Empowering Men of Color on Campus: Building Student Community in Higher Education

By Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark and Matthew Smith

While recruitment efforts toward men of color have increased at many colleges and universities, their retention and graduation rates still lag behind those of their white peers. Men of color, particularly black and Latino men, face a number of unique challenges in their educational careers that often impact their presence on campus and inhibit their collegiate success. Empowering Men of Color on Campus examines how men of color negotiate college through their engagement in Brothers for United Success (B4US), an institutionally-based male-centered program at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith introduce the concept of educational agency, which is harbored in cultural wealth and demonstrates how ongoing B4US engagement empowers the men’s efforts and abilities to persist in college. They found that the cultural wealth(s) of the community enhanced the students’ educational agency, which bolstered their academic aspirations, academic and social engagement, and personal development. The authors demonstrate how educational agency and cultural wealth can be developed and refined given salient and meaningful immersions, experiences, engagements, and communal connections. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Release date: May 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9780813594774

Book preview

Empowering Men of Color on Campus

The American Campus

Series editor, Harold S. Wechsler

The books in the American Campus series explore recent developments and public policy issues in higher education in the United States. Topics of interest include access to college and college affordability; college retention, tenure, and academic freedom; campus labor; the expansion and evolution of administrative posts and salaries; the crisis in the humanities and the arts; the corporate university and for-profit colleges; online education; controversy in sport programs; and gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and class dynamics and diversity. Books feature scholarship from a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Vicki L. Baker, Laura Gail Lunsford, and Meghan J. Pifer, Developing Faculty in Liberal Arts Colleges: Aligning Individual Needs and Organizational Goals

Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith, Empowering Men of Color on Campus: Building Student Community in Higher Education

W. Carson Byrd, Poison in the Ivy: Race Relations and the Reproduction of Inequality on Elite College Campuses

Jillian M. Duquaine-Watson, Mothering by Degrees: Single Mothers and the Pursuit of Postsecondary Education

Scott Frickel, Mathieu Albert, and Barbara Prainsack, eds., Investigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Theory and Practice across Disciplines

Gordon Hutner and Feisal G. Mohamed, eds., A New Deal for the Humanities: Liberal Arts and the Future of Public Higher Education

Adrianna Kezar and Daniel Maxey, eds., Envisioning the Faculty for the Twenty-First Century: Moving to a Mission-Oriented and Learner-Centered Model

Ryan King-White, ed., Sport and the Neoliberal University: Profit, Politics, and Pedagogy

Dana M. Malone, From Single to Serious: Relationships, Gender, and Sexuality on American Evangelical Campuses

Empowering Men of Color on Campus

Building Student Community in Higher Education

Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith

Rutgers University Press

New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Brooms, Derrick R., author. | Clark, Jelisa, 1987– author. | Smith, Matthew, 1987– author.

Title: Empowering men of color on campus : building student community in higher education / Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, Matthew Smith.

Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, [2018] | Series: The American campus | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017053399 | ISBN 9780813594767 (hardback) | ISBN 9780813594750 (paperback) | ISBN 9780813594774 (epub) | ISBN 9780813594798 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: African American men—Education (Higher) | Hispanic American men—Education (Higher) | Minorities—Education (Higher)—United States. | Academic achievement—United States. | Brothers for United Success (Program) | BISAC: EDUCATION / Students & Student Life. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Hispanic American Studies. | PSYCHOLOGY / Ethnopsychology. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Men’s Studies. | EDUCATION / Higher. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies.

Classification: LCC LC2781 .B758 2018 | DDC 378.1/982—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017053399

A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright © 2018 by Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is fair use as defined by U.S. copyright law.

www.rutgersuniversitypress.org

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Men of Color in Higher Education

Chapter 2. Race, Resilience, and Naming One’s Own Reality in the Transition to College

Chapter 3. Building Community from Cultural Wealth

Chapter 4. Engaging and Empowering Black and Latino Men through Leadership

Chapter 5. (Re)Imagining and (Re)Writing the Narrative

Chapter 6. Supporting Men of Color’s Success Efforts

Appendix A: Participants in the Study

Appendix B: Data Analysis, Validation, and Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

References

Index

About the Authors

Introduction

All too often, Black and Latino male students transition to college campuses unsure of their plight and how they might succeed. They are caught somewhere within an extensive developmental web of continuing to learn who they are, trying to belong in college, performing well academically, establishing meaningful experiences on campus, developing positive relationships, and earning enough credits to graduate. Across the vast literature on Students of Color¹ in higher education, these arenas are the focus of much research. Yet for Men of Color, the challenges they face are manifold, and their opportunities for success are delimited. But what we argue—in practice, service, teaching, and writing—is that acknowledging the problems they face, though critical, is not enough. A plethora of research literature and discussions center on underachievement, and some also posit Students of Color as problems. While we acknowledge these challenges and discussions, our charge is threefold. First, we share a critical concern for identifying and supporting what works for Youth of Color across the K-20 pipeline. Second, we share a desire for positive youth development, which necessarily includes personal and educational success. And third, we share a belief in the power of community.

Individually and collectively, we have served and continue to serve as youth workers, counselors, supporters, advocates, mentors, coaches, kin, and even surrogate parents in some cases to a range of students in general, and young Men of Color more specifically. We believe that how youth think about themselves is connected to the environments they reside in and navigate, the relationships they develop and sustain, and the institutions they engage with (or those that engage them). Thus, in many ways, we take a holistic approach to our work to develop relationships with youth based on their strengths and assets. This approach helps deepen our connections with them and values their cultural wealth—from their own personhood to their families and to their communities. Within our own educational experiences, we found school to be a space that felt like home; it was a place where our thirst for knowledge was supported and a place where we were challenged academically and uplifted. But we know for many Students of Color, especially Black and Latino males, schools are not always warm and welcoming places. Despite the great potential of schools, they also can be places where students are stereotyped, marginalized, and limited. However, they also can be places where students are uplifted and supported, particularly when we take heed of the unique needs of the students we serve. We developed the current study to investigate many of these critical points for Men of Color in college.

Empowering Men of Color on Campus takes a close look at the interiorities of Men of Color at Schomburg University.² In particular, we specifically talk with and learn from Black and Latino male students about their experiences in college in general, how they think about themselves and their male peers, and their engagement in Brothers for United Success (B4US), a male-centered program on campus. Our study presents findings of our qualitative investigation of engagement on campus and how this impacts their relationships, senses of self, and out-of-classroom experiences. In developing our study, we wanted to know what factors play a role in helping Black and Latino male students garner educational success and, more important, how participating in B4US might contribute to their successes. Additionally, we wanted to know how the men made meaning from their race and gender identities on campus, including their masculine identity and manhood constructs. The goal of this work is to add to the canon of what we know and what we need to know about our male Students of Color and how we can take specific, intentional actions geared toward enhancing and improving their success efforts and success opportunities on college campuses.

Our concerns as researchers, practitioners, and community activists are in supporting youth’s personal development—academically, socially, personally, and professionally. We see involvement in college and in the community as key tools to engage youth in ways that speak to their holistic selves. Based on our own experiences and work, we know that involvement matters in how students experience college. Involvement also can play a critical role in providing students with opportunities to access and provide support, build relationships, and grow. In fact, students’ involvement on campus can provide them with a supportive environment that can help bolster their persistence, improve their academic performance and engagement, and enhance their resilience. Also, given the context of their involvement, students can be exposed to a variety of individuals with whom they experience and learn to navigate cross-cultural dialogue, interactions, and associations. Thus for Men of Color, engaging on campus in male-centered spaces (like B4US, the Urban Male Initiative, or the Black and Latino Male Initiative programs, to name a few³) allow them opportunities to develop friendships, build their social networks, and explore multiple facets of their identities (such as race and gender). We know our students do not leave their communities, or families, behind when they enter our institutions and college campuses. Similarly, we know they are not finished products or static individuals; they are inquisitive, engaging, simultaneously strong and vulnerable, committed, conscious, reticent, and adventurous. Additionally, even through great challenges and obstacles, they also are believers—in themselves as well as others, even as they learn to believe.

We have a lot to learn from our students, but we have to be willing to engage them in critical conversations from their own situated standpoints. Our students are quite adept at identifying their needs, but the question remains about whether we are willing to listen and activate changes on their behalf. For instance, the recent #BlackOnCampus campaign⁴—where Black students and their allies, across multiple colleges and universities, demanded that administrators assume accountability and address and change racial hostility on campus—provides us with a great learning opportunity. In sum, students want to be engaged, both socially and academically; they demand that they are respected and valued members of the college environment; and they want their voices to matter. To say it plainly, students have declared that they will not be silent about their experiences, and in places like the University of Missouri, Ithaca College, Yale University, University of California at Los Angeles, and Virginia Commonwealth University (to name only a few), they have taken a stand against racism on campus.⁵ Students have organized rallies, staged walkouts, conducted sit-ins, used performing arts and spoken word, created lists of wants (and demands), and called for administrative and cultural changes at many institutions.

All these actions signal that our college campuses cannot offer rhetoric that is not supported in action. It is much easier to state a concern regarding students’ well-being than it is to commit oneself, or an institution, to action that helps ensure the quality of their experiences. What we know is that the racial climates, environments, and cultures of U.S. colleges and universities have direct correlations to academic success and how students feel supported—their sense of belonging (or lack thereof) and their persistence efforts (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Strayhorn, 2012).⁶ Thus investigating how students experience college is critical for better understanding their plights, especially those who too often find themselves placed at or relegated to the margins on campus. The changing demographics of wider society will have implications for colleges and universities regarding their organization, function, and investments. Ultimately, these changes and the ongoing demands and needs of our students are powerful forces that call for educators, administrators, and stakeholders to position educational institutions to better serve our students.

Why This Book?

Despite the litany of challenges educational institutions face—such as funding, facilities, diversity, and governance—education is the single most important function of local government. Given the way that U.S. society is structured, education remains the most effective pathway for social mobility and plays a pivotal role in developing youth to earn gainful employment in our society. However, more than sixty years after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools were inherently unequal, a majority of Students of Color attend schools that are segregated by race and class and lack adequate funding and resources.⁷ In schools where the student population is considered diverse, there remains a disparity in experiences and outcomes. The inability to effectively educate significant populations within our society speaks to a systematic issue across public education. Improving the educational experience for Men of Color is important for two reasons. First, it grants them their civil right to an equal education. Our society has a moral obligation to provide equitable education to all students. Second, we equip these young men to share in our struggle to change policies and institutions within our society that have proven to be inequitable.

Higher education professionals often look at K-12 institutions as failing to adequately prepare students for college. The recent past has shown us clearly that our colleges and universities need to develop new and innovative partnerships with local communities and K-12 schools to help improve student outcomes. These partnerships also can aid students’ preparation, close students’ knowledge gap about higher education, and help students transition to college. As demographics in the United States continue to change, and students arrive on college campuses in various states of preparedness, we must ask ourselves if our colleges and universities can and are willing to educate students they were not created to serve. Black and Latino males face many challenges while navigating their educational experiences, such as poor teacher quality, deteriorating schools, unequal funding, and disproportionate discipline. But despite these challenges, many Black and Latino males successfully navigate the terrain of K-12 schools and find themselves on college campuses. We can learn from these students’ experiences, especially with regard to the support and advocacy that helps engender their success.

Empowering Men of Color on Campus highlights the important role that communities play in the lives of Men of Color. The book challenges the idea that Men of Color must leave their communities and assimilate into the college culture. Instead, it centers our attention on the important role that communities play in student success—both on campus and beyond. By examining the experiences of Men of Color in a male-centered program, our book challenges educators and practitioners to affirm the communities students bring with them to college and to cultivate communities on our campuses that will lead to students’ success. Importantly, as will be revealed, many of the young men in this study define their successes by what they accomplish in the classroom and the contributions they make to their communities. Consequently, as we affirm their communities and honor their skills and abilities, we have terrific opportunities to develop men equipped to combat the cyclical inequities in our society. As Frederick Douglass (1855) once claimed, It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Of course, a critical question that must be asked is, In what ways do our educational institutions care (or dare) to contribute to the development of young Men of Color?

If we have any hope of closing the opportunity gap in the United States, we must address some of the shortcomings of higher education, such as the lack of progress and failure to educate Men of Color successfully. The success of Boys and Men of Color is critical to our college campuses and our society. Too often, the experiences of Men of Color in education are framed around their poor educational and social outcomes. Recently, there has been an unprecedented amount of attention focused on improving the outcomes for boys and Men of Color. We see policies initiated at the local, state, and federal levels, such as Zones of Hope⁸ in local communities, male-centered programs in higher education, and My Brother’s Keeper⁹ initiatives at the state and federal levels in addition to single-sex classrooms and schools in K-12 environments, and partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions. However, many of these interventions often are underresourced and unsustainable, and the educators who lead them are not equipped with the necessary skills and experience to engage young Men of Color effectively. Additionally, and even more troublesome, many of these efforts and initiatives lack strong gender analysis and, as a result, they oftentimes silence, erase, or make invisible the experiences of Girls of Color in similar circumstances. Thus we believe this book comes at a critical time. We can no longer accept institutions that promote the success of Men of Color as a priority but string together underresourced and uninformed initiatives. The need for an informed response rooted in theory and encompassing the voices and lives of the young men we serve is more crucial than ever.

Empowering Men of Color on Campus examines an institutionalized response to the challenges Men of Color face. By examining the experiences of students in B4US, educators and practitioners can discover strategies they can use to develop asset-based programs that can be moved to scale and improve the outcomes for Boys and Men of Color throughout the educational pipeline. The critical theory used to examine the experiences of the men in this study emphasizes the need for educators to dare to do things differently. The hope is that by reading this book, taking heed to the research approach, and appreciating the men’s voices and experiences, education stakeholders will be inspired—or even compelled—to respond differently and challenge the way we do education.

As critical race scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings (2013) has reminded us, stakes are high for students in the twenty-first century, and this is especially true for Students of Color and their communities.¹⁰ We must reimagine institutional values, how we create and facilitate curriculum, how we develop and implement policies, and just as importantly, how we train educators and practitioners for working with these student populations. By shifting the education lens away from individualistic values and toward building community—and no longer looking at certain communities outside of our institutions as the problem but instead as a valuable resource—we can begin to change a system that was not created with everyone in mind. Said differently, we can make significant shifts in our institutions by placing a high(er) value on all of our students and their success and approaching them from a standpoint of love, care, and concern. Without doubt, how we engage them and develop programs for them would look fundamentally different with these positions as our starting points.

Overview of the Book

This book investigates three core issues regarding how Black and Latino males build community on campus. The topic of educational success has been described as elusive for many of these men, and at the same time, it is identified as a necessary endeavor for success in U.S. society. Thus chapter 1 provides a brief overview of Black and Latino males in the educational pipeline. In the first portion of the chapter, we identify a number of challenges that these students face throughout their schooling experiences. This section is intentionally brief for two primary reasons. First, there are a plethora of studies that identify various barriers and obstacles that Black and Latino males face, but providing a lengthy description of these hurdles would take up a considerable amount of space. However, at the same time, it would be irresponsible for us not to acknowledge some of the challenges that these students face. Second, this book is framed using an asset-based approach. Therefore, we highlight the challenges so that readers can appreciate with an even sharper eye the strength, resilience, and persistence that Black and Latino men develop, enhance, strategize, and deploy as they strive for success. In this chapter, we also provide the outline for and focus of the study and introduce our two major theoretical frameworks: critical race theory (CRT) and community cultural wealth. We blend these two constructs to analyze the students’ experiences and meaning making and to theorize community as capital. Additionally, we incorporate community cultural wealth throughout the book to explicate the men’s strengths and assets relative to the varying foci of each chapter.

Chapter 2 utilizes the first theoretical construct of the study, CRT, which pays particular attention to how the men experience Schomburg University. We explore the men’s experiences through their transitions to college, including their family support and peer connections, and their experiences in the Summer Bridge program. In centering the men’s voices and meaning making, we also explore their understandings and perceptions of themselves as students and their efforts toward success.

Chapter 3 pays particular attention to the second theoretical construct of the study, community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), and the importance of community for students. The chapter includes a discussion of how the students narrate the significance of participating in B4US and how they built and benefited from community. In particular, we pay close attention to how students make meaning of their engagement in B4US and how they believe it matters to their bonding relationships, which we discuss as brotherhood. We also examine how their narratives and relationships speak to their identities and personal development.

Chapter 4 focuses on the men’s leadership experiences both on and off campus. In discussing their time with B4US, the men weaved in narratives that amplified their own individual needs and how they meshed with B4US and the wider community—both the campus community and the local communities. The men discussed the reasons they decided to lead, or serve in a leadership role, and how they made meaning from their leadership experiences. Primarily, the men shared that they learned even more about themselves and the community and gained valuable skills through their experiences. They connected their leadership to their sociocultural capital and, at the same time, shed light on their newly developed leadership capital.

Chapter 5 explores the men’s stories as powerful critical counternarratives to the denigrating and diminishing dominant narratives of Men of Color in higher education—which vacillates between the students’ apathy toward education, or oppositional culture, and imposter status on campus. Here we pay attention to the students’ masculine identities and manhood constructs, especially as they are featured in some of the B4US programming efforts