"It's So Gross but Familiar": Understanding Undergraduate Experiences With a Campus's Racial Past and Present

• In Event: Problematizing Power, Politics, and Hegemony in the Campus Environment

Abstract

Campus racial climate research has traditionally framed institutions’ racialized histories and contemporary presents as mutually related entities. However, few studies have sought to understand how disentangling these time periods (i.e., past and present) may nuance our understanding of student experiences with campus racial climate. This chronological distinction is important given the rise of initiatives for racial “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Such branding suggests that institutions’ contemporary race relations are more progressive and positive than before. This qualitative phenomenological case study, therefore, seeks to understand the relationship between an institution’s racial past and present. Findings have implications for practitioners and administration committed to interrogating how institutional racial dynamics have changed over time to meet the needs of racially diverse student bodies.

Author

• Michael Wade Moses, University of California - Riverside