Lisa Kurian Philip

Mentors can make the difference for young Black men in college. Here's how to be a good one. Mentors, especially those who are Black and male-identifying, can help students with challenges like juggling work and class and finding community on campus.

BTW this is my last story for @wbez.org and @opencampus.org before I head out on maternity leave. I'll be back in late June!

www.wbez.org/education/20...

Mentors can make the difference for young Black men in college. Here's how to be a good one. Mentors, especially those who are Black and male-identifying, can help students with challenges like juggling work and class and finding community on campus.

"Why are we asking the people with the least power to figure out something? Don't ask these boys. Ask the people who can show up." Thank you, Cortez Watson Jr. of the Black Star Project, for setting me straight.

@wbez.org @opencampus.org #college #chicago
www.wbez.org/education/20...

“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...

Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/

Trans students felt threatened by this symbol of the far right. Why didn’t Northwestern intervene? Campus leaders say they don’t police “The Rock” unless the content poses an immediate threat or is profane. The decision has some questioning whom administrators see as worthy of protection.

My latest for @wbez.org and @opencampus.org about the painting over a trans flag with an alleged hate symbol and Northwestern University's decision not to intervene.

www.wbez.org/education/20...

How to Film ICE Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

“I think the best defense against an ICE officer potentially seizing your camera in a public space is other people recording that action and then being able to use that footage as evidence in court, when you sue them,” FPF's @trevortimm.bsky.social said.

NABJ Chicago calls for the immediate release of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort arrested after filming Minnesota church protest • The TRiiBE Journalism organizations condemn the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort as vindictive attacks on press freedom.

UPDATE — The Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is calling for the immediate release of Lemon and Fort, and for all charges against them to be withdrawn.

thetriibe.com/2026/01/jour...

Big changes to college affordability are coming ⏰
New limits on student loans, repayment plans, and Pell Grants begin in 2026.

➡️ Visit edtrust.org for more.

#HigherEd #StudentLoans #Educationpolicy

Memory is a fragile thing in this moment, so it is important to keep in mind that Hakeem Jeffries refused to whip his caucus against ICE funding earlier this week.

Judge blasts Trump’s Chicago border ‘Blitz,’ extends curbs on use of force that ‘shocks the conscience’ Judge Sara Ellis said Trump's Justice Department lacks credibility, partly because of a lie told by U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.

As Border Patrol immediately — and some would say reflexively — declares the latest killing in Minnesota to be a good shooting:

A reminder that the bearer of the message — Cmdr. Greg Bovino — lied about why he lobbed tear gas in a Chicago neighborhood, per a U.S. judge www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Our reporting has found that ICE sent 600 immigrant kids to detention in federal shelters in 2025.

A 17-year-old was detained at a traffic stop because officers couldn’t make contact with his dad, who is deaf.

Another kid ended up in a shelter after making a wrong turn:

I plan to!

I wonder how #IL universities who have backed away from #DEI programs will respond. Will they reinstate initiatives? I'm thinking of the University of Illinois system, for instance, which in October banned the consideration of #race/#gender in scholarship decisions.

🔴 "Government invasion into a reporter’s home and the seizure of journalistic materials is exactly the kind of scenario our First Amendment was conceived to protect against."

Today, we joined over two dozen organizations in condemning the outrageous government invasion.

What to know if you’re one of 170,000 people in Illinois behind on student loans The Trump administration is resuming withholding wages from student loan borrowers in default. Here are some steps you can take to prevent that.

The #Trump administration is starting to seize people's pay to cover their defaulted student loans. More than 177,000 #IL residents are at risk. Here's how you can prevent this situation - or try to get out of it.

@opencampus.org @wbez.org #studentdebt
www.wbez.org/education/20...

You can hear directly from Tyrek, Charles & Farid at the link above. Click the red "LISTEN" button.

A big thanks to my editors Johanna Zorn and Kalyn Belsha for getting this across the finish line, and to @edwriters.bsky.social for the space to work on this project.

Photo by: Candace Dane Chambers

In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible Black men in the West Side community face some of the biggest hurdles to getting a degree. Just 1 out of 4 who make it to college graduate in six years.

And how that struggle has made them empathetic guides for younger generations. Educators who are willing to drop everything to hop on the phone with a student and tell them yes, they do belong, and to ask where they need help.

www.wbez.org/education/20...

In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible Black men in the West Side community face some of the biggest hurdles to getting a degree. Just 1 out of 4 who make it to college graduate in six years.

I will never forget my time listening to the three of them -- Tyrek Gates, Dr. Charles Brown and Dr. Farid Muhammad -- tell stories over tea and hot cocoa. I heard about their constant struggle against the misconception that Black men aren't "college material."

www.wbez.org/education/20...

And are still doing everything they can to help each other and others overcome some of the biggest barriers any students encounter on their path to college graduation.

Throughout 2025, so much of my work has been about loss -- the loss of research funding, scholarships, student visas, the right to criticize Israel's occupation of Palestine. But this story was about three people who didn't have much to start with...

In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible Black men in the West Side community face some of the biggest hurdles to getting a degree. Just 1 out of 4 who make it to college graduate in six years.

I'm grateful that, weeks in, a new doc at my primary care practice **one who is also a woman of color, and pregnant** finally took me seriously, put me on a hefty dose of antibiotics & brought my lung function back. Because of that I was able to wrap up this project:

www.wbez.org/education/20...

This pregnancy hasn't been the easiest. While federal agents were tearing families apart across the Chicago area, I was in bed for weeks with pneumonia. I felt (still feel?) a lot of guilt that I couldn't help document what was happening to our community. (6/?)

I don't quite know how to answer, other than to share that our oldest son was born just months after my mom died and Trump started his 2016 presidency. His birth, in some ways, kept me afloat. (5/?)

a man wearing a shirt that says i 'm spiraling ALT: a man wearing a shirt that says i 'm spiraling

In the midst of all that, my partner and I decided we wanted to grow our family. Our third child is due in March. Friends and coworkers have commented on how crazy we are to want to bring a child into this world. (4/?)

All the while I was struggling but learning with ****so much help from friends and educators who know so much more than me**** about how to better support my son through his autism and ADHD diagnosis. I maybe shouldn't be proud of his answer on this school assignment, but I really am: (3/?)

This Chicagoan is losing hope for student debt relief under Trump Chicagoans with student debt are feeling whiplash and extreme confusion under President Donald Trump, who has called previous efforts to ease the burden of student debt “illegal” — and is closing path...

Then there was the overhaul of our newsroom structure to integrate BEZ with the Sun-Times. My editor, the most down-to-earth, lovely boss and collaborator and audio wizard, was moved to another team. I think 👇 is one of the last stories we worked on together. (2/?)

www.wbez.org/wbez-news/20...

UIC faculty and students fought for cultural centers. New federal guidance could take them away. President Trump’s Education Department is threatening programs for diverse students. Experts say universities need to fight back.

It has been a rollercoaster of a year, both personally and professionally (a 🧵). I went from attending my close college friend's memorial to reporting on Trump's attacks on programs that have helped people I love both go to college & feel like they belong there. (1/?)

www.wbez.org/education/20...

In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible Black men in the West Side community face some of the biggest hurdles to getting a degree. Just 1 out of 4 who make it to college graduate in six years.

A thousand thanks to Tyrek Gates, Dr. Farid Muhammad & Dr. Charles Brown for being so generous with their time & answering my endless stream of questions. You'll be able to hear directly from them this afternoon on 91.5 FM 📻

#college #chicago @wbez.org @opencampus.org

www.wbez.org/education/20...

In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible Black men in the West Side community face some of the biggest hurdles to getting a degree. Just 1 out of 4 who make it to college graduate in six years.

“I haven’t been there through Pastor Brown’s whole life, but at least I know that he’s been through some things,” Gates said of Brown. “You have to go through … some type of trial in life to be able to show me that you’re worth that ‘mentor’ status.”

www.wbez.org/education/20...

Lawsuit dismissed after Illinois opens teaching scholarship to all students, regardless of race Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law that replaces the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship, getting rid of the word “minority” and race and ethnicity eligibility requirements.

From @sammiesmylie.bsky.social at Chalkbeat: Illinois quietly changes scholarship for teachers of color amid lawsuit, threats from federal government

www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025...

Once again, I'm a lot of fun at parties.