On Friday, April 8, when the United Way of Greater Greensboro’s “Lunch and Learn Series” is hosted by United Way Young Leaders, the topic of discussion – one that’s now a heated debate across the country – will be whether or not the government should forgive student loans.
United Way of Greater Greensboro’s End Poverty: The Lunch and Learn Series on April 8 will run from noon to 1 p.m., and it will focus on overcoming the effects of student debt.
The free Zoom event, which will be hosted by the local United Way’s Young Leaders affinity group, will feature speaker Demarcus Andrews –a North Carolina Policy and Outreach Associate at the NC Center for Responsible Lending. Demarcus has also served as the Policy Advocate at Toxic Free NC – a non-profit organization that seeks to advance environmental health and justice in the state. While there, he built and ran coalitions for Toxic Free and he engaged members of the General Assembly.
Demarcus graduated with a B.A degree in Political Science from Gardner-Webb University and received a Master’s in Public Policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
The question that’s been getting a lot of attention under the Presidency of Joe Biden lately, is this: “How is the student debt crisis crippling The American Dream?” That somewhat loaded question will be the focus of the virtual lunch meeting.
According to United Way officials, “Understanding the link between the student debt crisis and its impact on local individuals and families, United Way of Greater Greensboro recently signed onto a public statement of support for the Center for Responsible Lending and the NC Coalition for Responsible Lending’s Student Debt Campaign. That campaign seeks to raise awareness about the student debt crisis and petition the federal government to forgive student loan debt.”
Lauren Forbis, marketing and communications manager for the local United Way, said the student debt crisis in this country isn’t just “an individual financial issue.” She said it’s an “issue of equity,” as well.
She added that the group’s young leaders are looking forward to bringing attention to this important topic, and it should be a shared learning experience for participants.
Whether you are for forgiving student loan debt or not, it could be a pretty intriguing discussion since there are those with strong feelings on both sides.
Student Loan Forgiveness is a big stride down the path to socialism/communism that should not be considered for several reasons.
First – this type of thing is just teaching and enabling irresponsibility. Potential students should actually learn to consider majors that will enable them to properly support themselves and pay their debts and bills. We would be doing a huge disservice to our young people by telling them that it’s OK to consider frivolous majors and the hardworking taxpayers with jobs will just cover their education debt.
Second – I would guess the majority of tax paying citizens don’t have college degrees, so there’s a certain injustice and irony in making them pay for someone else’s college education.
Third – where does it end? What’s next? Do we start paying off everyone’s credit card bills and mortgages? How about their car loans? Maybe “We the people” can pay for everyone to take big vacations.
People need to learn to be more responsible and realistic with the life decisions they make. Not everyone needs to go to college. Everyone that goes to college doesn’t need to go to a $100K a year ivy league school. Going to college and getting a degree is no guarantee for success.
Colleges need to be more responsible with teaching their students how to think for themselves, and choosing more viable courses of study. Instead they seem more focused on taking their money while letting them choose majors like Gender Studies. That’s why we have so many college graduates working at places like Starbucks, whining about not being able to pay their bills.
We have enough government handout programs weighing us down right now. We don’t need more.
Let’s have a forum on making the colleges and universities have chargeback exposure if the person who took on such debt to try and better their career possibilities winds up with only a handshake and a diploma because they didn’t make it into the top 10% of their class if they happened to be in one of the few marketable major concentrations. The institutions should also face chargebacks if they didn’t adequately warn the student that they are about to be borrowing many thousands of dollars to pursue a course of study that will have no marketable value towards enabling employment to repay the loans.
I’ve been around a long time, I never had any debt (which I freely incurred) forgiven. Nor do I ask for it.
Students entered freely into govt-secured loans from a few thou to six figures. You borrow many, you pay it back. Anything else is chaos. They taxpayer is on the hook for all this, without their consent.
I voluntarily paid for my children’s higher education; two at college, and one at trade school. I even chipped on on a grandchild. AND, I borrowed money for some of it.
So, does it not follow that I get all my money back, too?
Oh, speaking of Airlines; United wants half of their pilots to be women, and/or people of color. Isn’t that special? I don’t know of any intelligent person who would not want the MOST QUALIFIED pilot to fly the airplane they are in. And, the BEST PAID. Since I am not a woman, or a person of color, it follows that I am not qualified to fly with United.
Delta will be harder to avoid, but I will try. Maybe that can make up the loss of my business by offering Coke only on their flights.
Same ol’ song & dance! I’m really flabbergasted that this is so hard to figure out. I just read that “equity” word again. As soon as God created woman from Adam’s rib there has been an equity debate. Mankind just seems to keep putting a new spin on it. Heck, there’s even a debate over the equity of who caused the fall in the garden. Was it the woman or the serpent? Don’t blame Adam, and sorry, but us white males,, your usual scapegoats, hadn’t even been introduced to the world yet. Anytime an agency that receives government funds uses the word equity, you can rest assured there will be no such thing by the time they’re done messing with it. He’ll, if we’re talking “equity” I figure whatever amount Uncle Sam pays on one person’s student loan he can certainly pay on my mortgage. I don’t have any student loans, don’t want any, have never owned a slave e, nor had any relative that ran a plantation. I should be good to go, right?
If you take out a loan. Pay it. If you go into debt pay it. The US taxpayers are not your bank.
They are now.
Okay let’s think for a minute I borrowed money got an education and now want the taxpayers of America to pay my bills you borrowed you need to pay so put on your big person pants quit whining and PAY Your Way. that’s called being a responsible person
We are looking at the results of the “everybody gets a trophy” and “time-out” cultures.
There doesn’t seem to be a big problem with understanding personal responsibility from the “@$$-whooping” culture.