Disparate Lessons: How College Campuses Shape Panethnic Latino Identities

• In Event: 566 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Identities

Abstract

Scholars of Latino identities agree upon the fluid and contextual nature of panethnic boundaries and identity labels yet few account for contextual factors produced in specific types of settings. This article demonstrates how universities−organizational structures critical to mobility−shape Latino identities and boundaries by examining Latino student organizations across three settings: a teaching university, a research university, and a liberal arts college. Using data obtained from 20 months of ethnographic fieldwork with six organizations, 72 in-depth interviews with student organizational members and faculty, and 80 surveys, this research shows how college environments−defined by the resources available on campus, residential life, and demographic profile of the student body− influence how Latino youth construct and imbue labels and boundaries with meaning. There are significant differences between campuses, where students at the most wealthy institution draw wide intra-ethnic boundaries and choose the broadest panethnic identity labels, while students at the least funded institution draw very specific ethnic boundaries and reject panethnic identity labels. These findings illustrate how panethnic boundary formation occurs at the meso-level and how universities mediate the process by which Latino youth come to understand where they fit in America’s racial landscape.

Author

• Daisy Isabel Verduzco Reyes, University of Connecticut