The New York Times recently published an article about how during the current pandemic socioeconomic disparities among college students have been amplified. The article shares the stories of two students at Haverford College who are both on the women’s lacrosse team and are teaching assistants for the same seminar course. While both students have similar academic interests and extracurricular activities, they come from vastly different backgrounds, which is reflected in how they responded to the closing of their campus and the transition to online learning. While one student comes from a more affluent background and joins Zoom meetings from her family’s vacation home in Maine, the other comes from a low-income family and must work hard to support her family’s food truck business during the pandemic while also managing academic work and other commitments. Indeed, many college students, including some at Wesleyan, particularly those from low-income and housing insecure backgrounds, have faced similar challenges as their campuses close and they lose housing, employment, healthcare, and other important resources.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/us/politics/coronavirus-zoom-college-classes.html