Historically, higher education institutions have incorporated diverse disciplines into the academic structure in part to respond to student and societal demands as well as to signal institutional support for diversity and multiculturalism; one form of this curricular adaptation is the adoption of culture and identity fields (CIFs). Many of these fields have become woven into the fabric of higher education and contribute to a diverse and multicultural curriculum for all students. Yet much work on the presence and persistence of these fields within a changing higher education landscape is outdated and focused exclusively on presence or absence; such a measure may inadequately gauge the power and place of these disciplines in today's turbulent economic and political context. This article argues that deeper understandings of CIFs' relative presence, evidenced by their location within academic structure, human resources, leadership and degree-granting capacity and production, can enhance our understanding of the security of these critical fields. Exploring CIFs, and highlighting Chicano/Hispanic Studies, within Texas R1 institutions, this comparative case study of academic units utilizes document analysis to examine the relative presence of CIFs across institutions. Findings reveal complex variation in how CIFs are structured, resourced and present and point to sources of both strength and concern for CIF power and place. This work indicates that more complex conceptions can elucidate the extent to which institutions adopt and maintain these fields tangibly as well as symbolically.