Transforming Higher Education as Researchers of Color (THE ROC): Developing Solid Co-Constructed Graduate Support Spaces

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 10:50 am
  In Roundtable Session: Student Learning in Supportive Spaces: What It Is, What It Could Be, and What It Must Become (Table 31)

Abstract

In this paper, we draw upon our practical and personal experiences in the Transforming Higher Education: Researchers of Color lab space to generate ideas for participants to construct similar backyard spaces for graduate Students of Color in higher education programs and other departments across the institution. THE ROC has evolved to meet the needs of current graduate students and become a counterspace for Students of Color to develop strategies for navigating academia, build solidarity across minoritized experiences, and build social community as sites of connection. The purpose of this paper is to co-construct strategies for cultivating solidarity across graduate Students of Color when navigating the academy, as the THE ROC lab space recollects a decade of support.

Authors

• Michelle M. Leao, The Ohio State University

• Lisa Delacruz Combs, University of North Texas

• Rebecca Cepeda, Texas A&M University- Co rpus Christi

• Ionell Jay R. Terogo, The Ohio State University

• Alexander Nichols, The Ohio State University

• Hannah L. Reyes, The Ohio State University

• Neal McKinney, The Ohio State University