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Laura Delmonico’s college journey has required constant juggling.
She has worked, interned, and volunteered as treasurer of her Metropolitan State University of Denver student association, and, most importantly to her, raised three children. This meant late nights, early mornings, and balancing college with her children’s schooling and their everyday lives.
Delmonico, 33, was a speaker at MSU Denver’s first-ever graduation on Saturday geared toward students who are also parents. About 30 students and their families attended the ceremony at the commuter college near the heart of downtown Denver.
Nationally, one in five college students are parents, but at MSU Denver it’s about 1 in 10. They often feel like outsiders on four-year university campuses.
Since 2024, MSU Denver has participated in a two-year program called FamilyU that’s meant to train campus officials and improve policies, resources, and support for students who are parents.
MSU Denver FamilyU co-chair Kristen Lyons, who is also a psychology professor, said the program has encouraged collaboration between students and school faculty and administrators to make parenting students’ lives easier on campus.
Lyons and others said the program has been especially important because the university estimates about 14% of its incoming fall class are parenting students.
Through the program, the university has asked students to suggest changes to create a more inclusive campus, drafted suggested language for professors if students need to bring kids to class, and helped students access financial support.
The group also has their own Parenting Student Association, which Delmonico participates in as treasurer. She also worked as an MSU Denver FamilyU intern, where she suggested an idea to someday place highchairs in the Tivoli Student Union.
Even the idea to have a cords at the ceremony came from parents.
Student Cherifa Traore, a FamilyU fellow and Parenting Student Association president, said she came up with the idea because she wondered why the school didn’t celebrate the accomplishments of parenting students when they walked during commencement.
“They go through all this, and at the end, they just graduate with everybody else,” Traore said.
The pink and teal cords she helped design were placed around their necks by their kids onstage. And students will wear the cords at commencement this week to distinguish themselves from other graduates.
While Delmonico delivered her speech, some kids wandered between round tables and played with Slinkys and Lego blocks near the ceremony stage. But the noise hardly bothered Delmonico, who said during her graduation speech that the hard days and nights will help her children have a better future.
“You’re the reason we were able to keep going. You gave us the strength to push through,” she said. “Everything we did we did with you in our hearts.”
Delmonico graduated with a 4.0 GPA while balancing a schedule she said usually afforded her only a few hours of sleep a night. About half of the students at the graduation were recognized with honors and said they overcame difficult challenges balancing school and family.
Delmonico said she hopes the kids in the room draw inspiration from their parents. Some of the parents said that their younger kids mimicked them by playing “homework” at the dinner table. Older kids would encourage their parents to take care of themselves.
“I knew the way that I handled myself in this situation would influence how they approached different things in their lives,” Delmonico said of her children during her graduation speech. “As student parents, we aren’t just working towards a degree and a better life for our family. We’re also showing our children what it means to persevere.”
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
