Single collegiate moms University ofers merciful new beginnings By Mary Solberg • Reprinted with permission from the March issue of Faith , the magazine of the Erie Catholic Diocese
College life is more than 8 a.m. classes, research papers and exams for four women enrolled at Mercyhurst University North East in Erie County. It also means studying well past midnight after they’ve fed their rambunctious toddlers, read them books and tucked them in for the night. The scenario is repeated most days, amid the usual runny noses and occasional tantrums. For these single collegiate moms, responsibilities don’t end there. Most also hold down a part-time job to pay the bills. But mercy has come to the aid of students Jasmine Butcher, Daijah Campbell, Quanshay Carroll and Jennifer White. All have been accepted into a new Women With Children program ofered at Mercyhurst North East, a two-year Catholic liberal arts satellite campus of Erie’s Mercyhurst University. The groundbreaking program’s biggest perks are rent-free housing on campus, including free utilities, laundry services, cable and internet service. All of the women agree that the daily chaos and worries of attending college and raising children – on a single income at or near the poverty level – are more bearable now. “It’s been a blessing on top of a blessing,” says Quanshay Carroll, 23, who entered the program in January with her 4-year-old daughter, Delaysia. The words “blessed” and “grateful” come up frequently during a recent talk with the women at the school’s Matthew L. Ryan Student Union. They watch as Delaysia, a newcomer to the program, plays with Jasmine’s daughter, Noella, 2; and Daijah’s daughters, Dallas, 2, and Dasani, 4. White’s 2-year-old
son, William, isn’t present that night, but subsequent get-togethers quickly include the only boy in the group. “I’m more relaxed now,” says Jasmine, who, at 22, is the youngest of the mothers. “I’m happier. I’m not stressed out.” A growing demographic Stress can impede growth on many fronts, both physically and mentally. A 2018 paper released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that single mothers who attend college full time spend nine hours a day on child care and housework. “Single mothers in college are doing double and triple duty to make a better life for their families, but too few have the support needed to juggle the competing demands of college, parenthood and employment,” according to Lindsey Reichlin Cruse, the institute’s current study director who was quoted in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education , a publication of the College Media Association. But single moms – including those at Mercyhurst North East – are not alone. U.S. Census Bureau statistics released in 2016 found that children living with a single mother make up the second most common family arrangement in the U.S. That’s nearly triple the percentage of children living with single moms in 1960. These facts, and a plethora of others, are of increasing interest to colleges and universities. More than one-quarter of all undergraduate students in America are raising children while attending
college, according to the Best Colleges website. Single moms, it fnds, make up 43 percent of the student-parent population, while single fathers comprise 11 percent. About three years ago, Mercyhurst University President Michael Victor became intrigued by the concept of a Women With Children program while at the Conference for Mercy Higher Education in Washington, D.C. Misericordia University, a private Catholic liberal arts university in Dallas, Pennsylvania, and the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska, both founded by the Sisters of Mercy, ofer similar single-mother programs. Victor proposed the idea for Mercyhurst North East, which has a current enrollment of 660. “It goes right back to the critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, which is to battle poverty through education,”Victor says. “What we believe is that this is the path to break the cycle of poverty. If we give them an opportunity to do well, the children will do well.” Mercy Sister JoAnne Courneen, a member of the board of trustees, visited Misericordia and two other institutions to learn about their programs. She and Jackie Fink, the director of administrative services at the North East campus, also conducted more research about its benefts and challenges, including ensuring the safety of children on a college campus. The benefts of the Women With Children program were so evident that Mercyhurst fast-tracked it and welcomed the frst cohort last fall. Fink believes Mercyhurst is now among only a handful of universities nationwide that ofer year- round, free on-campus housing for single mothers.
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