2018 Conference

About the Conference on Confronting Poverty Among College Students

The second annual “Confronting Poverty Among College Students” at Cuyahoga Community College attracted more than 200 participants and national speakers. The conference opened with Peter Truog, director of Civic Innovation and Insight from The Two Tomorrows. Truog described the possible two paths that Northeast Ohio can choose: one of continuing income inequality or one of inclusivity and growth for all citizens.

After that introduction, attendees had the choice of workshop sessions addressing student poverty, hunger, homelessness and how to build social capital.

Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, a well-known researcher on college students in poverty, presented the keynote address. Goldrick-Rab is Professor of Higher Education Policy & Sociology at Temple University. She described the students who experienced poverty that she had met while conducting research, and underpinned those poignant stories with data. She challenged attendees to pool resources and make those resources more visible to students.

Conference Sponsors included the Treu-Mart Fund and the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland.

In addition, the Institute has received $20,000 in grant funding from the Gerstacker Foundation to support its research. The grant will fund a part-time research assistant. As a result, the Institute has hired David Huskins, who will work on the longitudinal research to help identify the pathways of our under-resourced students. This research will inform additional programming and services.