So, you want to know more?

Assess how informed you are:

How much do you know about life on college campuses? In 2017, almost 48,000 undergraduates from 92 US institutions responded to a national survey on college life. You may be surprised by the results!
(it's anonymous)

Resources:

We base our curriculum and strategies on the research of professionals from many disciplines. Below you will find a catalog of some of the resources that have significantly influenced our understanding of the reality of life after high school and our approach to impacting our emerging adults in a positive, life-giving way. We encourage you to explore these.
Content Advisory: Some of the resources are disturbing and emotionally challenging.  

Understanding Sexual Assault on College Campuses

While sexual violence is an undeniable problem on college campuses, sorting out its complex nature and finding a way to solve it is a daunting task. Here are some resources that explore various perspectives: the victims, the perpetrators, the universities, local law enforcement and more.
Acclaimed journalist Jon Krakauer investigates a spate of campus rapes that occurred in Missoula over a four-year period. Taking the town as a case study for a crime that is sadly prevalent throughout the nation, Krakauer documents the experiences of five victims. Rigorously researched, rendered in incisive prose, Missoula stands as an essential call to action.
A startling exposé of sexual assault on college campuses that follows two courageous activists as they unmask a nationwide cover-up. 

Articles, podcasts & more

The Surprising Reality of the Culture of Dating and Relationships

Often referred to as Hookup Culture, the set of rules and social norms surrounding dating poses great harm both in the near and far term. Understanding this harsh reality and its implications is the first step in learning how to reverse it
Lisa Wade's book offers invaluable insights for students, parents, and educators. She analyzes the mixed messages of hookup culture on today’s college campuses. Drawing on broad, original, insightful research, Wade explores a challenging emotional landscape, full of opportunities for self-definition but also the risks of isolation, unequal pleasure, competition for status, and sexual violence.
Magic Lantern Pictures explores how pop culture shapes a new generation's beliefs about gender, sexuality and violence on display among students on spring break. 

The Role of Social Media

Social Media is an a-moral player, neither good nor bad in its own nature. However, there is much to suggest that the manner in which teens use social media and the manner in which companies target the vulnerabilities of the undeveloped brain collaborate to lay the foundation for an unhealthy effect on emerging adults
Award-winning Vanity Fair writer Nancy Jo Sales crisscrossed the country talking to more than two hundred girls between the ages of thirteen and nineteen about their experiences online and off. They are coming of age online in a hypersexualized culture that has normalized extreme behavior, from pornography to the casual exchange of nude photographs; a culture rife with a virulent new strain of sexism; a culture in which teenagers are spending so much time on technology and social media that they are not developing basic communication skills. 
Drawing on a large-scale survey and interviews with students on thirteen college campuses, Freitas finds that what young people are overwhelmingly concerned with--what they really want to talk about--is happiness. They face enormous pressure to look perfect online--not just happy, but blissful, ecstatic, and fabulously successful. Unable to achieve this impossible standard, they are anxious about letting the less-than-perfect parts of themselves become public.

Articles, podcasts & more

The Decline of Mental Wellness

An alarming increase in the number of college students seeking treatment for anxiety and depression mandates a candid and probing discussion. Here are a few resources to promote understanding of that situation. Additionally, most of the resources referenced in the other sections touch on mental wellness.
The heartbreaking story of a college athlete, whose life and death by suicide reveal the common pressures faced by high school and college students. Kate Fagan explores the devastating effects of these forces on the lives of all young people, including those who are suffering from mental illness

​​Counter Cultural Ideas

So what then? Is it all bad news? Not at all! Don't despair. There are ways out.
A documentary that follows five single people as they try to figure out dating in the age of social media, texting, hanging out and hooking up.
Bestselling author Marshall Goldsmith examines the environmental and psychological triggers that can derail us in life. He also offers practical advice for cultivating control over our responses and avoiding the pitfalls of living by default.

Articles, podcasts & more