Student activists continue to challenge institutions of higher education to address instances of oppression and injustice. In this chapter, we discuss recent examples of racial justice activism within higher education. We then offer recommendations for institutional leaders and administrators to consider when engaging with students focused on…

This article explores intersectionality and solidarity in racial justice activism. Intersectionality is important for building solidarity and critiquing the structures that make racial justice activism necessary. Through framing intersectionality, situating students' role in racial justice activism, and exploring challenges to forge solidarity, we…

Many of the conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education rightly focus on the experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students and how to support them on their educational journey. Fewer of the conversations involve naming and interrogating the oppressive systems that cause these students to need…

White defensiveness in response to racial justice education has increasingly been understood through the "white fragility" framework. This study puts forth a new framework that instead identifies a typology of white defensive moves that actively work to uphold and fortify the white racial contract. Inspired by Solórzano and…

Emergent issues relating to equity and inclusion have highlighted the systematic and structural inequities experienced by society, which can deeply affect our student populations. While certain events have shone a light on the overt disparities between social, ethnic, and racial groups, they have also offered academic librarians an opportunity to…

In higher education settings, minority BIPOC students have a harder time attaining wellness compared to their majority student counterparts. This may impact their level of functioning, leading to an overall unpleasant college experience. The covert and overt racism, injustice, and social unrest that exist in today's society hinders students from…

Neoliberalism continues to exacerbate systemic racism and restricts efforts to address racial and social justice issues. Consequently, there has not only been an increase of public concern, but students are constantly driven to organize around their experiences. Asian American students are currently and have historically been one of these…

Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to algorithms that predict college-student success to inform various decisions, including those related to admissions, budgeting, and student-success interventions. Because predictive algorithms rely on historical data, they capture societal injustices, including racism. In this study, we examine…

University students are increasingly coming together to take action for racial justice and equity. Anti-racist student organizing includes how students collectively work to address racism and oppression at their institutions or beyond through sociopolitical engagement and action (e.g., protests, political education). Minority-serving institutions…

Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to algorithms that predict college-student success to inform various decisions, including those related to admissions, budgeting, and student-success interventions. Because predictive algorithms rely on historical data, they capture societal injustices, including racism. In this study, we examine…

In this article, we discuss several recent examples of racial justice activism that has taken place within higher education, and what institutional response has looked like to those experiences. We offer recommendations for institutional leaders and administrators to consider when engaging with students focused on racial justice activism.

Post-colonial higher education contexts experience a never-ending recuperation from the multiple violences imposed by colonisation. Coloniality has largely been successful in maintaining a hegemonic hold by white settler colonisers in various facets of higher education despite attempts to decolonise this sector and attempts at transformation. The…

Racism has been interwoven in implicit and explicit ways within historically white sorority and fraternity life (SFL) communities since their inception. However, few studies have provided insight to how practitioners address the realities of racism in SFL broadly, or specifically how SFL practitioners have attended to race-based incidents on their…

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed an abundance of student protests at colleges and universities in the United States. Many of these protests cluster around the issues of white supremacy and anti-Black racism as they function in higher education settings--issues that have historically and contemporarily plagued United States colleges and…

The increased national focus on racism and white supremacy has encouraged social workers to look more closely at racism in the profession, which includes racism that occurs in social work education. This study specifically examines social work students' experiences with racism in social work classes. A convenience sample of current and former…