Letter: Student-parents should not be condemned for trying to succeed

Editor,

I want to clear something up for those of you who saw my story on the news about a month ago, since a lot of people seem to think parents asking for more support on campus is an act of entitlement and being ungrateful.

If a department chooses to have a lactation center, then the department should fulfill that promise and make sure that resource is available to nursing mothers.

When I had my interview with KRQE, I was actually trying to paint a bigger picture. But, unfortunately, they only focused on one part of my interview about me not being given a proper place to breastfeed on campus.

The main point I was trying to make was that universities need to be more supportive of students who are parents. In our country, there are 4.8 million undergraduate students who are parents. Two million of those students are single mothers. In addition, there is only one daycare slot on campus for every 10 children who need care.

All I am asking for are better polices and initiatives on campus so that parents don’t feel like a burden or an inconvenience if they choose to continue their education.

Certain hardships come with choosing to be a parent and continuing your education, such as not being able to be with your child at all times, getting less sleep or enough time to study, having to bring your child to school if you can’t find a babysitter, having more expenses on top of tuition, etc. I chose this lifestyle along with many other women, and I recognize in doing this we would be going against the norms of our society that says we should choose between motherhood and education, not both.

In fact, most of the people who saw my story have told me that I should just stay at home and be a mom. Why? Why can’t I finish my degree and give my child a better life? If parents want to finish their educations then universities should be more supportive and helpful.

If any of you are pregnant or parenting on campus and need any assistance, please see our pregnant and parenting resources at pregnantoncampus.org.

Sincerely,

Sade Patterson

UNM mom

Students For Life vice president