ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 starts by narrating the story of Paula, a scholarship student who experienced discrimination, abuse, homelessness, and hunger when her university failed to support and protect her as a pregnant and parenting student. This story sets the tone for the subsequent case study of her Mid-Size Private University (MPU). Through rhetorical criticism of the textual and visual messages that MPU publicly presents, the authors argue that silence regarding pregnancy and parenting on college campuses does not constitute compliance with Title IX. Rhetorical analyses of absent messages, vague language, and relational discourse, supported with communication theory and accompanied by interview data from pregnant and parenting students at MPU, collectively paint a troubling picture of the realities students face at schools that do not actively extend support or protection to pregnant and parenting students.
