I was on a committee about how we could serve college students who were also moms and dads better. Kristen Lyons from Psych was heading up the initiative for the university. After some chatting about it the committee came to at least one consensus: we needed to hear from the students to assess their needs. This is where the idea hit me: Why just assess when the process of assessment could itself produce something to support students? I remembered Vermont Folklife’s Most Costly Journey collaboration with the Open Door Clinic, the Comics Workshop and migrant workers in Vermont. I recruited a few students for an independent study. After the class, funding from the Provost’s Office, Dream US/Immigrant Services, and the Dean’s Office helped keep the project going. So far we’ve produced over a dozen short comics that feature the stories of student parents and undocumented students that were distributed across campus free.

In the newest iteration, the inside cover will contain the results of survey data Kristen is collecting to put the individual stories in a larger context of students who are parents on campus. The team of artist/interviewers and parent storytellers has changed, but with grant support and hopefully other continued funding sources, the project will continue. Below is an article with more details abut the project that just appered in the special Comics and Culture Issue of the Journal of American Folklore.