As a single mother of two and a recent graduate of the U of O, I’ve often wondered how other non-traditional students make it through school without dropping out at least once. My graduation with a BA at age 31 was possible only because of the GI Bill and other
non-University entities, and I still accrued a hefty student loan burden just to pay for childcare.
Upon the closure of Westmoreland student housing, I was the new Non-traditional Student Advocate in the ASUO. We were blindsided with two major issues: housing and student childcare. I was appointed to the Westmoreland childcare task force, a small group assigned to creating accommodations for those with childcare issues resulting from the closure.
In the spring of 2006, it became clear that the issue was not going to be resolved within this small group, and in order to stay on track for my own graduation, I resigned (but I never quit). In my own research I have found that families displaced from Westmoreland childcare were accommodated in word but not in deed by the task force’s resolutions. With impending retirements, staffing changes and the current trend of pricing students out of affordable on-campus childcare, it is questionable that student childcare needs will continue to be met in the near future. I encourage students and concerned faculty to take a stand to make sure the needs of students and their families are met at the U of O.
Stephanie McLaughlin
UO graduate