Transforming Higher Education: Building Trauma-Informed Communities for Healing and Intergenerational Wellbeing (Publication)
Authors: Mays Imad; Byron Bitanihirwe; Kate Barranco
Journal: ADVANCE Journal, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (2024)
Status: Published
Overview
This article argues for a radical re-thinking of higher education institutions as sites of healing as well as learning. It exposes how traditional models often neglect or even reinforce intergenerational trauma and proposes a trauma-informed, equity-minded framework for universities to adopt.
Why It Matters
Higher education has historically positioned an “ideal” student—one unaffected by trauma—and in doing so perpetuates systemic exclusion and institutional betrayal. The article arrives amid post-COVID-19 urgency, arguing that learning, wellbeing, and justice are intertwined at the institutional level.
Key Contributions & Findings
Definition and unpacking of institutional betrayal in the higher-education context, showing how unmet expectations and unacknowledged trauma harm students and communities.
A working model: a set of core values and practical actions for building trauma-informed campuses (e.g., equity, awareness, student empowerment, policy audit).
The insight that trauma-informed work is not just pedagogy—it's a cultural, structural, and intergenerational project of care.
My Role & Relevance
As co-author, I drew on my research and practice at Red House, Georgetown University, to explore intergenerational trauma, educational systems, and how healing-oriented frameworks can be embedded in institutional change. My contribution included qualitative analysis, design of systems-mapping visuals, and linking theory to practice across individual, relational, and institutional scales.
Impact & Learnings
This publication marked a turning point in how I approach social change. It reinforced that meaningful transformation must attend to the lived, inherited, and systemic dimensions of harm and well-being. It shaped my professional identity: as someone who brings together research, storytelling, and design to create space for healing, agency, and collective belonging.
