The interaction between students and student affairs professionals is at the center of student affairs practice. This case study centers the unique experiences student leaders have on campus. More specifically the case focuses on a student who has excelled in their involvements while holding a minoritized identity. The topic of tokenism in the context of this case stems from a single minority student being expected to speak for everyone in that minority group. The underlying pressure that these students feel has been shown to impact their overall college experience. Sara, a senior at Burg University has been a student leader almost her entire college career. Being at a smaller institution, she has been able to be part of many different parts of campus life and is looked upon as an excellent student leader and role model for the incoming students. This scenario will give readers the opportunity to explore how they would support a student who has held roles and frequently been referred to as the “face of the university”.

Characters

• Sara (she/her) is a senior undergraduate student majoring in political science and is a very active campus leader. While at Burg University, she has worked in new student and family programs, orientation, campus recreation, first-year experience, student union, athletics, residence life, and has worked closely with the University President with her involvement as a part of the state system Board of Governors. She is known to be highly visible at her institution, whether at events or working on campus.
• Lorie (she/her) is the Vice President of Student Affairs at Burg University and has been with the university for over 25 years. Unlike other vice presidents, Lorie is often one to be very engaged on campus with students and advocates for both students and her division when she is at the table.
• Jeff (he/him) is the Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life at Burg University. He went through the Student Affairs Master’s program at Burg University and worked at another institution prior to returning to Burg University. Jeff has served as an excellent mentor to Sara since her sophomore year.

Context

Burg University (BU) is a medium sized, public, four-year institution located in the northeast region of the United States. BU is a predominately white institution, with 9,000 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students). BU is part of the state system of higher education and is overseen by a Board of Governors. This board is comprised of 20 appointed members, including higher education leaders in the state, state senators and representatives, other state officials, and three student representatives. The work of the board includes appointing university presidents, developing and implementing system wide policies and procedures, and allocating funds for institutions.

Case Study 

Sara has been not only active on campus at Burg University, but she has expanded her experiences to the state level where she has served on the Board of Governors since her sophomore year. Since BU being is a smaller institution, Sara feels underlying pressure about how she “shows up” on campus. This pressure is constantly in her head when she is around professional staff members, other student leaders, and the University President. Sara has been recognized for her accomplishments but is never the first to celebrate them.

VPSA Lorie has been a mentor to Sara since the beginning of her college career and finds ways to advise and support her beyond her positions as a student leader on campus. The housing AD Jeff often challenges Sara to be patient with herself and practice self-love.  Sara is very critical of herself. A few examples include always assuming that she is in trouble or made a mistake when an advisor bring her into a conversation or puts others needs first before her own. Sara rarely celebrates her accomplishments and when she has to acknowledge them, she is timid in how she responds. To her peers, they joke on how many university affiliated marketing materials she is constantly on, and though it has never phased Sara, the feeling of being blindsided has. Sara often brushes off when she is on a promotion flyer without her knowledge, there has never been the one to call out her experiences.

Sara has been appreciative of the opportunities she has had, but she has begun to dive deep into the pressures that come with being the “face of the university” among student leaders. She is navigating these pressures as she explores the possibility of working in student affairs. Sara was first made aware that student affairs as a job exists when Lorie shared her experiences coming into the role she is in now. Sara’s interest continued when she met with other folks within student affairs. Since then she has talked with others about this possible career path. Lorie has encouraged her to expand her experiences beyond Burg University as Lorie has seen Sara go above in her experiences while at BU. Staying would just keep Sara stagnant. Similarly, Jeff has expressed to Sara that no matter what school she chooses to attend, they will all provide a foundation to find their why in the work they do.

With these experiences in mind, Sara is applying for graduate schools with the aspiration to pursue student affairs. She has already decided that she wants to leave Burg University to get a new campus and community experience and Lorie, Jeff and many others have supported her in this decision. At this point of the semester, Sara has been stepping away from high leadership positions and has been focusing on transition of leadership as graduation is approaching. Though she has made this clear, she is still relied upon by student organizations, and more so university staff and administration that has continued to put Sara in an awkward position to say “no” to them.

Sara is feeling lots of different emotions, between her senior year quickly coming to an end and figuring out what her future looks like. She has leaned on Lorie and Jeff and others to help navigate her emotions and learn from the experiences and use them to set herself up for future success Lorie and Jeff have  seen the pressures put on Sara and are trying to help her find ways to mitigate them.

Sara is now a first year student in her graduate program. Through her classes, she is beginning to unfold what her experiences were and how her identity was connected to more than just how she represented herself. Sara saw the decisions that are made that influences the brand of a college or university. Whether or not it was their intention, Sara saw how institutions (even her undergrad) would use students from marginalized populations in promotion of diversity. Though Sara wrestles with confronting the idea that her undergrad used her based sole on her marginalized identity, it still is a thought in the back of her head when speaking upon her experiences.

Discussion Questions

1. What additional support could Lorie offer to Sara?
2. What additional support could Jeff offer to Sara as one of her supervisors?
3. What questions should Lorie and Jeff raise to help ease the pressure off of Sara as graduation is approaching?
4. Should other university personnel get involved to mitigate the student tokenism?

Author Bio

Skylar Walder (she/her) is a current second year student at Clemson University in the M.Ed. Counselor Education, Student Affairs program. At Clemson, Skylar serves as a Graduate Community Director for Housing and Dining. Originally from New Jersey, Skylar attended Shippensburg University where she received a B.S. in Public Service with a minor in Political Science.