Abstract
Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) of higher education create long-lasting impacts for stakeholders in both intended and unintended ways through the implementation of diversity initiatives. For Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color (BISOC), these impacts can have an even more profound influence on the likelihood of academic success, retention and graduation, physical health and safety, and the overall university experience. As such, campus leaders should diligently consider the potential for unintended impacts that may result from diversity initiatives.
This chapter undertakes an examination of two diversity initiatives: (1) a community scholarship program, and (2) a core curriculum overlay, implemented in recent years at “UNI,” a pseudonym for a specific PWI in the Southern United States. The authors, analyzing UNI’s diversity initiatives as documented in publications and marketing materials, describe the intent as advertised by the institution to stakeholders. Critical diffractive counter readings embedded throughout this chapter offer thoughtful consideration of the initiatives, in addition to impacts resulting from the advertisements and adoption of them. Tools borrowed from Cultural Studies reveal how these initiatives serve to reify existing institutional hierarchies, causing further harm to the BISOC they purport to serve. The two initiatives explored did not directly challenge institutional hegemony at UNI; instead, these interventions have been manifesting unintended negative impacts on the overall culture of the campus community and experiences for BISOC.
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Bryant, E., Roach, W.N., Titus, J.E., Huckaby, M.F. (2021). Troubling Social Justice Interventions for Predominantly White Institutions. In: Mullen, C.A. (eds) Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35858-7_102
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