Abstract
Student affairs professionals often need to resolve student conflicts arising from cultural insensitivity and broad stereotypes. We work with such dilemmas by applying multicultural competence skills through the lens of administrator-to-student interaction. How do we face similar dilemmas when colleagues reveal similar cultural insensitivities? When these behaviors are displayed by student affairs professionals from an ethnic group to other professionals with same backgrounds, the dilemma becomes extremely complex. Insults, stereotyping, and non-verbal slights are present, as well as questioning of identity and perceived group affiliation. How do we deal with situations when professional colleagues question, “are you [insert identity] enough?”
Keywords: within-group differences; Latinx identity; generational cohorts; microaggressions; professionalism
Introduction
This scenario will look at issues facing Latinx higher education student affairs professionals. The scenario provides awareness of the subtle and not so subtle microaggressions experienced by Latinx professionals in the field. The two main characters, Maria and Yolanda, come from different generational cohorts, differ in their understanding of cultural identity, and experiences with bi/multi-lingualism. The two women have different professional backgrounds in student affairs, where one has worked in different functional areas at several institutions to advance upward in rank and the other has stayed at her current institution in her current position for several years. Two additional players are part of this scenario: A White female set on retiring after a full career in student services and a White male whose professional experience has mostly been at one institution.
*The authors have selected the use of the term “Latinx” in the case study to identify all members of this community. The term Latinx is a non-binary alternative to Latino and Latina and provides a frame in which to capture the diversity found within the group.
Primary Characters
Maria (she, her, hers, ella)- Maria is a goal-minded Gen-X Latina woman with 20 years of student affairs experience. Since earning her master’s in student affairs administration, she has worked in several functional areas, including residence life and student activities at both public and private institutions.
Yolanda (she her, hers, ella)– Yolanda has worked at SSSU’s Division of Student Affairs for 25 years. She oversees diversity and international student programming. Yolanda is a Baby Boomer Latina woman. Prior to SSSU, she worked in two non-higher education positions and does not have a higher education degree.
Kathleen (she, her, hers) – Kathleen has been the Chief Student Affairs Officer at SSSU for 25 years. Her entire career has been in student affairs. She is white woman from the Midwest and has lived in the Southwest most of her career. She has a doctorate in higher education leadership. Kathleen was born in 1942, which places her in the end of the Silent Generation and start of the Baby Boom Era.
Tom (he him his) – Tom is Maria’s immediate supervisor and Dean of Students at SSSU. Tom is a white man born and raised in the state where SSSU is located. He has a master’s degree in student affairs administration. He has worked at SSSU for fifteen years and has advanced his way up the student affairs division ranks to reach his current campus role.
History and Context
Southwest Suburban State University (SSSU) is a relatively new campus with regard to institutional history. The university first opened its doors in the early 1970s and is located in the Southwest. SSSU’s enrollment is approximately 8,600 students, with 5,800 undergraduates and 2,800 graduate students. The campus identity drastically changed when it admitted its inaugural first-year class in the early 2000s. Admitting these students changed SSSU from being an upper-level junior, senior, and graduate student campus to one where all student levels are represented. SSSU created a new Office of Orientation and sought for its first director someone who was knowledgeable about first-year student transitions. The university also sought someone with innovative ideas to develop an orientation program from scratch.
Maria was excited to learn about SSSU’s opportunity to develop a new orientation program from the ground up. Although she currently held another student affairs director-level role nearby with a slightly higher salary, she saw SSSU as an exciting pathway for professional development and career advancement. She applied for the position and was selected as a finalist for an on-campus interview. When Maria’s interview was announced to the campus community, Yolanda, who works in SSSU’s Division of Student Services overseeing diversity and international student programming, voiced concerns about Maria’s candidacy.
Yolanda is a prominent figure at SSSU due to her seniority and leadership on campus. Recently, she was recognized by the state-level student affairs professional organization for her service to the field. She has seen the growth of SSSU over their years and has been nervously excited about the future changes SSSU’s first-year students will bring to campus. One such significant change was the creation of the new orientation office, which would add a new unit to SSSU’s student affairs division.
Upon learning about Yolanda’s concerns with Maria’s candidacy, the staff member chairing the orientation director search committee asked Yolanda to further explain her concerns about Maria. When asked, Yolanda uttered, “Why does Maria want to come here anyway? She makes more money at her current university.” Yolanda also pointed out that Maria’s resume had numerous positions at different schools with various lengths of employment. Yolanda explained that she has an issue with professionals who stay a short time at one institution and decide to move to another. She believes that Maria will continue this pattern if considered for the orientation director position. Despite her comments, the search committee proceeded with their plans to invite Maria for an on-campus interview.
At the interview day, Maria introduced herself to Yolanda at the open presentation. Yolanda barely took Maria’s hand to shake it. Soon after this awkward introduction, Yolanda tried to converse with Maria in Spanish during an interview break, which Maria politely informed her that she was not bilingual. Yolanda proceeded to give Maria a look of obvious disdain. Maria was at first taken aback but was not surprised since this type of interaction usually occurs when others assume she knows Spanish. Despite these interactions, Maria impressed the committee with her experience, enthusiasm, and vision and still felt that SSSU had a wonderful opportunity for her. After all interviews were complete, Maria was selected for the position. She soon assumed the role as SSSU’s first-ever director of orientation. Yolanda, however, was against the final decision and vocalized her disapproval to several colleagues prior to Maria’s arrival.
On Maria’s first day of work, she saw Yolanda in the student center and politely said “Hello!” Yolanda ignored Maria and said nothing and continued walking down the hall. Maria thought Yolanda’s behavior was not very collegial, but she continued with her day. At Maria’s first Division of Student Services directors meeting, Yolanda was very cold and unfriendly to Maria; so much so that the Kathleen, SSSU’s Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO) asked Maria about it afterwards.
Maria told Kathleen she had no idea what the issue was and that she had never had interactions with Yolanda prior to her interview at SSSU. Maria really did not understand where her negative attitude was coming from since she arrived on campus. She informed Kathleen that her suspicion was she felt Yolanda did not see her as “Latina enough” at the interview since she did not know Spanish. She explained to Kathleen that unfortunately, this was not the first time she encountered something like this and is very familiar with such interactions. Kathleen proceeded to apologize for Yolanda’s behavior but did not follow up with either on the matter.
Maria’s first year as director focused on developing SSSU’s inaugural first-year student orientation. Summer arrived and the first program was running smoothly thanks to Maria’s efforts to provide a high-quality program. During one of the orientation sessions, Yolanda was responsible for presenting on her office to the new students. At one of the campus resource orientation sessions, she was scheduled last in the presentation order on that day. When Yolanda’s time to speak arrived, she got up on stage and proceeded to tell the room of about 75 new students and family members, “I don’t know why I’m last, I guess it must be because I’m bilingual.” She laughed and continued with her presentation. Maria, who was facilitating the resource presentations, was stunned. She did not know if she was serious or joking. Maria lowered her head in frustration knowing she had no choice but to let the session continue.
Maria discussed the comment with Tom, her immediate supervisor at the end of the day. Tom attempted to speak to Kathleen to explain the inappropriateness of Yolanda’s statement during the new student orientation. Despite this concern, no action was taken and Kathleen did not meet with Maria to follow up with this situation. Yolanda was not reprimanded. It should be noted that Kathleen and Yolanda have a close and personal friendship.
Maria’s first student orientation season ended successfully and she already had ideas to improve next summer’s program. She had optimism for her second year at SSSU. As the new school year started, during the first division directors meeting, Yolanda gave results of the previous year’s campus climate survey. In her presentation summarizing the survey, she read out loud a comment written by a student who critiqued her office. After reading the comment, Yolanda said in jest “Well, that comment must have been written by a ‘coconut’.” Maria was appalled when she heard the statement but did not react since she still felt like the new person in the division. Maria felt sick in her stomach and eventually stepped out of the meeting to gather her emotions.
Noticing her reaction, Tom went out to check on Maria. She explained that she was extremely upset that Yolanda used the term “coconut” to describe a student. Tom mentioned that he did not understand and know the meaning of term “coconut”. Maria proceeded to explain that the term was a derogatory definition of a Latinx individual. She explained that it is used to describe someone who is seen as being “brown on the outside but white on the inside.”
Questions for Discussion
- What should Maria do in this situation? What follow-up (if any) should there be with Yolanda? Who should make that follow-up? What additional action might Yolanda take?
- If you were the CSAO in this scenario, what would your response be if your professional staff member was behaving in this manner toward another staff member?
- As Maria’s immediate supervisor and Dean of Students, did Tom provide adequate support? Explain.
- What ethical leadership and cultural issues exist in this scenario? Could there be other players not mentioned in the scenario who might be involved or affected? If yes, who, what might their roles be, and how might they be engaged in this situation?
- The case provides several intersections of identities for all characters. Identify those that impact your responses to the case.
Author Biographies
Ricardo Montelongo, Ph.D. (he, him, his, el) is Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration at Sam Houston State University. He received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Indiana University and a M.S. in Student Affairs Administration and B.S. in Psychology both from Texas A&M University. His primary research interests include college student involvement, diversity issues in higher education administration, online teaching and learning, and spirituality in higher education. He has thirty years professional administrative experience in higher education and served as co-chair of ACPA College Student Educators International Latinx Network from 2011-2013.
Angelica C. Montelongo (she, her, hers, ella) worked in higher education for 26 years in the functional areas of residence life, student activities and orientation. She was an active member of ACPA, her first professional home, and worked with the Latinx Network, Mid-Level Professionals Community of Practice and the ACPA foundation. While she has left the field of higher education, all these experiences have supported her new role as an activities professional in a senior living community in Houston, Texas. Her hobbies include reading, word searches and finding trivia questions for her seniors.