Nicholls’ second annual Parenting Student Resource Fair is providing student parents at Nicholls with necessities on Wednesday in the Cotillian Ballroom.
Once the upcoming extended weekend draws to a close, parenting students have an event to look forward to. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Cotillian Ballroom within the student union will open its doors to all Nicholls’ parents with a Colonel card.
Nicholls Parenting Student Task Force organized its second annual resource event as an effort to ease the load for students raising children.
Various necessities will be available, such as diapers, baby bottles, formula and door prizes.
Jenna Beber, founder of Nicholls Parenting Student Task Force, emphasized the importance of not missing out on the annual event.
“I encourage all Nicholls students with kids to come out to the resource fair,” Beber said. “There is truly something for everyone.”
The previous year, 64 parenting students signed up for the event and were supplied with various resources and necessities. Many vendors collaborated with the task force to provide resources.
Some of the vendors in attendance were Lafourche Arc, Generation Hope and Allied Health Sciences. The American Red Cross hosted a table teaching fire safety to the visiting parents as well.
According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, around 52% of student parents drop out of college before earning their degree.
“They are an underserved, important community that we’re trying to make Nicholls a better place for,” Beber said in reference to the struggles student parents face.
Beber explained that the fair and its resources do not only extend to parents of children. Its aids are open to every student caring for any child, regardless of the child’s relation to the student.
“Being a mother or father is not something that has to hinder you,” Beber said. “It can empower you.”
