'I'm Willing To Fight For America'

NPR Ed spoke to 5 student activists about how they are fighting for change. LA Johnson & Elissa Nadworny/NPR Happy Sunday, Peaceful, student-led protests have been a powerful force for change throughout American history. In 1925, for example, students at Fisk University staged a 10-week protest to speak out against the school's president, who didn't want students starting a chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. In 1940, almost 2,000 students protested after New York University decided to pull a black player from its football roster to accommodate the University of Missouri's segregationists. And campus-based protests, including against racism, were a major lever of social change in the 1960s. But during one of the largest protest movements of our generation, campuses nationwide have been shut down due to COVID-19. So what does student activism look like today? It's happening online and in the streets; with art and tech skills. NPR Ed spoke to five high school and college students fighting in different ways for black lives, an end to police brutality and structural racism. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Now, let’s get into some news from this week… The U.S. Department of Education is making it harder for colleges to reconsider — and potentially increase — financial aid for students who have lost jobs or family income in the current economic crisis. The department has shelved guidance that once encouraged colleges to do more to help students affected by a downturn. The guidance, a pair of letters published by the Obama administration in April and May of 2009, was written in response to the Great Recession. It allowed colleges to fast-track reconsideration of financial aid for students who had lost jobs, and it encouraged unemployed Americans to consider enrolling in postsecondary education and applying for aid. Perhaps most importantly, though, the 2009 guidance reassured schools that they would not be punished for helping students. [Read more here](. — [Cory Turner]( NPR Ed Correspondent & Senior Editor, [Elissa Nadworny]( NPR Ed Reporter & Editor Will students actually go back to school this fall? In Texas, state officials say yes. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath confirmed Thursday that the state's public schools will open for students to return, if they wish. "It will be safe for Texas public school students, teachers, and staff to return to school campuses for in-person instruction this fall," the commissioner said in a statement. "But there will also be flexibility for families with health concerns so that their children can be educated remotely, if the parent so chooses." [Read more here](. — [Laurel Wamsley]( NPR Reporter The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to lift its 16-year moratorium on the renaming of campus buildings. "Many people have realized it's important to move forward with some of these issues. And that's what we intend to do on this campus," said Board of Trustees Chair Richard Stevens, as NPR member station WUNC reports. "It's a moment of leadership. It's time to do it." The freeze on renaming any campus buildings, monuments, memorials and landscapes was implemented by the board in 2015, after it voted to change the name of a classroom building named for William Saunders, reputedly a Ku Klux Klan leader. [Read more here](. — [Laurel Wamsley]( NPR Reporter And before you go, something to make you smile… Courtesy of Melissa Capasso A few weeks ago, we asked parents to help us out. Have your kids draw or sketch or write us a postcard, we said, and send it to NPR (digitally, of course). And children from all over the country (and Mexico!) responded with drawings and dispatches from the home-school, online-class, mask-wearing, missing-my-friends world they've been living in for the past several months. So check it out: [Here are some of our favorites](. See you next week. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](