HOME AWAY FROM HOME: CULTURAL PROGRAMMING & SAFE SPACES

FOR BLACK & LATINX STUDENTS

ELIJAH RAY-WES MCCOY, B.A. & B.B.A. ┃ M.ED. CANDIDATE, HIGHER EDUCATION & STUDENT AFFAIRS

✰ WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY ✰

INTRODUCTION
Black and Latinx students have consistently
faced adversity while striving to obtain a post-
secondary education, especially while at
predominately white institutions (PWI). This
has led to the creation of the Universal Context
of Racism theory in higher education which is
used to identify how students felt about race-
related events (Campbell, Carter-Sowell, and
Battle, 2019). Over time, institutions started to
incorporate diversity and multiculturalism as a
part of their mission. This study analyzed
whether safe spaces (or counter spaces) and
cultural programming have helped
marginalized students to gain a sense of
belonging at Western Carolina University.
METHODOLOGY & ANALYSIS
This research sought to answer the following question: do safe spaces and cultural programs impact the
retention rate of people of color at a PWI? To effectively answer this question, an mixed-methods design
was employed for Western Carolina University (PWI). A quantitative electronic survey was sent to
students members of cultural-based student organizations or multicultural Greek-letter organizations
that are geared towards people who identify with the Black or Latinx community. Questions were asked
on a 10-point Likert-type scale and students were asked to choose how the statements resonated with
them. The scale ranged from “strongly disagree” (=0) to “strongly agree” (=10). After completing the
survey, students had the opportunity to elect to participate in a face-to-face interview (qualitative) to
effectively capture the feelings of safe spaces and programming on this campus.
A total of 42 responses were analyzed using the software built into Qualtrics, providing descriptive
statistics for each question. After transcribing the interviews, general inductive coding was used to
generate patterns between both the survey and the interviews. Major patterns discovered, resonating
similar to the literature: social alienation, a discrepancy of faculty/staff support for marginalized
students and majority student satisfaction.
DISCUSSION
Based on the results of the participants, students feel
that safe spaces and cultural programming are necessary
to be had on this campus. Results from these findings
showed a variation between student satisfaction and
social alienation. This finding echoes previous findings on
sociocultural alienation at a predominately white
institution (Loo and Rolison, 1986). This could be a result
of many factors. For example, many of the participants in
the survey reported they are within the ages of 18-19.
Therefore, they are more than likely first-year students
and have not had many interactions to experience
alienation or feel isolated. Also, this could be a result of
other campus factors such as a shift in campus
faculty/staff, administration and external factors like
political climate. However, social alienation and student
satisfaction do not necessarily have a correlation. This
may suggest more research and data needs to be
collected for a longer period of time in order to effectively
capture student attitudes toward campus.

RESULTS IMPLICATIONS & FUTURE STUDIES

BACKGROUND
Institutions portray the ideals that all students
receive the same experiences while attending a four-
year college or university. However, one study
showed minorities typically view the world through a
cultural lens. Black students reported more
discrimination at a PWI versus those who attend a
historically black college or university (HBCU);
(Campbell, Carter-Sowell, and Battle, 2019). In
Garcia’s study, student satisfaction is comprised of
factors such as a “sense of belonging” (Garcia, 2017).
Notwithstanding, one study says minorities
experience sociocultural alienation but doesn’t
necessarily have a correlation in academic
satisfaction (Loo and Rolison, 1986). In the study by
Campbell, the student’s housing situation was not
accessed and could be a call for further study to see if
In the survey, 42 undergraduate students participated, however, only 38 responses could be used for
this study because of 4 students self-reported as “White." According to the literature, African
American/Black and Latinx students at a predominately white institution are more likely to struggle
with social alienation and therefore have decreased satisfaction, as well as, not having a sense of
belonging. The research showed that about 73% of students reported feeling valued as a minority,
19% of students did not feel valued and 8% did
not have any feelings towards being valued as a
student. However, of all participants, 50% of
students reported considering leaving Western
Carolina University because they have
experienced isolation or felt unwelcome. While
intended to be a mixed-method study, only one
interview was conducted. The student participant
said, “if we didn’t put it on, it wouldn’t happen.”
This indicated that he felt campus culture is
prone to only having cultural programs held by
student leaders. However, this data does not
provide conclusive evidence that cultural
programs, or the lack thereof, has any effect on
While this research does tell us a lot about student
perception of campus, one implication of this study
shows that the university departments should re-
evaluate their level of involvement with student
satisfaction. The results showed that overall, students
feel that other students value cultural programs and safe
spaces more than the faculty and staff. If the willingness
to engage in or promote these items for the students
increased, then it would affect campus climate and more
students would feel valued. Factors not accessed in this
study include a student’s housing status and their
undergraduate classification.
REFERENCES
Campbell, S. D., Carter-Sowell, A. R., & Battle, J. S. (2019). Campus climate comparisons in
academic pursuits: How race still matters for african american college students. Group
Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(3), 390-402.

this plays a role in minorities feeling alienation or if
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
discrimination increased. Qualitative studies
dominate the literature on the effects of safe spaces
for Black and Latinx students. This study provides a
the retention rate of marginalized students. Garcia, Crystal E., "Latinx College Student Sense of Belonging: The Role of Campus
Nonetheless, 74% of student respondents
Subcultures" (2017). Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research.
Only undergraduate input received indicated that culture programs and safe spaces
279. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedaddiss/279
Some participants did not complete entire survey have contributed to them staying at Western
Loo, C. M., & Rolison, G. (1986). Alienation of ethnic minority students at a predominantly
68% of participants self-reported as Black
White university. The journal of higher education, 57(1), 58-77.

mixed-method approach to student’s perspectives on Carolina University.

Only one student interview was conducted
this topic.