African American Studies Commons^™

What Keeps Us Here? Perceptions Of Workplace Supervision Among African American Men In Student Affairs, Todd C. Jenkins Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

African American male professionals continue to be lower in numbers in the workplace across the United States compared to their White counterparts. However, the division of student affairs and student services of higher education institutions continue to serve as a gate way for African American men to serve as administrators. Several higher education institutions and sectors continue to invest in the recruitment and retention for African American male professionals, and research has shown that supervision is the key to employee professional development, performance, and success. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of African American male professionals’ …

2016 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Celebration, University Of Maine Student Life

Cultural Affairs Distinguished Lecture Series

Alison Beyea is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Maine, where she oversees the organization's legal, legislative, public education and development activities. With 3,000 members, the ACLU of Maine is the state's oldest and largest civil liberties organization.

The state of the union from the Citizen's Perspective delivered by Alison Beyea will be the focus of a keynote address at the 20th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on Jan. 18, 2016 sponsored by the Greater Bangor Area NAACP and the University of Maine. Keynote Speaker Alison Beyea will speak on current national affairs and trends, education, …

The Understanding Of A Single Story: Identities Amongst Black Students At Predominately White Institutions, Jonathan A. Franklin

Student Scholarship

This paper examines the structure of identities amongst Black students at predominately white institutions – particularly focusing on Wofford College. Extensive focus groups were conducted with members of the Black student body to further progress research. Racism regarding Black students and their social identity in addition to how it has structured the social identity amongst students are introduced in along with the identities of students on Wofford’s campus. Discrimination on campus has had the effect of narrowing Black students’ options for creating social identity and participating in campus community life. Black students regularly face a very confining choice to either …

A Multi-Institutional Analysis Of Greek Affiliation And Academic/ Involvement Outcomes For African American College Students, Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D., John A. Gipson

Executives, Administrators, & Staff Publications

The academic and social outcomes of college fraternities and sororities remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the characteristics and experiences of African American college students (AACSs) attending seven institutions across the United States, using Greek affiliation as the primary measure of comparison. Quantitative data were used to explore how Greek affiliation influences various academic and social involvement outcomes for AACSs. Findings suggest that involvement in fraternities and sororities is not associated with grade point average, among other academic outcomes. Findings also suggest that involvement with fraternities and sororities was associated with involvement in student organizations …

Dreams Deferred: A Critical Narrative Analysis Of African American Males In Pursuit Of Higher Education, Martinique Starnes

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Many studies have been conducted on the achievement gap between Caucasian and minority students (Bankston & Caldas, 1998; A. Brown & Donnor, 2011; Howard, 2008; O’Conner, Lewis, & Mueller, 2007; Osborne, 1999), as this gap has been a persistent problem for decades. However, despite more students of color gaining access to institutions of higher education, there is still a severe gap in college graduation rates (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2011), with African American males being the least likely group to be found on college campuses (Dunn, 2012), and thus, possessing the lowest college graduation rate. St. Peter Claver …

Experiences Of African American Female First Generation College Students, Ashley Green

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of African American, female, first generation college students attending a large, predominantly White research university and to understand what motivates them. The major research question guiding this study was: How do African American, female, first generation college students (in good academic standing) describe their college experience? The researcher asked the participants to discuss their challenges, how they responded to challenges, sources of motivation, and factors that contributed to their success in college.

Through individual, face to face, interviews with 10 African American, female, FGC …

The Anala Collaborative: Umass Boston’S Asian American, Native American, Latin@ And African Diaspora Institutes, Barbara Lewis, Carolyn Wong, Cedric Woods, Elena Stone

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The ANALA Collaborative is the newly-formed umbrella for the four UMass Boston racial and ethnic institutes. This year, with help from a team from the College of Management’s Emerging Leaders Program, we have come together to form ANALA in recognition of the area’s increasing racial and ethnic diversity and the need for majority-minority communities to work together toward common goals. While each of the four institutes will retain its separate identity and programs, we will also place greater emphasis on collaborative efforts in the service of our common mission and vision.

Selma Is America, Rashida Aluko-Roberts

SURGE

During my recent trip to Selma, Alabama, I was overwhelmed by the tangible evidence that blatant racism and segregation still exists. In a town where many had made great sacrifices to combat America’s racial injustices, it was disheartening to see how very little change had come to the town MLK described as the “most segregated” in America. [excerpt]

Respiration: Breathing Between The Stacks, Jerome D. Clarke

SURGE

How rare are we, who brandish Black and Male identity, in Academia?

In the past two weeks, I have been reminded of my Black maleness in a multitude of ways. I sat alone, subordinate in number, in a dialogue about Internalized Oppression at Diaspora House. Strong women of color discuss this issue while I work to stay respectful and non-oppressive in this space. I sat alone, subordinate in number, in each of my classes, where I am often the only one of my race and class. My race-gender circumstance is a matter of fact to me. How does this Black …

“I’M Trying To Get My A”: Black Male Achievers Talk About Race, School And Achievement, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study seeks to challenge deficit views on Black male education by highlighting the perspectives of academically successful Black males in a secondary school setting. Employing interpretive qualitative methods, I present the narratives of academically successful Black males, emphasizing their reflections on race, school and academic achievement. In particular, this study highlights the educational dispositions and expectations of Black males, including the influences of their support systems on their academic trajectories. One support system comprised of parents, including the academic expectations held of their sons as well as their racial socializing practices. Another support system included their teachers, particularly those …

National Survey Of Student Engagement Findings At A Historically Black Institution: Does Student Engagement Impact Persistence?, Mondrail Myrick, D. Jason Desousa, Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D.

Executives, Administrators, & Staff Publications

How can historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) improve student degree completion rates? To the credit of HBCUs, many students who otherwise would not have had an opportunity for college access and success have enrolled and graduated with degrees. In practical numbers, HBCU enrollment increased from 223,000 to 324,000, or by 45%, between 1976 and 2011 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Today, HBCUs enroll 9% of all African American men and women in American higher education, although they continue to enroll diverse populations. In spite of the increase in college-going rates, fall-to-fall retention, and six-year graduation rates, students at …

Introduction To Student Involvement & Academic Outcomes, Krista M. Soria, John A. Gipson, Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D.

Executives, Administrators, & Staff Publications

Even as access to higher education has widened considerably over the last century, diverse college students (i.e., first-generation, low-income, and racial minorities) face greater challenges regarding their access to college, choice of college, sense of belonging, and success in graduating from college (Choy, 2001; Fischer, 2007; Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999; Karabel & Astin, 1975; McDonough, 1997; Mauk & Jones, 2006; Mortenson, 2007; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Paulsen & St. John, 2002; Smith, 2009; Walpole, 2007). According to Rendón, Jalomo, and Nora (2011): While traditional theories of student retention and involvement have been useful in providing a foundation for the …

A Grounded Theory Of The Influence Of Black Greek-Lettered Organizations On The Persistence Of African Americans At A Predominantly White Institution, Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D.

Executives, Administrators, & Staff Publications

For decades, scholars have documented that predominantly White institutions (PWIs) are not fully meeting the needs of African American students, as these students have reported social isolation, discrimination, and low social integration (Feagin, Vera, & Imani, 1996; Fleming, 1984; Harper, 2013). While the experiences of African American students at PWIs have been well documented, further research on best practices to retain and graduate African American students at PWIs is needed. One particular area where further research is merited concerns African Americans’ involvement in Black Greek-lettered organizations (BGLOs).

Press Release: The King Legacy - Thoughts From The Ursinus College Community, College Communications

Reverend Charles Rice

News article which recounts how Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. came to impact the life of Reverend Charles Rice.

Primitive At The Plantation's Edge, Robert F. Reid-Pharr

Publications and Research

There comes a time when the only thing that one can do is admit defeat. Standing at the tail end of a Black Studies movement established as part of the articulation of anti-segregationist, anti-colonialist African and African American political and cultural insurgencies, one is made painfully aware of a sort of necessary and inevitable social and professional marginalization structuring the everyday existence of the so-called black scholar. The broadly imagined ethical outlines of even the most valued projects of black intellectualism continue as ornamental, overly moralistic, never quite fully valid aspects of the industry / government / education complex that …

Anna Julia Cooper: A Quintessential Leader, Janice Y. Ferguson

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study is a leadership biography which provides, through the lens of Black feminist thought, an alternative view and understanding of the leadership of Black women. Specifically, this analysis highlights ways in which Black women, frequently not identified by the dominant society as leaders, have and can become leaders. Lessons are drawn from the life of Anna Julia Cooper that provides new insights in leadership that heretofore were not evident. Additionally, this research offers provocative recommendations that provide a different perspective of what leadership is among Black women and how that kind of leadership can inform the canon of leadership. …

Review Of The Book Black Males In Postsecondary Education: Examining Their Experiences In Diverse Institutional Contexts, By A. A. Hilton, J. L. Wood, & C. W. Lewis (Eds.), Donald Mitchell Jr.

Donald Mitchell Jr., Ph.D.