Abstract
This case study highlights the experiences of a new higher education professional who is facing the difficult challenge of advocating for two minoritized groups (based on race and sexual orientation) with which he identifies. Recent unrest due to the negative comments at the institution made by majority White student groups has caused both Black and LGBT student organizations to protest on campus. This case study will explore the experience of one student affairs professional who had to make the difficult choice of disrupting the institutional culture.
Keywords/Phrases
Students of Color; LGBT students; student protest
Primary Characters
Chris (he/him): A new professional at University One who identities as both Black and gay and serves as the advisor for Black Student Union (BSU), Latinx Student Union (LSU), and Pride.
Landis (he/him): The president of the Black Student Union, the largest Black student group on campus, and self identifies as a Black gay man.
Amelia (she/her): The president of the Latinx Student Union, the largest Latinx student group on campus and self identifies as a Latina heterosexual woman.
Victor (he/him): The president of Pride, the largest LGBT student group on campus, and self identifies as a Black gay man.
Timothy (he/him): A white, gay man who serves as the Director of Multicultural Affairs. Timothy as worked in this role for over a decade and reports directly to Dr. Alexander.
Dr. Alexander (he/him): A white, heterosexual cisgender man who serves as University One’s Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, who has been at the institution since the late 1980s, oversees several departments including student activities, leadership development, multicultural affairs, and a host of other programs. Dr. Alexander is widely known for his racist and sexist comments.
Context and Case
Study Context
This scenario is set at University One (UO), a small regional predominantly White university located in a small town in the southeast United States. The town is known for its strong history of agriculture as most of the local people in the area are in the farming industry. For years, UO has been known for its academic programs in agricultural sciences and the humanities, with many of their students coming from neighboring towns and cities within the state. Most students come from conservative counties throughout the state and surrounding states. While enrollment is increasing, historically UO has faced several issues recruiting, retaining, and graduating Students of Color. The geographical location of UO has created an additional recruitment roadblock as the university struggles to attract a diverse study body due to the historical racial issues of UO, the local community, and the state.
To rectify the historically low enrollment of Students of Color, UO has established clubs and organizations to assist in the sense of belonging of these students on campus. Recently, UO has also increased the size of the multicultural affairs and hired an assistant director and a coordinator to support the office’s programs and services. Prior to this increase, the office was staffed by one person, a director who was primarily focused on diversity and social justice education programs. Shortly after integration of UO in 1962, the multicultural center was established to provide social and cultural support for Students of Color following racial unrest of the deaths of unarmed Black and Brown people in the United States.
As a result, the university has seen a number of protests and demonstrations in university offices, administration buildings, and resource centers over the past 40 years as issues of inequality, racism, and sexism are often highlighted by graduating students on their exit surveys. Many of these challenges date back to the integration of the campus with issues of racial microaggressions at the university, however the first significant protest occurred in 1988, during Dr. Alexander’s early years at OU. While walking to class, Black students were subjected to racial slurs, which prompted this protest.
New to the university, Dr. Alexander decided to appoint his director of multicultural affairs to handle the matter. Students and staff highlighted Dr. Alexander’s absences in the campus newspaper, despite the eventual resolution of the matter. Dr. Alexander has continued this approach to racial issues on campus and has remained largely absent from events and campus response to incidents.
While the concerns have changed and evolved, Black students have remained vocal in the campus culture’s growth and development. They have actively protested not only incidents on campus, but in the local and state communities and nationally, as well. Additionally, they have consistently raised concerns about campus climate and were actively involved in advocating for more Staff of Color on campus and an expansion of staff in the multicultural center.
In addition to the formation of the multicultural center, UO quickly established a Black Student Union (BSU) to engage Black students in extracurricular activities. For Black students, BSU was a not only a student organization, but an organization that promoted social uplift and advocacy for the students at the university. BSU is the largest marginalized student organization at UO. The organization has supported and helped facilitate the creation and establishment of other identity-based student groups since its founding in the late 1960s. Student groups such as the Latinx Student Union (LSU) and Pride, the LGBT student organization on campus, have also become prominent student groups on campus. With the support of the multicultural center, students with marginalized identities have worked to develop campus policies to serve the needs of the slowly diversifying student body. Today, these organizations work collectively to combat issues of discrimination.
Chris, a new early career student affairs professional, was recently hired to serve as the coordinator of the multicultural center. Chris grew up in the largest city near the university and graduated from a master’s program ranked among the top ten in the southeast. Unlike many of his peers, Chris struggled to secure a job and did not receive an employment offer until the end of September. He was so thrilled when he received the offer, despite hearing about Dr. Alexander from university alumni, took the job. On his first day, he met multiple students including Landis, Amelia, and Victor, the presidents of BSU, LSU, and Pride respectfully. Understanding the historical racial climate of the university, Chris was aware that he would serve as an advocate for these groups in his new role.
On his first day, Chris was informed that Pride, and its president, Victor would hold a peaceful demonstration outside of the president’s house advocating for an LGBT resource center, with the support of both Landis, BSU president, and Amelia, LSU president. The purpose of the peaceful demonstration was to bring attention to the recent racial and homophobic slurs that had been yelled during campus events. Chris, who identities as both Black and gay, was excited about working to organize this event and met with his supervisor the next day to explain the plans for the protest.
After explaining the idea, Chris and his direct supervisor Timothy, the director of the multicultural, met with Dr. Alexander to share the plan for the event. Dr. Alexander, who had been the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at UO for nearly 40 years turned to Chris and stated, “It is your job to control the Blacks, Hispanics, and the Gays; not encourage them!” After leaving the meeting, Chris asked his supervisor for advice on how to move forward. Timothy said, “Not to worry, this is just how Dr. Alexander is. We can find another way to help our students. Sometimes we just must work around the politics of the institution.” Completely shocked by this and feeling unsupported, Chris was confused and not sure how to best move forward in supporting his students or his employment at OU.
Discussion Questions
- How do you advocate for marginalized groups with which you identify?
- How do you advocate with these groups when your supervisor (a White heterosexual, cisgender man) does not agree with the issues facing these groups and has made racial slurs to you about the groups?
- Do you stand up to your supervisor regarding his comments? If so, how do you go about this?
- Who else might be a resource or someone to help mentor you through a situation like the one Chris is facing?
Author Biography
Jesse R. Ford (he/him), Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His program of research uses culturally responsive frameworks to examine the historical social-cultural educational experiences of underrepresented populations in academia. His recent scholarship employs qualitative and quantitative methodologies to tackle inequality in education, particularly within the socialization experiences of underrepresented students, faculty, and administrators across the P-20 pipeline. This contributor may be reached at [email protected].