How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy

"I feel like they act like they're so diverse and multicultural.This is not a representation of how it is for people who go here."

"I know of several occasions, if it weren't for several faculty of color, I don't know how I would have made it from one day to the next." — from student interviews

Have three decades of integration and multicultural initiatives in higher education delivered a better education to all students? Are majority and minority students reaping similar benefits, specifically in predominantly white colleges? Do we know what a multicultural campus should look like, and how to design one that is welcoming to all students and promotes a learning environment?

Through a unique qualitative study involving seven colleges and universities considered national models of commitment to diversity, this book presents the views and voices of minority students on what has been achieved and what remains to be done.

The direct quotations that form the core of this book give voice to Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and bi-racial students. They offer in their own words their perceptions of their campus cultures and practices, the tensions they encounter and what works for them.

Rather than elaborating or recommending specific models or solutions, this book aims to provide insights that will enable the reader better to understand and articulate the issues that need to be addressed to achieve a well-adapted multicultural campus.

Presidents, academic affairs professionals, student affairs personnel and faculty concerned with equity and diversity will find this book helpful and enlightening.

"I feel like they act like they're so diverse and multicultural.This is not a representation of how it is for people who go here.""I know of several occasions, if it weren't for several faculty of color, I don't know how I would have made it from one day to the next." — from student interviews Have three decades of integration and multicultural initiatives in higher education delivered a better education to all students? Are majority and minority students reaping similar benefits, specifically in predominantly white colleges? Do we know what a multicultural campus should look like, and how to design one that is welcoming to all students and promotes a learning environment? Through a unique qualitative study involving seven colleges and universities considered national models of commitment to diversity, this book presents the views and voices of minority students on what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The direct quotations that form the core of this book give voice to Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and bi-racial students. They offer in their own words their perceptions of their campus cultures and practices, the tensions they encounter and what works for them. Rather than elaborating or recommending specific models or solutions, this book aims to provide insights that will enable the reader better to understand and articulate the issues that need to be addressed to achieve a well-adapted multicultural campus. Presidents, academic affairs professionals, student affairs personnel and faculty concerned with equity and diversity will find this book helpful and enlightening.

George D. Kuh

The distinctive appeal of this volume is the clarity and conviction of the students of color who share some of the highs and lows of their college experience. Their voices are compelling and often sharp reminders of how much further many predominantly White campuses must go to become affirming learning environments for all students.

Lemuel Watson is Associate Professor of Higher Education, Clemson University.

Melvin Cleveland Terrell is Vice President Emeritus at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. From 1988 to 2008, Dr. Melvin Cleveland Terrell served as Vice President for Student Affairs at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois, where he remains Professor of Counselor Education.

Doris J. Wright is Associate Professor of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Kansas State University at Manhattan.

Fred A. Bonner II is Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration and Associate Dean of Faculties at Texas A&M University.

Michael Cuyjet is a Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville, where he has been teaching and mentoring students in the College Student Personnel program since 1993. Prior to that, he served more than 20 years as a student affairs practitioner and an affiliate/adjunct assistant professor at Northern Illinois University and at the University of Maryland - College Park. During his 17 years at UofL he has also served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Acting Associate Provost for Student Life and Development. His research areas include underrepresented college student populations and competencies of student affairs new professionals. He is the editor and one of the authors of the 2006 book, African American Men in College, and a coauthor of the 2002 book, How Minority Students Experience College. He has edited two other books, including the 1997 publication, Helping African American Men Succeed in College; published more than twenty other journal articles or book chapters; and has made more than 100 presentations at national and regional conferences.

James Gold is Professor Emeritus, College Student Personnel Administration Program, SUNY Buffalo.

Donna Rudy is Vice President for Student Services, Kellogg Community College.

Dawn R. Person is Professor of Counseling and Student Development in Higher Education, California State University at Long Beach.