025 is less deadly.
For all the awful news filling our papers and screens on a daily basis, there is some very good news we would be remiss not to mention: Homicide rates in Chicago are dropping, and our city's slayings are decreasing at such a rate that 2025 looks to be a 10-year low. Much of this decline is the direct result of Chicago's admirable civic infrastructure of community violence intervention (CVI) programs, which, according to a Northwestern University report, are responsible for 40% drops in violence in neighborhoods where CVI is focused. The significant drops in homicide numbers matter. But we need to be clear that the communities we serve do not feel proportionately safer; they do not feel the 40% decline. One of our mothers lives on a Chicago block with an officer present and still feels terrorized to the point she feels the need to move. Declining homicide rates are to be appreciated, but we will hold our celebration until every community feels relief. So, while we hear the violence is decreasing and are grateful for the good news, we are nonetheless aware how vulnerable the reality is and how easily we can lose the positive momentum Chicago has built. Of course, we are concerned about the potential impact of federal and state budget cuts; as the CVI community continues to train and graduate peacekeepers through programs such as College Unbound, we fear funding might fall short of the need. Furthermore, we still have a mayor not only looking to take a victory lap on numbers that belong to programs not funded by that city, but also looking to enact inane policies such as the 'snap curfew' that curtail civil liberties and incarcerate young people of color. This Memorial Day weekend is not just the informal start of summer. It often marks the commencement of Chicago's most violent, deadly season. As faith leaders who applaud the decreases in violence, we must remind the city and its citizens: We need to end the violence that is literally killing our children, snatching them from our communities. Safety remains the No. 1 issue of concern for Chicagoans. Fear — fear of violence, fear of facing the barrel of a gun — has immeasurable impact. Fear of violence stops dreams. Fear of violence stops economic development. And while public safety is, in many ways, a matter for law enforcement, CVI and supportive officials such as our governor, it is incumbent upon us as people to hold the line and bring greater safety to our city. Everybody has responsibility in reducing violence. Of course, the city must have coordinated efforts and benchmarks to achieve, which is why we have been fighting for years to have an Office of Gun Violence Reduction with a budget, accountability and transparency. We need economic development in neglected neighborhoods and excellent schools across the city. Park districts should be overwhelmed with opportunities for young people, whether meaningful and edifying summer jobs or recreational activities that foster community and belonging. We must hold our elected officials accountable to these high standards. Civil society has a role to play too. Business must invest in Chicago's neglected communities, committing to stay in place for the long run and not running away when the tax credits abate. Churches, synagogues and mosques need to open their doors to summer activities for youths and their families; faith institutions must be engaged in their communities and use their pulpits to address the violence. While the youth summer jobs program is great, we need year-round opportunities for our young folks: Who better to advocate for this, and seek funding from their congregations, than the city's many faith leaders? Parents have a role as well. Parents simply must know where their children are, who they are with and what they are doing. Our city cannot function when parents are not held responsible for their children. We know Chicago's parents are often overwhelmed and need help: This is where the community needs to step in, opening doors and sharing support. Block clubs need a rebirth; neighbors need to start knowing their neighbors and being neighbors once again. Despite all of the successes in countering violence, Chicago still needs a remix. We need to bring our society to the point in which young people realize their value, their potential, their greatness and the purpose their lives bring to our world. Only then can we hope that our youths make the right choices to protect their futures, including knowing when to walk away and have the courage to make decisions to protect their futures. It cannot only be our teachers, our faith leaders and our peacekeepers who are protecting our children. All of us need to play a part in assuring the secure promise of the future for the rising generation. The day we all commit to protecting our children in all these ways will truly be one worthy of commemoration.
Gulf Today
09-03-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
Millions of adults have some college but no degree
MiMi Gravley works full-time, as a community relations liaison at Strawberry Mansion High in Philadelphia. She's also a full-time college student and juggles raising her own kids and making ends meet. Gravley is smart and motivated; she wanted to earn a college degree, but life and bills got in the way. She left college once because the price tag was too high. 'You want the degree, but if you don't have the money, you don't have the money,' said Gravley, who grew up in Philadelphia and attended culinary school after graduating from Central High. She earned an associate's degree at Community College of Philadelphia during the pandemic, then enrolled in a bachelor's degree program at Eastern University before halting classes because of the expense. This time, Gravley, 36, is on a surer route to her bachelour's degree. She's enrolled at College Unbound, a college with local ties that gives adult learners from underserved communities affordable paths to graduation, with low tuition, strong supports baked in, credit for relevant life experience, a cohort model that helps keep students engaged, and impressive early results. College Unbound began in 2009 in Rhode Island, when Dennis Littky, a founder of the educational nonprofit Big Picture Learning, joined with Adam Bush, a jazz historian with experience in higher education. The idea, said Bush, was to 'democratise access to credits. Learning isn't something that's only happening when you're in a classroom, when you're paying for it.' Bush sees College Unbound as a 'degree completion' school — most of its students have some college under their belt, though that's not a requirement for enrollment. Its average student is 38; most are women of color. Many are caregivers and many have experience with the prison system, either themselves or via a family member. College Unbound costs about $11,000 per year, and most of its students qualify for Pell grants, which pay $7,395 of that bill. About 80% of local students attend at no cost to them, officials said. The college owns no buildings; all classes are online or held in spaces owned by other organisations, typically with supports like food and babysitting provided. All faculty are adjunct. Students earn a bachelor's degree in organisational leadership and change, most in under 2 1/2 years. At first, College Unbound operated with partner institutions; in 2015, it became accredited to grant its own degrees. It currently has 500 students enrolled in Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, Del., and Washington state, and has graduated about 500 students. College Unbound's Philadelphia roots date back more than a decade. David Bromley, then the director of Big Picture Philadelphia, had a conversation with Wendell Pritchett, then a member of the School Reform Commission, about Big Picture's concept — personalised learning, real-world experiences — and what that might look like at the college level. (Pritchett is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's law school, and Penn's former provost and interim president.) The idea fascinated Pritchett, who's now chair of College Unbound's board. 'There are 50 million people who started college and didn't finish,' said Pritchett. 'We in higher ed should be embarrassed by that and we're not. I call it reparations — to repair a lot of the damage that higher ed has caused.' In the Philadelphia area, 157,055 adults have some college courses under their belt, but have not earned a degree, according to US Census data. Most of them are Black or Hispanic. Bromley left Big Picture Philadelphia in 2021 to bring College Unbound to the area. To date, it's had 153 students enroll through partnerships with the Philadelphia School District, ASPIRA, Philadelphia Housing Authority, and Public Health Management Corporation. 'We're really trying to find our space in the Delaware Valley, not to compete with 73 institutions of higher education. It's to serve this niche group, this population in a super supportive flexible way that also benefits the partner,' said Bromley. More partnerships are forthcoming, he said. A group of College Unbound students gathered digitally on a winter weeknight. It was a big day — final presentations. College Unbound structures its curriculum around student interests and the work they are doing in real life. The students, all paraprofessionals in the Philadelphia school system enrolled in College Unbound through its 'Para Pathways' program that seeks to build the teaching pipeline by helping paraprofessionals earn credentials, talked about projects they had undertaken at their schools. Danette Swindle, who works at Sullivan Elementary in Frankford, created an after-school basketball program. Her why, she said, was the death of her cousin, killed walking to a corner store in 2021. More resources are needed for youth, she said. It wasn't easy, but Swindle learned a lot, she said. 'While I was building my after-school program, it built my resilience,' said Swindle. 'I wanted to give people resources and help them navigate their daily challenges.' College Unbound students move through their classes in small cohorts, and those groups provide built-in supports. Classes run on eight or 16 week cycles, might run synchronously or asynchronously, and every class begins with a one-on-one meeting with a student and professor.
