Education Commons^™

Acknowledgements, The Vermont Connection Executive Board 2018-2019

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Forward, Dr. Susan R. Jones

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

New Connections

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Build, Resist, Be Resilient, And Rebuild: Advising As A Womxn Of Color, Alexa R. D. Erb

The Vermont Connection

Racial battle fatigue, cultural taxation, and the challenge of practicing self-care in the midst of tumultuous racial campus climate are all powerful forces that affect how Advisors of Color show up in their relationships with college students. Through scholarly personal narrative, the author conceptualizes the role of building, resistance, resilience, and rebuilding through their journey as a Womxn of Color advising student groups at a predominantly white institution.

Seeing Me In The Story: Representation Of Multiracial Characters In Multimedia, Harvey M. Vincent

The Vermont Connection

In 2015, I discovered Saga, a graphic novel series that chronicles a science fiction story of war, family, and forbidden love. This series resonated with me because it is the first piece of pop culture that I invested in with a leading character whose racial identity is similar to my own. I discovered three multiracial characters in different forms of media set within the United States: Lincoln Clay from the videogame Mafia III, Lara Jean Covey from the movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Miles Morales from Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. As both a student affairs professional and …

A Is Not For Ally: Affirming Asexual College Student Narratives, Catherine Meyer

The Vermont Connection

The college experience is often hypersexualized, presenting students as collectively sexually active and interested in sex. Such hypersexualization creates a culture that assumes the presence of sexual attraction, which massively excludes students who identify on the asexual spectrum. This exclusion becomes amplified when asexual students go to their campus LGBTQIA+ centers for support and discover that their “A for asexual” has been stolen by the people who claim to be their allies. As a result of this erasure, asexual college students are unable to make sense of their identity in an environment that does not recognize the ways of being …

Moving From Access To Success: How First-Generation Students Of Color Can Build Resilience In Higher Education Through Mentorship, Bianca Natalie Ramos

The Vermont Connection

In recent years, the enrollment of first-generation students of color in higher education has increased across the nation, reflecting a slight improvement in college access for them. However, first-generation students of color continue to face a variety of challenges which impede their social and academic success and contribute to low retention rates at the university. In this article, I propose a holistic approach to mentorship to support first-generation students of color in their transition to college. I start this article with my scholarly narrative as a first-generation student of color and how my mentors played an important role in helping …

But You Speak Great English! Challenging The Dominant Narratives Of The International Student, Musbah Shaheen

The Vermont Connection

Student affairs scholarship and practice take a deficit-based approach to understanding the experience of international students at U.S. colleges and universities. In this article, I reframe the challenges that international students face from a resiliency-based viewpoint, highlighting the strengths of international students and focusing on what institutions could do better to serve their needs. By challenging assumptions about international students, I hope to inspire student affairs professionals to adjust their programs and services to support the inherent resilience of international students, rather than reinforce stereotypical notions of what it means to be an international student in the U.S.

In The Middle Of Self-Care: A Mid-Level Professional’S Journey To Rebuilding Resilience, Brandin L. Howard

The Vermont Connection

In American culture, there seems to be a glorification of “being busy” (Bellezza, Paharia, & Keinan, 2017). Going into my eighth year of working in student affairs and thanks to a new support system and unfortunate health changes, I am now learning the importance of integrating self-care more into my professional and personal life. Through this personal narrative, I hope that my journey with self-care as a mid-level professional helps others begin to start seeking self-care for themselves.

Addressing Hxstorical Amnesia: Proactively Combating Hxstorical Amnesia As A Means Of Healing In Higher Education, Arnelle F. Sambile, Brie L. Hornig

The Vermont Connection

In a political context characterized by the desire to “Make America Great Again,” the romanticization of the past and the erasure of narratives of marginalized communities affect how students experience and navigate higher education. Institutions of higher education were built on systems of colonization and imperialism and continue to benefit from the legacy of domination and subordination; this hxstory shapes student learning. The authors introduce hxstorical amnesia, its effects on student development, and methods of actively combating hxstorical amnesia in higher education. The authors explore ways to heal from hxstorical amnesia through community-care, cogenerative dialogues, and Sentipensante Pedagogy. By discussing …

Challenging The Model Minority Myth As A First-Generation College Student, Jimmy Huynh

The Vermont Connection

First-generation Asian American college students must be resilient to

overcome the many challenges they face in their college experience. Because

these students are first-generation students of color and are also

Asian American, they experience unique challenges and complexities.

First-generation students of color often navigate the college experience

with families who have little to no context surrounding higher education,

may have varying levels of college readiness upon entry, and frequently

encounter financial challenges and other barriers to education. At the

same time, Asian American students must grapple with high expectations

set by society because of the model minority myth. How are …

Future Scenario: Praxis In Critical Race Theory In Higher Education And Student Affairs, Payne Hiraldo

The Vermont Connection

Critical Race Theory (CRT) evolved as a response to the lack of change

in racial disparities within the United States jurisprudence. This article

provides a historical understanding of CRT, beginning with a synopsis

of the tenets that form part of CRT. The article will then give an

understanding of what leadership style supports the implementation of

CRT. Finally, it will provide the reader with strategies to apply CRT

in the work environment through self-work, intercultural competence

and restorative practices.

Executive Board Editors Note, Musbah Shaheen, Soren Dews

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Brave And Now Bold, Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

De-Centering Dominance, Reclaiming Resilience, C. V. Dolan

The Vermont Connection

Although there is a significant body of literature bolstering the concept, the term “resilience” is often misused and abused in the academy at the expense of the most marginalized students and community members. In this article, I advocate for reclaiming resilience as using creativity to survive and challenge dominant views of resilience. Furthermore, I call for de-centering dominance in conversations about diversity and inclusion to represent and serve the needs of marginalized students navigating institutional barriers and systems that were never meant for them.

Una Carta Para Nuestras Familias/Isang Lihim Sa Aming Mga Pamilya: Rebuilding And Healing From Intergenerational Trauma For 1.5 Generation Children And 1st Generation Parents, Maria San, Jeane Robles

The Vermont Connection

We, Jeane and Maria, both identify as 1.5 generation students who felt like we did not belong where we were born or where our parents immigrated, but we found belonging through validation from our communities during college. Throughout undergrad, we distanced ourselves from our parents because of the rejection we faced, but we would like to rebuild our parental relationships by sharing our stories in the form of letters to our parents. This piece explores our experience of immigration and identity development at a predominantly White Midwestern institution. We write for 1.5 generation students and first-generation parents in hopes of …

Surviving Academia, Laura M. Aguilera

The Vermont Connection

The process of healing from first episode psychosis as a queer person of color is not represented in the medical model, academia, or media. As a pansexual, non-binary, Latinx femme with a psychological disability, walking out of the hospital doors for the final time incited immense amounts of isolation that overcame my spirit because of the lack of dialogue around such healing. I assembled this zine with the intention of my intuition that somehow, somewhere, someone with my identities and positionality exists with similar trauma to mine from having experienced a mental health crisis. Zines are an accessible multimedia approach …

Best Practices In Consent Education: An Analysis, Fonda Marguerite Heenehan

The Vermont Connection

The need for sexual assault prevention work on college campuses is

largely accepted; however, higher education and student affairs professionals

continue to debate the best way to do this work. In this analysis,

I explore sex-neutral, sex-positive, and punitive foci for sexual assault

prevention and consent education. After analyzing the effectiveness of

each of these foci, I suggest that sexual assault prevention and consent

education on college campuses cannot be limited to only reactive strategies.

I provide examples of tactics that different functional areas can utilize

as well as examples from my own work in student affairs. Expanding

the focus …

Better Together: A Collaborative Approach To Graduate Student Affairs, Molly M. Williams

The Vermont Connection

As the student affairs profession evolves to better support the needs of

graduate students, a re-building of the relationship between academic

and student affairs is vital for the success of graduate student support

programs. Rates of mental illness are extremely high in the graduate

population, and this trend is closely related to elevated attrition rates

in recent years. Universities are attempting to support their graduate

students through this crisis via separate faculty- and student affairsled

initiatives, which have been ineffective in addressing the needs of

today’s graduate population. Partnering with faculty members will result

in holistic interventions that support students’ …

There Are No Wrong Choices, Angelique K. Adams

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Sacred Space, Patrick Griffin Long

The Vermont Connection

I wrote this piece for myself as a hybrid of personal discovery and academic inquiry, and I hope it can guide and empower others like myself. In this piece, I examine the intersections of queer identity with religious and spiritual identity development and discuss how practitioners can help students reclaim sacred space. Foregrounding my personal narrative and expanding with scholarship, I show why this development deserves attention from student affairs professionals. I give both programmatic and institutional considerations to review when centering religious and spiritual development for LGBTQ students.