Can I Breathe Here? The Impacts of College Activism on Black Students

• In Event: 43.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 43.077-10 - Social Justice Leadership, Leaders, and Disrupting Power

Abstract

Research on college student development consistently argues that campus involvement produces positive outcomes like retention and increased sense of belonging. New research shows that students have incurred serious costs by neglecting their academic responsibilities and sacrificing their physical and emotional wellbeing to focus on campus activism. This interdisciplinary study seeks to contribute to the growing literature by examining the particular ways Black student make sense of the growing burden of activism in predominantly white institutions. Using a critical case study of six Black student activists, this study finds that how this Black student and her peers experience internal and external barriers to activism and are able to move through those barriers with the specific assets they bring to the table.

Author

• Gadise Regassa, University of California - Los Angeles