They are students from foster homes, now enrolled at UNT. Often, they have no connection with parents, no “family” in the sense that you and I have. Now there is PUSH: Persevere UNTil Success Happens.
Brenda Sweeten, (UNT, Social Work) is their faculty sponsor. 
Sweeten spoke on Thursday, October 25, to a group of UNT Christian faculty. She explained that students raised in foster homes are not always forthcoming about the unique challenges they face. The group allows them to find others “that can watch their back,” she said.
“Some of these students do not have cars; for others, the greatest challenge is navigating their way through the first year as a college student. They don’t have parents who can back them and provide guidance; they don’t really have the typical of safety net that comes with having family back home.”
“For those students, PUSH helps them unite with more than a group,” Sweeten said. “This is their family; people who understand them and the life they lived, and now live today.”
Here is how PUSH describes its mission:
“PUSH was created to raise awareness in the public and university communities about the experiences of youth in the child welfare system and to promote excellence, positive support, resources and fellowship to foster care alumni and students.”
Sweeten worked for CASA of Denton County for 12 years before entering academia. CASA has both fulltime staff and volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children removed by the home and whose parents are currently involved in judicial proceedings.