"Facts Don't Matter": Examining Latinx Female Leaders at a Hispanic-Serving Community College

• In Event: Latinx Experiences in U.S. Schools: Students, Teachers, Teacher Educators, and Education Allies as Collaborators

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes
In this paper, we examine the experiences of Latinas attending a Hispanic-serving community college in the southwest and their Latina instructor in questioning their college’s practices related to student travel. While the practices were presented as official policy, critical discourse analysis revealed a different story. We discuss how such practices related to student travel limited students’ ability to present at a national conference and how this experience served as a catalyst to empower the students and instructor to address the status quo at this community college.
Theoretical Framework
We use Freire’s theory of conscientization (1974, 1985) to examine the transformative process to critical consciousness as students act upon their reality of limited opportunities to a “consciousness of” reality (1985). Freire asserts that, “praxis is not blind action” (p.154), but that there should be unity between action and reflection.
Methods and Data Sources
We used critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2013) to interpret various sources of data after community college leaders imposed a travel restriction for out-of-state travel. Data sources include narratives from three Latina community college student leaders whose educational experiences were directly affected by this restriction and a community college psychology instructor who challenged the travel restriction, emails between community college leaders and the community college psychology instructor, emails between community college leaders and the community college’s Chancellor, and interactions between the three students at a public student forum with the Chancellor.
Findings
Although community college leaders imposed a travel restriction, there was no official policy to support such a restriction since policy in this community college district is the purvey of the governing board who was never consulted in this matter. Although the Chancellor and college leaders were aware of college district policy guidelines, there was no transparency about this process in any communique with students who are the main stakeholders within the community college. Students and the instructor interpreted the travel restriction as an example that such student experiences, were not valued. As one vice-president expressed, “Travel is not a right!” The emails communicated to the college campus about the travel restriction initially implied that this was a college district policy to be followed by all 10 campuses within the college district, but follow-up emails clearly indicated that it was a decision initiated and followed by only one college campus. The lack of transparency was intentionally deceiving according to the three students. Attempts to meet with the college president were interpreted by college leaders as a “student protest.”
 
Significance
Latinx students are changing the demographics in higher education in the U.S. as evidenced by the increasingly rapid growth of Hispanic-serving institutions (Garcia, 2019). Latinx students and students from low-income, first-generation backgrounds are disproportionately enrolling in community colleges (Tovar, 2015). Enrollment does not equate persistence in higher education for Latinx students, particularly at institutions that do not support a sense of belonging nor advocate for the types of educational experiences that are afforded to students at non-Hispanic serving institutions.

Authors

• Norma Jimenez Hernandez, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Steffanie Arce, Estrella Mountain Community College

• Linda Veronica Rodriguez, Arizona State University

• Alyssa Marie Guerra, Arizona State University - West