In an effort to center the voices of Afro-Latinx college students and their Blackness, I am centering their excellence and persistence in higher education spaces. Through using the theoretical frameworks of self-authorship and “Blackimiento”, and within a critical and cultural lens, I implore that the validation and uplifting of these students is a priority for all student...
This article will address the lived experiences of Black people (faculty, staff, students, student-athletes) who navigate academia in majority white spaces. Black people have known throughout time that the Black voice is not valued. We constantly find ourselves embattled in our personal lives, at work, and on social media. The constant and incessant need for whiteness to tell us...
In this article, one will find a friendly introduction to several orixás, the archetypal forces of nature in Yoruban and Afro-Brazilian cosmology, in order to explore the applicability of their teachings within the realm of student affairs. With each orixá comes a teaching story, series of reflection questions, and a tangible pedagogical practice. When employed with reverence to...
In this paper, I utilize the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) form to explore the relationship between race as a binary and anti-Blackness. I intend to specifically share my narrative with experiences of race and highlight the emerging themes that are prevalent such as whiteness as property, anti-Blackness in the Latinx community, and the Black and white binary of race. The...
With 911 emergency being used as a tool to enact prejudice and fabricate racially biased incidents, Black people should always be ready to anticipate antiblack engagements and racial profiling when white people decide that their Blackness qualifies as dangerous or out of place. Black students are criticized when they elect to challenge how racism affects them in their learning...
Equality has been expounded upon by high-ranking military leaders since segregation was eliminated and the equal opportunity program was enacted ensuring that all military personnel were viewed and treated equally without prejudice. However, anti-blackness is a crisis for Black men and women who don the uniform at military academic institutions of higher education which has...
Through activism, community organizing, and investigation, I learn the Philippines
Many of the Women’s centers across the US came to life in response to the continued activism of students who held women identities and their allies. While the establishment of women’s centers changed life on college and university campuses for many who hold women identities, the racial and gender demographics of those occupying and utilizing resources and those in leadership has...
By Tiffanie Spencer, Published on 01/01/21
By Janelle Raymundo and Jo Wilson, Published on 01/01/21
By Arnelle Faye Sambile, Published on 04/05/20
Maintaining the sociocultural and interpersonal supports needed to succeed in higher education as a first-generation student can be very difficult due to a lack of familiarity with what brings success. When this identity intersects with a nonbinary gender identity, it further complicates higher education’s challenges and may make solutions impossible to come by. My experience...
I explore in this paper the importance of starting with the self to model constructive self-statements and create both individual and collective healing. My intended audience within this paper is student affairs professionals of color who exist in predominantly white institutions (PWIs) of higher education. I ground this paper in my lived experiences as a queer and 1st generation...
Fraternities and sororities are not often thought of as the starting points for social justice education, especially not historically White fraternities and sororities. In this paper, I outline the missions and values of a select group of historically White fraternities to better understand the foundation from which they are starting their organization. I give an overview of...
As younger generations of student affairs professionals become more involved in the field and aware of their mental health identity, there appears to be a disconnect between young professionals and those who are older and keep the state of their mental health hidden. The author questions whether young professionals’ openness about their mental health identity lines up with the...
I’m kinda in this new space where my space is my space and I don’t care about nobody but me, only me (Samoht, 2019,0:56). In a field that exists at the exigency of civil policymakers, tranquil institutional borders, and the revolving demand for connected- ness, I’m new to putting me first. No one is below me, but I understand the need for integrated clarity—valuing the basic...
Content Warning: discrimination, suicidal ideation, violence When I write about mental illness, I use the terms: disability, identity, and relationship. However, no word captures what mental illness means to me. Mental illness is somehow both a part of me and a separate, intangible entity. Every day is an exhausting struggle to live with and understand it, and during my first...
Student crises are a common issue within higher education. When a student comes to a college campus, it is the duty and responsibility of student affairs professionals to empower them and contribute to their holistic success. Unfortunately, some students fall through the cracks and the result can conclude with a student transferring to another institution, failing their classes...
Although student affairs professionals in this field strive towards serving students, it is common for them to fix or help students by default. In this commentary, I examine how disconnection with students can manifest in fixing and helping, while serving can embrace students’ wholeness and strengthen interconnectedness. Additionally, I explore the difference between fixing...
Students collaborate in order to educate one another and to develop community. Students often use their own personal experiences for collaborative events in order to appeal to their fellow classmates
Rural students in the United States have a difficult time envisioning themselves at a college or university. K-12 education and culture in rural communities play a pivotal role in developing rural students’ perceptions of higher education. Additionally, guidance from college counselors, parents, and admission officers’ impacts rural students’ confidence in college attainment...
There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the process of healing, particularly for individuals who are continuously affected by the many barriers and impacts of systemic oppres- sion. This reality demands the sustained development of a praxis rooted in trauma-informed and culturally grounded care so that we may better serve our most-impacted communities (such as...
This article is my attempt to make sense of the conflicting, confusing, tumultuous journey of making peace with my religion and my commitment to social justice, particularly feminism. I frame my journey using Baxter Magolda’s (2001) model of self-authorship, connecting the development of my religious and gender identities to the learning, questioning, and eventual personalization...