Students with Families

Students with Families (SWF) was co-founded by Marielisbet Perez-Quetives, Ph.D. and Francena Turner, Ph.D. While navigating seeking doctoral degrees as mothering Ph.D. students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, there was a need for an organization dedicated to supporting parenting students seeking degrees while raising their children. The core mission of SWF was to support undergraduate and graduate students and their families in becoming part of their college campus and the local community. We strived to organize family-oriented academic, professional, and social events that aim to foster a feeling of inclusion for parenting students and their children to support parents’ academic and family-oriented necessities. Organization leaders worked collectively to collaborate with a variety of programs and organizations across campus (e.g., The Student Assistance Center in the Office of the Dean of Students, The Graduate College, The Women’s Resource Center, and Family and Graduate Housing) to initiate partnerships of support for students and their families.