Chatham Suburban Times Weekly 3-25-2020

Citizen Week of March 25, 2020

| Vol. 3 | No. 33 | www.citizennewspapergroup.com

SUBURBAN TIMES WEEKLY

Derrica Wilson and Natalie Wilson founded the nonprofit Black and Missing Foundation to bring awareness and resources to missing persons of color and their families.

BLACK AND MISSING FOUNDATION SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON MISSING PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES The case of Tamika Huston, a 24-year-old black woman who went missing from her Spartanburg, South Carolina, home on May 27, 2004, captivated Derrica Wilson and her sister, Natalie. SEE PAGE 3

POLITISCOPE Why public universities are chasing rich kids from out of state PAGE 2

TRAVEL

NEWS

Trip.com Group expands scope of 1 million surgical mask donation initiative PAGE 5

Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grants to Schools Awarded PAGE 3

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POLITISCOPE

Why public universities are chasing rich kids from out of state

BY ROBERT MASSA

There are many high-achieving, low-income students who are well qualified for admission to the nation’s top public colleges and universities. The problem is admission officers appear to spend little time trying to find them.

That much has been made clear by ongoing research into where universities go to recruit students.

The research – by higher education scholar Ozan Jaquette and data scientist Crystal Han, both of UCLA – shows that admission officers at public universities are going after wealthy students from other states who will pay higher tuition. This strategy, in turn, helps those universities make up for a precipitous decline in state revenue that took place during the last 20 years.

Jaquette and Han also cite evidence that simply providing additional information on admission and financial aid doesn’t really lead low- and middle-income students to attend a highly selective college or university.

Their study examined where admissions officers at 15 major public research universities traveled to recruit students. They found that the average family income was US$40,000 higher at the high schools they visited than at the ones they skipped in the same state or region. That bias toward affluent communities indicates a “systematic socioeconomic and/or racial bias in the enrollment priorities of many public research universities,” Jaquette and Han concluded.

Also, the authors found that admissions staff more often visited out-of-state schools with a majority

Robert Massa

of whites and Asians than schools with large percentages of blacks and Hispanics. In one example, blacks and Hispanics made up 27% of the enrollment of out-of-state schools visited by admission staff.

Yet, blacks and Hispanics made up 43% of the enrollment at out-ofstate schools admissions staff did not visit.

While the UCLA study focused on public research universities, the leaders of private colleges face this same challenge nearly every day. I know this because as a former enrollment manager at a private university, my job constantly demanded that I meet similar challenges and contradictory goals.

Striking the right balance My colleagues and I were always trying to increase the academic quality of admitted students. At the same time, we strove to diversify the student body and maximize net revenue. It is really difficult to meet all three of these goals.

Boosting a school’s student diversity usually means admitting more students from lower-income

families. Logically, this requires more financial aid.

Also, because high schools in lower-income areas tend not to offer as many challenging courses as schools in wealthier communities, these students will typically have lower test scores. At least on paper, this makes the academic strengths of incoming students look weaker.

I know a colleague who had been asked to recruit talented lower-income kids without offering more financial aid than last year. He calls being tasked with these contradictory goals an “unfunded mandate” – when an authority asks you to get something done because it is the right thing to do, without giving you the resources you need to do it.

money raised through tuition at those institutions increased from $213 million to $501 million. Much of this growth can be explained by the increase in the average out-ofstate enrollment during those years – from 19% of the entering class to 26%. Further, for every 10% decline in state funding, there was an average increase of 4.6% in out-of-state freshmen.

Separately, a book by economist Nathan Grawe, “Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education,” shows a precipitous overall decline in the number of high school graduates from 2025 through 2032.

At the same time, college-aged Americans will become more diverse. The number of white high school graduates is projected to decline by 265,000 while the number of Hispanic and Asian high school graduates is expected to increase by 15% in just about every state. However, the number of black graduates will fall by 8% nationwide.

With black and Hispanic families having incomes that are almost 50% lower than white and Asian households, colleges and universities will find it increasingly tough to meet their revenue goals by finding enough students who can pay all or most of their tuition.

Without new government funding to provide increased access to low-income students, realigned funding priorities at colleges and universities themselves, and a massive campaign to discover talented students from low- and low-middle income families, I believe public universities are likely to continue to aggressively recruit wealthier students in nearby states.

Aside from intense lobbying for

Access versus the bottom line Why, when university presidents stress diversity and the critical role universities play as pathways to upward social mobility, do admission officers turn around and visit out-ofstate schools where families are more well-off than at the schools they don’t visit? Is this purposeful discrimination? Is it some conspiracy to shut out students whose families don’t have enough money to pay most or all of the out-of-state tuition?

No. The plain fact is that universities need money to operate. When state funding declines, increasing tuition revenue is the most common remedy.

The UCLA study cites data showing that the average state appropriation to public higher education dropped from $387 million in 200102 to $280 million in 2012-13, and only went back up to $314 million by 2016-17.

During the same period, the

more state support, public universities (and private institutions for that matter) can change practices to become more accessible to students from families of lesser means.

For example, U.S. public universities tripled the amount of money that they devoted to scholarships for students whose families could afford to pay the price of tuition without a discount between 2001 and 2017. If colleges and universities would transfer some of that money to need-based aid, and recruit in low-income areas to find promising students, it could make a big difference.

From my experience, colleges will say they need so-called “merit aid” to compete for high-achieving, affluent students. That may well be.

But unless colleges change their ways, they will find that increased competition for students who can pay will result in higher discounts for them. This will lead to declining support for students who can’t otherwise afford to attend, taking a toll on diversity.

Certainly for societal reasons, but equally as important, to fuel our economy with educated workers, colleges and universities must shift priorities and make more aid available to admit low- and middle-income students. Meanwhile, state and federal resources must be realigned to invest in this country’s future. This means educating anyone with the talent and the drive to succeed, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Robert Massa is an Adjunct Professor at the Rossier School of Education located at the University of Southern California.

NEWS

GSU Seeks Public Commentary for Higher Learning Commission Review Governors State University is seeking comments from the public about the university in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The university will host a visit on April 26 – 29, 2020, from a team of peer reviewers representing the HLC. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation. Governors State University has been accredited by HLC since 1975.

Comments must be in writing and must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs.

Submit comments to HLC at hlcommission.org/ comment or mail them to the address below. All comments must be received by March 27, 2020.

Public Comment on Governors State University Higher Learning Commission, 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604-1411

Duckworth, Capito Honor Girl Scouts Of America U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), co-chairs of the Girl Scouts’ Honorary Troop Capitol Hill, recently introduced a resolution recognizing the Girl Scouts of America on its 108th birthday and celebrating its legacy of building powerful female leaders.

“Girl Scouts helped teach me the importance of service as well as the

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leadership skills that I use in the Senate every day,” said Senator Duckworth.

“I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan resolution with Senator Capito to commemorate and honor 108 years of the Girl Scouts driving positive change in communities across the country as they prepare girls to lead wherever they go – in business, science, public service and beyond.”

CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 25, 2020

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COMMUNITY

Black and Missing Foundation Shines Spotlight on Missing Persons and Their Families Continued from page 1

BY STACY M. BROWN NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

The case of Tamika Huston, a 24-year-old black woman who went missing from her Spartanburg, South Carolina, home on May 27, 2004, captivated Derrica Wilson and her sister, Natalie.

Derrica and Natalie noticed how fiercely Huston’s aunt, Rebkah Howard, fought to find her.

Howard went to law enforcement, and then she pitched the story to television outlets and shows like “America’s Most Wanted,” and “Dateline NBC.” She also pleaded with major newspapers like USA Today.

The media, however, focused its attention on the so-called “Runaway Bride” Jennifer Wilbanks, and Laci Peterson, whose husband Scott would eventually be charged and convicted of her murder.

The Wilson sisters noticed what had become the norm for mainstream media when it comes to the plight of missing women and girls of color: there was little to no media coverage.

Because of that, in 2008, Derrica and Natalie started the nonprofit Black and Missing Foundation with a mission to bring awareness to missing persons of color and to provide

DERRICA WILSON AND HER SISTER NATALIE NOTICED WHAT HAD BECOME THE NORM FOR MAINSTREAM MEDIA WHEN IT COMES TO THE PLIGHT OF MISSING WOMEN AND GIRLS OF COLOR: THERE WAS LITTLE TO NO MEDIA COVERAGE. AS A RESULT, IN 2008, DERRICA AND NATALIE FOUNDED THE NONPROFIT BLACK AND MISSING FOUNDATION WITH A MISSION TO BRING AWARENESS TO MISSING PERSONS OF COLOR AND TO PROVIDE VITAL RESOURCES AND TOOLS TO MISSING PERSON’S FAMILIES AND FRIENDS. vital resources and tools to missing persons’ families and friends.

In addition, the foundation’s goal is to educate the minority community on personal safety.

“Derrica’s hometown is Spartanburg, and we both noticed how Tamika’s family struggled to get any media coverage,” Natalie Wilson stated. “A little while after Tamika went missing, there was Natalie Holloway, and everyone was saying her name,” Wilson said.

“Derrica was a law enforcement veteran, and I am in media and public relations, so we decided to join forces to try and make a difference. We did some research, and, at the time, we discovered that 30 percent of all people missing were individuals of color,” Wilson stated.

“Now, that number has grown to 40 percent.”

Of the approximately 600,000 individuals currently reported missing in the United States, more than 200,000 are women of color,

Wilson said.

According to the FBI, approximately 64,000 black women and girls are missing, despite that specific demographic accounting for approximately 7 percent of the U.S. population.

Because of the efforts of the Wilson sisters over the past 12 years, the Black and Missing Foundation has helped to find or bring closure to more than 300 cases of missing persons of color.

“We have made some inroads,” Natalie Wilson stated. “When we first started, we saw that our community thought that sex trafficking and missing person cases only happened abroad. But people began to realize that it was happening in our community, so with awareness, people in the community have become more aware and vigilant.”

Wilson said she hopes law enforcement and mainstream media begin to take more serious and immediate looks at cases of missing women and girls of color.

“We find that when people of color — men

and women — go missing, automatically it’s assumed that there’s some criminal activity involved or they’ve just run away. They are stereotyped and not taken seriously,” Wilson stated.

When authorities classify a case as a runaway, there’s no Amber Alert, and the media tends to ignore the matter, she said.

“Even if they are runaways, we have to find them within the first 48 hours because we need to understand why they ran away and realize that many are lured into sex trafficking,” Wilson stated.

The Black and Missing Foundation also helps families immediately after they report a missing loved one. “Many times, the families don’t know how to file a police report, and often when the file the report, an officer tells them that it could be a runaway situation or maybe drugs are involved,” Wilson said.

“We tell the families that they know their loved ones, and they know what’s not their behavior. So, we are there for the families to hold their hands or to listen.”

Wilson said the foundation is a voice for the families, and everyone should have a role in bringing awareness to the plight of missing persons of color.

“We have to help,” she said.

For more information about the Black and Missing Foundation, or to donate, visit www. blackandmissinginc.com.

NEWS

Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grants to Schools Awarded More than 7,000 students will visit Illinois state parks, natural areas, museums and other natural resources sites this year to learn about nature and conservation thanks to grant funding through the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Colleen Callahan recently announced more than $96,000 in donated funds had been awarded for 120 field trip grants. Winners represented 31 counties in the state.

“This program allows students to visit locations throughout the state to see first-hand what they’ve been learning about in the classroom,” said Director Callahan. “Our future conservation leaders need the opportunity to experience Illinois’ natural resources in person. We

are pleased to be able to support learning outside the classroom with these grants.”

The entire $96,605.88 being awarded for 2020 was made possible by private donations from the Independence Tube Corporation of Bedford Park, the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation of Skokie and the D. F. and M. T. Grohne Family Foundation of Wilmington. The donations and funding for the grants are coordinated by the Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF).

The Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program has now distributed more than $1,287,000 and more than 117,000 students have been provided with the opportunity to take part in a field trip since the program’s inception in 2001. Grant recipients are located throughout Illinois and represent

students from pre-kindergarten through high school.

The competitive grant program allows Illinois teachers to apply for funds to take students on a field trip to study Illinois’ natural resources. Learning activities must directly relate to the school’s curriculum. The annual application deadline is January 31. Funding administered by the ICF covers expenses such as the costs of transportation and substitute teachers.

For more information about the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program, contact the IDNR Division of Education at dnr.teachkids@illinois.gov or 217-524-4126.

The ICF gladly accepts donations for the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program. Visit www. ilcf.org for additional information.

For a list of this year’s grant www.citizennewspapergroup.com

More than 7,000 students will visit Illinois state parks, natural areas, museums and other natural resources sites this year to learn about nature and conservation

recipients, check the IDNR website at https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/ education/Documents/IBFTGAwardees2020.pdf.

The 2021 application form will be available soon at https://www2. illinois.gov/dnr/education/Pages/ GrantsIBFTG.aspx.

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ART SCENE

Where Is The Diversity In Picture Books?

The Book of Cultures”, the latest product

by Worldwide Buddies, is a picture book featuring 30 stories with characters from different countries, specially created for young readers to discover the world and embrace its diversity. www.worldwidebuddies.com Launching on Kickstarter recently, the book is available to pre-order starting at $25, alongside a Kickstarter exclusive calendar in which every month will represent a different country and a special celebration.

“Through this book, we want readers

to make buddies from around the world, explore the wonders of our planet, open their minds and warm their hearts ... all through their bedtime stories!” says Evi Triantafyllides, founder of Worldwide Buddies. “In this way, children will be more open to greet, meet, listen to and learn from someone slightly different from them. Someone with a different point of view...”

Picture books nurture children’s imagination, allow them to see the world beyond themselves and develop compassion. But so far, children’s literature has failed to portray

an accurate view of the world, according to a press release.

In 2018, less than a quarter of picture books in the US featured a hero from a diverse background, while in the UK the figure was a startling 4%.

Worldwide Buddies is on a mission to change this. “Living at a time where our daily interactions go beyond national borders and the planet’s biggest problems require universal solutions, open-mindedness and adaptability are necessary skills for children to thrive in tomorrow’s world.” the team

explains.

Each story follows a character (“buddy”) from a different country, and explores unique aspects of its culture. After each story comes a 2-page snapshot with fun facts and activities that bring the stories to life.

According to the book’s creators, “The Book of Cultures,” is designed to let every child see themselves in a story, feel accepted, feel relevant and feel loved while teaching children to embrace diverse perspectives early on.

For more information or to back the campaign, visit worldwidebuddies.com.

NEWS

Womanish Pop Up to explore what women love

BY TIA CAROL JONES

What do women love? What things affect women today? These are just some of the questions Dionna and Danyelle Gray set out to answer when they came up with the idea for the Womanish Pop-Up, located on 114 S. State St. The sisters are the co-founders of Womanish, a 30,000 square foot, five floor, 10 room experiential immersive space. Dionna said it started because they wanted to create a Facebook, mixed with Youtube, online community for women.

They started to host small events and saw there was a more impactful interaction with the attendees in person. They switched gears and decided to do a more event-focused business.

Danyelle said the smaller events were also a way to lead up to the experiential exhibition.

“We knew last year what we wanted to do. So, we wanted to build our brand and be in the community and have people understand our mission, what we’re about. That’s when we started in October with the small events,” she said. “But, the end goal was always this exhibition. We wanted to make sure we were in the community, that they understood what we were about so when we opened the exhibition, people understood our brand and kind of knew who we were.”

Because the trend is experiential events, Dionna said they wanted to do it, but in a big way that was still impactful and still able to start amazing conversations that would help to create community.

“So, we came up with the brand womanish. A big playhouse, where women can come. There’s 10 different rooms, each room is kind of built around something that

The Censoredish room is part of the Womanish exhibition, which will feature 10 rooms that answer the question what do women love and what affects women. Photos courtesy of Womanish

impacts women,” Dionna said.

One topic that impacts women is the gender pay gap. To address it, there is a Paid-i$h room that is picturesque and features the Harriet Tubman $20 bill.

“It also speaks to the pay gap between men and women and different things like that. We have a lot of really cool rooms that kind of speak to topics that affect women,” Dionna said.

Danyelle said for the rooms, they came up with mood boards. And, had to figure out what is impactful for women and what women love.

The creative director Emily Dahlquist brought the vision to life and transformed their idea into the experience. Dionna and Danyelle had an artists’ call on Instagram.

“We had submissions from all over the world. It was really a huge outpouring of people who really wanted to be a part of what we were doing. We went through all of those people and just picked the ones we really liked,” Dionna said.

If the exhibit is successful, they

are open to keeping it open for two months, instead of the original one month pop-up. Dionna said they don’t want to keep it open for a long extended time because they want to keep it new, fresh and inclusive.

“We do plan on taking this to other cities. Chicago is home, so we might do it for like a two-month stint, this year. And, next year, we’ll do it again, so it’ll always be something new,” Dionna said. “We definitely want to take this around to other major cities like LA, New York, different things like that. So, women around the U.S. can experience Womanish.”

Danyelle said her favorite room is the Child-ish room, because she’s “a big kid at heart.” She said she really likes the feeling of walking into the room because “it takes you back to childhood and simpler times.”

Dionna said her favorite isn’t a room but a transition into a room called Publ-ish.

“It’s going to be just like a mural of quotes and articles from really powerful, amazing women throughout history. I just think that’s so www.citizennewspapergroup.com

Danyelle Gray, pictured, is the co-founder of Womanish, an experiential immersive exhibit space focused on issues that impact women.

Dionna Gray, pictured, is the co-founder of Womanish, an experiential immersive exhibit space focused on issues that impact women.

Photos courtesy of Womanish

Photos courtesy of Womanish

powerful and impactful just to be able to see that and experience that.

That’s what my favorite is,” she said.

Danyelle said she wants people to get a sense of community, women supporting other women and power from the exhibition.

“We want people to have conversation[s] about things that are affecting women, different sociopolitical topics. We also want people to have a really good time. This time is kind of a stressful time, and so we want people to come in and have a good time and have fun and make friends,” she said. “That’s why we have so much programming, happy hours. We really are promoting community and a safe space and networking and really just kind of you leave the world behind when you enter Womanish. It’s kind of an all-inclusive experience, from bars inside to an actual programming space to a diner, there’s so much to do. We kind of want you to get lost

in our fun house.”

Dionna said she wants the exhibition to serve as an inspiration to other young women.

She said it’s also important that the concept was first started by two young Black women.

She said what’s important to her is that other women that look like them think they can do it too!

“This business was totally concepted and created by women,” Dionna said. “And we kind of bootstrapped it,” She added they didn’t have super big investors or brands or anything like that behind them. “I think it’s really powerful that three regular women created this big movement. So, I think that’s really cool as well,” added Dionna.

Due to recent developments with COVID-19, the opening of the pop-up has been postponed from its original Wednesday, March 24, date.

For more information and tickets, visit www.wearewomanish.com.

CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of March 25, 2020

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TRAVEL

Trip.com Group expands scope of 1 million surgical mask donation initiative Trip.com Group recently announced a global initiative that will see the donation of 1 million surgical masks to support the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Led by the company’s Co-founder and Chairman of the Board James Liang, the initiative has seen the delivery and allocation of surgical mask supplies to various countries, including Italy, Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, Germany, Serbia, France, UK and Australia.

Liang says the company hopes that the donation will play a role in bringing countries together in a collective effort to contain the virus. “Many ways, to join one journey. Many origins, to reach one destiny. Many friends, to form one family. Many endeavors, to win one victory,” said Trip.com Group Chairman James Liang. “It is crucial at this moment in the global fight against the epidemic that all countries come

together and support each other, to secure a victory for humanity.”

The move to donate masks is the latest in a series of actions taken by the online travel services provider to minimize impact, and beat the epidemic.

In late January, the company responded to the initial outbreak in China by extending cancellation provisions for customers affected by travel bans and medical conditions. As the situation continues to develop, the company has provided daily updates on travel restrictions via its platforms, and extended the scope of its cancellation policies to include medical workers as well as those unable to travel due to restrictions and infection. The company also led a Safeguard Cancellation Guarantee industry initiative, which brought together hotels and airlines to ensure that its 400 million users worldwide have peace of mind in booking with Trip.com Group platforms.

Trip.com Group CEO Jane Sun (right) presents a donation to Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton (left).

If I could do one thing, I’d make sure we stay healthy.

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Respond online, by phone, or by mail.

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