The number of women, Students of Color, and LGBTQIA+ students enrolled in institutions of higher education have increased significantly over the past several decades (Hanson, 2021; National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). Though gaps in higher education degree completion have improved in recent years, gains for Students of Color have not…

This dissertation examines the role of cultural centers and experiences of microaggressions in shaping the ethnic identity of Asian American undergraduates in U.S. higher education institutions. Utilizing Phinney's model of ethnic identity development, a study with 175 participants revealed a positive correlation between reported microaggressions…

Formalized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have been implemented at predominantly white institutions over the last 50 years to address student demands for equitable campus environments, changing student demographics, and to comply with federal law. This narrative inquiry explored how DEI staff in cultural centers storied their…

The existing landscape of collaboration and partnership-based research involving university writing centers primarily explores joint initiatives with campus libraries, academic programs, and high schools designed to support a variety of student learning objectives. This project is motivated by the increasing demand for partnerships between…

Drawing on focus group, interview, and participant-observer data collected as part of this IRB-approved [19.177] qualitative research project, this dissertation provides insights about how Black American students develop academic identities through coursework and extracurricular involvement in a Black culture center on the campus of a historically…

This study aims to explore the impact of a Disability Cultural Center (DCC) in higher education on disabled students, which aims to assist other campuses considering creating a DCC and to support those DCCs already in existence. Universities should care about supporting disabled students more holistically to increase recruitment, retention, and…

This qualitative study explores the experiences and perspectives of disabled student activists involved in the creation of disability cultural centers (DCCs) on college and university campuses in the United States. The main purpose is to advance recognition of disability as a marginalized student identity on college campuses in need of safe spaces…

This action research study provided insight into a proactive faculty and staff-centered approach facilitated by a Latinx Cultural Center at Guava University System. The purpose of the research study was to develop a faculty and staff-centered initiative that promoted awareness, information, and understanding of student referrals to the Latinx…

Organizational sociologists have long argued that informal and formal rules around emotional displays within the workplace seek to maximize employee effectiveness and productivity; however, these rules have also been observed to have negative consequences in the context of employee emotions. These feeling rules establish the workplace emotional…

African American (also called Black American, or Black) students? performance in higher educational institutes reveal critical issues concerning their matriculation through higher education. A 2014 report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on cohorts of university students from 2004 to 2007 showed the graduation rate of Black…

The purpose of this study was to examine the identity negotiation/shifting experiences of Black women multicultural center administrators as an outsider-within at historically white institutions in the United States. I used a critical lens to explore how eleven Black women multicultural center administrators described their identity…

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act improved access to postsecondary education for disabled students, yet they are still marginalized and leave university at rates 17% higher than nondisabled students (Lombardi & Lalor, 2017). The specific problem is that disabled students face compounding barriers to success, including oppressive…

Cultural centers on college and university campuses in the U.S. are deeply connected to student activism such that institutions were prompted by protests staged by Black, Asian American, and Latinx students to establish the first ethnic-specific centers in the 1970s and the first multicultural centers in the 1980s. Similar to their predecessors…

This study analyzed the president's role in developing centers for the Catholic intellectual tradition on four university campuses and how those centers promote the Catholic intellectual tradition. This study examined reasons for the establishment of the centers for the Catholic intellectual tradition, how the centers for the Catholic intellectual…

The purpose of this basic qualitative research study was to investigate the leadership style that student affairs leaders practiced and whether or not the leadership style contributed to the support of the programming and resources for undergraduate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT+) students at public, four-year institutions. The…