From Rachel Toor
[Rant alert]
One of the valuable lessons I learned working in admissions at Duke was never to refer to applicants as "kids." Nor did we refer to current students that way. This is even more important in my current role as a professor at a regional comprehensive university.
While at highly selective schools many of the applicants aren't old enough to vote, and most current students are not old enough to drink (legally), they do not represent the majority of people seeking degrees.
Friends not in higher ed often refer to students as my "kids," even though I've explained that we see a huge range of ages, which makes for a rich and productive diversity of perspectives. The younger folks help out with tech; the older ones offer insight on, you know, life. It's fantastic.
Words matter. So I can't help but rant want to gently remind everyone in our industry please not to refer to people on their campus as "kids."
Unless, of course, they are talking about their own children. Completely appropriate for parents to call them kids, even when they're eligible for Medicare.
[Submission request]
What an interesting experience it must be for those inhabitants of the president's house who live there not entirely by choice. Most presidents say the person they tell it to at the the end of the day is their spouse or partner. I want to hear their side of the story.
So, presidents, let your spouse/partner know that if they want to spout off in The Sandbox to write to me. We'll share it with the class. (And protect your privacy/presidency.)
Ask your kids to write to me, too. We want to prepare folks in the pipeline to know what may be in store for the family members they bring into the president's residence. How better to do that than to hear it from the rugrats themselves?
[Sending warm and dry thoughts]
We hope not to make this a regular feature, but it's impossible not to think about our colleagues, from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the mountains of western North Carolina, who are still digging out from the damage wrought by Helene. We know how difficult your lives are and will continue to be, even once you're off the front pages. We're thinking of y'all.