Higher ed for those truly earning it
Imagine trying to study for a college education while sleeping on a sofa in somebody else’s home full of children. Or driving three hours each way, every day, or trying to work toward a degree while living in a homeless shelter.
Some people don’t have to imagine things like that. They’ve lived things like that. Now an outreach program at Columbus State University, part of a statewide higher education initiative, is working to remove some of the obstacles between students that dedicated and the education they are trying against such daunting odds to obtain.
As reported by staff writer Alva James-Johnson, CSU support services (with the generous help, in at least one instance, of First Baptist Church) has established its own branch, and foundation account, of a network called Embark Georgia. An initiative of the JW Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia, its website describes Embark as a program “to increase college access and retention for youth who have experienced foster care or homelessness [by] creating a network of support on campus and across the state … to improve the chances for every student to complete a degree or certificate program at one of the over 50 [University System] or [Technical College System] institutions in Georgia.”
Besides the state’s two public postsecondary education systems, Embark Georgia also coordinates with the Department of Family and Children Services, the state Department of Education and the court system to identify those who might be eligible for and benefit from such assistance.
A CSU news release said funds raised for the program will go toward housing and other necessary expenses, as well as “social and emotional supports,” for needy students pursuing postsecondary education. As part of CSU’s own program will be child care subsidies, partnerships with local social service agencies, and student housing open during holidays for students who might otherwise have nowhere else to go.
The determination of these students to earn (and that’s an especially appropriate word here) degrees they must clear such hurdles to obtain is worthy of attention, and generous support. The story here is about more than just breaking cycles of poverty; it’s potentially about starting new patterns of hope, achievement and success.
In moderation
One small step at a time, we edge toward common sense in alcohol sales.
The latest example is a bill Gov. Nathan Deal signed Monday that allows the growing craft brewery and distillery industries in Georgia to sell directly to customers for off-premises consumption.
Direct sales will be limited by overall volume (3,000 barrels a year for brewers, 500 barrels for distillers), and by individual purchaser: No more than a case of beer or 2,250 milliliters of spirits.
Those limits do not apply to retailers, who are hardly going to be put out of business by customers driving to a brewery or distillery instead of the nearest package, grocery or convenience store. But an outright ban on direct sales never made sense.
This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Higher ed for those truly earning it."