"I, Too, Am Hungry": An Examination of Structural Exclusion at an Elite University

• In Event: When Poverty Goes to College: Housing and Food Insecurity Among Undergraduates

Abstract

Elite colleges are diversifying at unprecedented rates, both racially and socioeconomically. Many applaud college presidents and deans of admission for opening their doors, and their coffers, to admit and support new admits. They assert, in no uncertain terms, that money will not be a barrier to access and success at their colleges. But have the doors really been opened? Although campuses are becoming more diverse, there is a lag in enacting policies and practices that work toward fostering sense of belonging for new admits amidst these major demographic shifts. How undergraduates experience these gaps in policies and practices, I argue, directly affect their sense of belonging, which has consequences for their academic performance, persistence, mental health, and social well-being. Drawing on interviews with 102 black, Latino, and white undergraduates and two years of ethnographic observation of college life, this paper calls for examining structural exclusion, instances when specific operational features of the university make students feel marginalized and stigmatized.

Previous work outlines the overlooked differences in social adjustment to college between the Doubly Disadvantaged and Privileged Poor, lower-income undergraduates at elite colleges who are similar on observables but differ type of high school they attended. Whereas the Doubly Disadvantaged typically attended segregated, distressed high schools, the Privileged Poor attended elite boarding, day, and preparatory high schools. The Privileged Poor have significant more exposure to peers and the cultural norms that dominate white, elite academic settings and are not shocked by what they find in college. Such investigations, however, downplay the actions of the university in making students feel at home.

I broaden the analytical focus from interpersonal interactions to how individual students engage the university. For example, while previous studies focus on Spring Break as a display of wealth and privilege that make lower-income feel isolated and different from their peers (Aries 2008), I examine how the university policy to close the cafeterias during Spring Break relegates economically disadvantaged undergraduates to the margins. When lower-income undergraduates speak about Spring Break, it is not about their peers vacation destinations but the pending food insecurity they must endure. As one respondent put it, the days of Spring Break “are the real Hunger Games.” Neither academic nor cultural capital can fend off living off Ramen Noodles for ten days when you cannot afford to go home, local restaurants are too expensive, and have no access to a kitchen.

Moreover, undergraduates’ testimonies also chronicle the drastic measures they take to fend off hunger. One respondent, who experienced intermittent bouts of homeless before college, revealed that she relied on soup kitchens for food. I use these closings and other examples of structural exclusion to show how elite colleges and universities have extended coveted invitations to lower- income admits but have not fully prepared for their arrival.

Authors

• Anthony Jack, Harvard University

• Minhtuyen Mai, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Emily Brunjes Colo, University of Wisconsin - Madison