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The Persistence And Ethnic Identity Of Latino Fraternity Members At Predominantly White Institutions In Georgia, Christian Bello Escobar, Jamie L. Workman, James Martinez, Regina L. Suriel

Journal of Sorority and Fraternity Life Research and Practice

We explored how Latino fraternity members at predominately White institutions in Georgia perceive their affiliation affects their collegiate persistence and ethnic identity development through an interpretive qualitative research design. Torres’s Bicultural Orientation Model served as the theoretical framework. Our findings indicate that participants strengthened and solidified their ethnic identity during their college years. Fraternal interactions and their college environment enhanced or helped them solidify their ethnic identity. Latino fraternity members perceived their involvement enhanced their academic persistence through various aspects of brotherhood and academic expectations. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.