Remedying Unequal Access: The Role of Outreach in Shaping College Opportunities for Underserved Students

The discourse regarding affirmative action in California, stemming in recent years from the passing of SB 1 in 1995 and Proposition 209 in 1996, has major implications for African Americans’ struggle for higher education in California. This legislation signals a need to understand where African Americans are now and how to identify strategies and practices that are efficacious in improving access as well as preparing these students for competitive college eligibility. In an attempt to illuminate the current status of African American students in California, this article analyzes patterns and trends of academic preparation at the secondary level and undergraduate enrollment to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Intervention programs and policies and a range of strategies necessary to create a pipeline to college for students who are both disadvantaged and academically qualified are also discussed. Such efforts and continued research have become critically important due to recent reductions in outreach funding, which have forced California institutions to do more with fewer resources

Unmasking Athlete Microaggressions: Division I Student-Athletes’ Engagement With Members of the Campus Community

The purpose of this study was to explore student-athletes’ (n = 122) perceptions of discriminatory acts by professors and other students at a large Division I university in the western United States. The majority of respondents reported either positive or neutral experiences with other campus community members, but a small number described instances where professors and other students questioned their intellectual abilities, academic motivation, or treatment by the university. The author introduces the label “athlete microaggressions” to classify and validate the existence of insensitive and demeaning behaviors directed at student-athletes. The author identifies new directions for future work that builds on this research

Remedying Unequal Access: The Role of Outreach in Shaping College Opportunities for Underserved Students

The discourse regarding affirmative action in California, stemming in recent years from the passing of SB 1 in 1995 and Proposition 209 in 1996, has major implications for African Americans’ struggle for higher education in California. This legislation signals a need to understand where African Americans are now and how to identify strategies and practices that are efficacious in improving access as well as preparing these students for competitive college eligibility. In an attempt to illuminate the current status of African American students in California, this article analyzes patterns and trends of academic preparation at the secondary level and undergraduate enrollment to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Intervention programs and policies and a range of strategies necessary to create a pipeline to college for students who are both disadvantaged and academically qualified are also discussed. Such efforts and continued research have become critically important due to recent reductions in outreach funding, which have forced California institutions to do more with fewer resources

NCAA Division I Athletes’ Engagement in Educationally Sound Activities: A Review of the Research

Today’s academic support centers will have to forge a more authentically responsive approach to address the needs of intercollegiate athletes in U.S. higher education. This approach must include new and different ways of thinking about all athletes and the quality of their educational experience. This article presents findings from a review of a steadily growing body of research on the benefits of educationally sound engagement activities for Division I athletes. The review indicates that participating in purposeful engagement activities enhances athletes’ personal and academic self-concept and their collective learning and communication skills. These academic-related activities for athletes are conditional on sport demands and the campus climate. The article concludes with an introduction to the Career Transition Scorecard, a data-driven approach to fostering evidence-based practices among practitioners that can improve academic engagement activities among athletes by race/ethnicity, gender, and type of sport

Gender, Sport, and Higher Education: The Impact of Student -Faculty Interactions on Academic Achievement

This article ascertained the relationship between student athletes' gender and the impact of specific forms of student athlete-faculty interaction on academic achievement. Data were drawn from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's 2000 Freshman Survey and 2004 Follow-Up Survey. The sample includes 2,952 student athletes attending four-year, predominantly white institutions. Females comprised 57 percent (N=I,688) of the sample and males 43 percent (N=1,264). Regression results revealed that both male and female student athletes' academic success is to some extent contingent upon the specific nature of their interaction with faculty. The findings also indicate that male and female student-athletes have minimal differences in their various forms of contact with faculty. The implications of these findings were discussed among student-athletes, faculty, and advisors in order to improve their roles in establishing meaningful relationships with female and male student athletes inside and outside the classroom

NCAA Division I Athlete STEM Graduates: Stereotypes, Microaggressions, Race, and Gender

The purpose of this study was to explore how NCAA Division I athlete STEM graduates viewed their undergraduate experiences with members of the campus community such as academic advisors, other athletes, faculty, nonathlete students, and coaches. Using several interpretive frameworks, this study found that stereotypical assumptions, whether positive or negative, were conditional upon the athlete’s gender. Moreover, male athletes reported feeling a level of acceptance from campus members, although this same experience was eventually interpreted as token or conditional acceptance, largely because they were subjected to salient athlete microaggressions and considered exceptional but not entirely accepted by the academic community. The study also discovered that athletes who pursued degrees in STEM fields engaged in in-group stereotyping of other athletes, and some were aware of the social significance of race and intersectional identities in shaping the quality of their college experiences. These findings have implications for faculty, student affairs professionals, and others who frequently interact with college athletes and are committed to creating more equitable educational environments

Dis/abled Student Campusmaking: Sites of New Possibility

Scholars have attempted to reveal the structural barriers that dis/abled students cope with and navigate during college, but it remains unclear how these students interpret their experiences on campus and what strategies they employ to manage and respond to unsupportive and hostile campus climates. In this paper, we describe freedom movements that sought to secure equal access to opportunities and rights for people with dis/abilities, and we highlight and explain forms of resistance among d/Deaf and dis/abled postsecondary students. To do so, we draw on dis/ability critical race theory and also advance the concept of campusmaking, which refers to the ways that students navigate complex campus spaces and create sites of togetherness and resistance. We discuss broader structural and climate issues facing college students with dis/abilities, particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. In so doing, we gain insight into dis/abled student campusmaking amid and in spite of ableist and racist postsecondary contexts. We conclude with a discussion of the gaps in existing research and the questions that warrant further study