She also noticed the dearth of research


in the area of college homelessness, even though the most recent available statistics show that 58,000 U.S. college students identify as being homeless. That number is probably low due to one of the reasons for the research scarcity: the stigma attached to homelessness is such that many people in that situation are reluctant to admit, or even acknowledge, it. The nature of other causes of homelessness is summarized in the subtitle of Ringer’s paper: “The Consequence of Failed Macro Policies.” As she wrote in her abstract: “Flaws in policies related to jobs


“She was like a


young savant who could see her destiny


in the tea leaves.” —Marti Bombyk,


professor of social work


and wages, affordable housing, and affordable education interact to increase the risks faced by economically vulnerable students who enter college without secure housing, or who lose it during the course of their studies.” The job market ratchets up entry requirements, tuitions rise (due in part to declining state support) as incomes stagnate, and students can find themselves having to choose between paying tuition and paying rent. Jennifer Marcum, like Ringer a senior social work major, has


been there. She, her husband, and the two youngest of her three children were renting a home when, in the late summer of 2014, “our bills got to be so much that we could not afford our rent any more and we decided it would be best to move in with my husband’s parents,” she says. “We never slept on the street, but we did not have our own place for four months.” Marcum realized the true nature


of their predicament in a class with social work professor Marcia (Marti) Bombyk, who is also Ringer’s mentor. “I was sitting in Marti’s class and she played a video about the different types of homelessness. It was about a family who was living with friends,” she recalls. “Immediately this emotional thing happened to me and I wrote on a little piece of paper, ‘They’re talking about me,’ and I gave it to her. “The term I learned in that


class was the ‘invisible homeless,’” she adds. “They have somewhere to stay, they’re safe, but it’s not theirs.” Thus, another factor in underestimating college


homelessness is a misunderstanding of its definition. “Housing insecurity” might better capture the scope of the problem. As a doer as well as a thinker, Ringer’s


focus “would mostly be on policy changes within the university,” she says, “because we’ve admitted these students and it’s not really fair if you take their tuition and don’t give them the support that they need to succeed. It would be really great if we can create something not just for students who are experiencing homelessness, which might be a small population, but for people who are struggling to find housing, like


people in between places for two weeks, to help them navigate resources that are available both on and off campus.” “What Brialle wants to do,” Bombyk says, “is be a catalyst to


bring the professionals in the University whose job it is to look out for students to sit around the table and start thinking about how the University could provide some assistance.” Bombyk’s long record of both activism and scholarly


achievement was the main reason Ringer sought her as a mentor when she switched her major from psychology to social work. “I was scrolling through the department website,” she says, “and Marti really stood out to me as someone who had worked in the realm of homelessness, had experience in grant writing and seemed like someone I could benefit from working with.”


photo by Randy Mascharka


Brialle Ringer, a McNair Scholar at Eastern, has published two research articles, one on the STD risk factors and prevention options for African American women, and the second on the college student experiences of homelessness.


Eastern | WINTER 2016 11


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