The Places In Between: Institutional Efforts to Support, Nurture, and Promote Personal Agency Among Queer Students of Color in Higher Education

• In Event: 72.039 - Queeruptions: Queer of Color Analysis as a Basis for Radical Action and Education Reform

Abstract

This paper details the findings of a study of programs created to support queer students of color on three college campuses located in the Northeast, Southeast and Northwest. The absence of support for queer students of color on our college campus represents a barrier to students attempting to find points of connection to the larger campus community and the educational opportunities they provide (Rios, D. & Eaton, A., 2016). Recently, in response to student voices captured in campus climate surveys, some institutions have established programs specifically to support queer students of color (Rankin, 2005). The need to confront issues of racism in queer spaces on campus and heterosexism in the programs that historically have served students of color became evident from queer students of color reporting their experiences of alienation and micro aggressions at the hands of students in both spaces (Alexander, B.K., 2005; Moss, D.D, 2016).

Programs that target the needs of queer students of color provide important opportunities for students to make sense of their identities as young adults, as queer individuals, and as people of color on campus and within the broader societal context (Patton, L.D., 2016). Additionally, these programs often serve as catalysts for student activism that bring queer perspectives to current social movements. The existence of these programs contribute to the transformation of their institutions by challenging racist and heterosexist assumptions and replacing them with assumptions of diverse sexualities, human relationships, and racial and cultural identity.

A qualitative approach was the most appropriate for gleaning accounts of the multi-faceted experiences of queer students of color. Qualitative researchers highlight the value and utility of qualitative methodologies for documenting and distilling experience from the perspective of the individual (Bogden & Bilken, 1982). Student focus groups and in depth interviews with students and program staff were conducted in order to explore the following questions: 1) How did the institution identify the need to establish a targeted program for queer students of color? 2) How do students utilize the program and speak to its value as an instrument for removing barriers to accessing educational opportunities? 3) In what ways do these programs interrupt the status quo by challenging and insisting institutional efforts that support queer students and students of color respectively, also address and reflect the reality that not all queer students are white and not all students of color are heterosexual? 4) In what ways have these programs provided a base of support for student activism and personal agency among queer students of color on campus and in the greater community?

Students and program staff reported that programs created to support queer students of color were among the most dynamic and transformative spaces on their respective campuses responsible for developing student leaders and facilitating important campus wide dialogues on the intersection of race and sexuality. This study provides important insights into the lived experiences of queer students of color and suggestions that would be instructional for individuals establishing similar campus programs.

Author

• Steven Thurston Oliver, Salem State University