Carrying the Weight of Campus Change: The Role of Student Equity Leaders in Community College

• In Event: Institutional Transitions Through an Organizational Lens

Abstract

This paper documents the added labor required by individuals leading racial equity efforts in community college as well as the challenges, supports, and achievements encountered. We employ a critical organizational lens to explore how Student Equity Leaders carry out their race work while responding to internal and external campus forces that influence progress. Using a comparative case study, we explore the experiences of four student equity leaders leading racial justice efforts over an 18-month period. Our analysis yielded three themes: Feelings of burnout, taxation, and isolation, navigating spaces of resistance, and ways to lead for racial equity. The findings from this work as implications for policy and practice related to diversity, equity, inclusion efforts, community college leadership, and organizational change.

Authors

• Eric R. Felix, San Diego State University

• Elizabeth Jimenez Perez, University of California - San Diego