Reimagining Student-Athlete Engagement: A Restorative and Transformative Justice Approach

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: College Student-Athlete Development, Well-being, Academic and Career Engagement

Abstract

This study examines how community college student-athletes engage with academic, personal, and mental health support services through four frameworks: Restorative Justice, Transformative Justice, Social Identity Theory, and the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Model. Using mixed methods, the research explores how identity conflict, cultural disconnection, and institutional structures shape student-athlete engagement. Surveys and focus groups to reveal barriers tied to exclusion, unmet needs, and misaligned support systems. By centering student-athlete voices, the study reframes disengagement as a symptom of institutional harm rather than individual failure. Findings will inform equity-focused strategies that promote healing, systemic change, and culturally responsive environments that validate the full identities of student-athletes in higher education.

Author

• La Quirshia Fennell, Claremont Graduate University