This Tuesday Tip is brought to you by Travon Robinson, Acting Chief Diversity Officer.
When you talk with many of our Black students on campus, words that are often associated with their college experience include microaggressions, culture shock, the lack of Black student and faculty representation, being targeted by police, learning from a Eurocentric teaching style, minimal cultural resources, and an unwelcoming community. As educators and administrators, are we doing what is necessary to adapt our processes to support the academic success of our growing diverse populations?
According to “Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of African American College Students,” “campus racial climate is broadly defined as the overall racial environment of the college campus. Understanding and analyzing the collegiate racial climate is an important part of examining college access, persistence, graduation, and transfer to and through graduate and professional school for African American students.”
If you want to learn more about how we can better support our Black students, you are invited to attend our upcoming Conversations on Diversity and Inclusion, “What does it mean to #AdultWhileBlack and what does this look like on a historically white college campus?” Join us February 3, Noon – 12:50 p.m. (Zoom Link) for an engaging dialogue with Sara Kutten, Ed.D., (University of Oregon, Director of Student Services) about racial identity and campus climate. Together, we’ll look at new research findings and identify avenues to better support the success of Black college students.
