Though advocacy and activism have been frequent topics of research, few studies explore this work across campus roles, meaning inclusive of students, faculty, and staff. A more holistic understanding of advocacy would pave the way for more effective social justice efforts. Researchers used hermeneutic phenomenology to engage with 26 advocates…

In this article, the authors explored the narrative of a single participant from a larger critical narrative study on identity-based activism, reconstructed as a letter addressed to campus administrators. Using critical race theory and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks, we analyzed Pete's conceptions of activism and offer implications…

This practice brief presents the work of doctoral students who aimed to reform the graduate experience in their department to support racially minoritized students. Drawing from community organization and organizational change theories, we describe how we fostered community dialog and crafted a demand letter to communicate students' needs and…

At a time of transition in higher education, college students across the U.S. are decorating their graduation caps with a variety of artistic, personal, amusing, and political designs. A seemingly popular fad among millennials, the phenomenon has become a viral sensation. Informed by a critical interpretative framework, the article takes a closer…

Higher Education has witnessed an increase in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities on college campuses. Despite this slow growth, many colleges and university climates remain largely unwelcoming to LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff. Student activism has largely been responsible for this growth, supported…

Historically, most Evangelical Christians have condemned LGBTQ people, citing Biblical passages establishing heteronormative sex and gender roles. As a result, Evangelical Christian colleges and universities can be difficult places for sexual and/or gender minorities, who face hostility, harassment, and even expulsion. Yet some LGBTQ students may…

This qualitative study reports the experiences of 17 undergraduate first-year students with minoritized identities at an urban university in a battleground state during the 2016 presidential election. Guided by a constructivist theoretical perspective and interpretative thematic data analysis, several key findings emerged that texturize the paths…

Ethnic studies programs have recently been the target of positive and negative scrutiny in both the K-12 system and in 4-year institutions. There is a critical disconnect in the research on ethnic studies in community colleges, which serve a large proportion of racially minoritized students. Moreover, studies tend ignore how ethnic studies courses…

The recent student movement activities across the nation marked a new era in student activism in higher education. Similar to past student movement eras, a powerful aspect of these activities was the issuance of demands to change various institutional policies, procedures, and infrastructure to promote diversity as well as equity and inclusion.…

The 2016 U.S. presidential election brought to light longstanding tensions and bigotry across the country that were further exacerbated when Donald Trump won the presidency on November 8th. While college and university leaders have traditionally refrained from commenting on election results, looming concerns of possible campus protests and…

Student leadership and activism on college campuses has received more widespread attention in recent years, with attention to how student identities inform these organizing efforts. But, how students make sense of their leadership and activism practices is less understood, particularly in graduate student contexts and for different marginalized…

Recent student protests highlight the institutional neglect of students of color and helped to shape a national discourse on racism in higher education. This study uses critical discourse analysis to examine discourses of campus racial climate that surround a student-led speak-out at a university in the Pacific Northwest. Based on analyses of 38…

Employing a power-conscious, intersectional framework (Crenshaw, 1991; Dill & Zambrana, 2009), I argue educators must understand power, privilege, and oppression to effectively support and guide learning and development among student activists. Students from minoritized groups, including students of Color, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual,…

In 2014, an online student activist movement--"I, Too, Am"--exposed everyday racism Black collegians experience. The movement began at Harvard University and spread to universities throughout the U.S. and abroad. Student activism maintains a strong social media presence, but there is little empirical scholarship on the subject. This…

Despite recent improvements for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ) students in higher education, marginalizing policies and climates for members of that community are still very present on our campuses. This narrative qualitative study, guided by the tempered radicals framework, explores how student affairs administrator in the…