Stewards of Campus Traditions and the Reproduction of Institutionalized Racism

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Abstract

In this paper, we delve into the perceptions of student leaders who serve as the stewards of campus traditions at a public and historically white university located in the southern U.S. In doing so we employed the use of focus group interviews that included the leadership team that oversees five separate campus traditions. We find that students frame "diversity" as related to historically marginalized racial groups and "inclusion for all" when initially asked about the importance of diversity. However, when steward groups that were all and groups with token representation from students of color were asked about the importance of diversity within their student group, they quickly reframed diversity to a word that represents any markable difference between two individuals--such college major and choice of fast food restaurants. Thus, we note that these groups engage in the promotion of the dominant white racial frame when asked slightly challenging questions about diversity within their own group. These white racially framed narratives, we argue, serve to help justify and reinforce institutionalized racism on campus by ignoring the lack of structural diversity with regard to historically marginalized groups on campus.

Authors

• Thaddeus Atzmon, Texas A&M University

• Greg Fink, Texas A&M University