College Students' Experiences of Power and Marginality

Elizabeth M. Lee is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ohio University.Chaise LaDousa is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Hamilton College.

"Lee and LaDousa’s important and well-edited volume brings to light the experiences of students who embody ‘diversity’ through insightful and nuanced qualitative accounts. Each account provides a unique window into students’ highly varied experiences at college and the complex interplay of forces that shape relations of power and emergent forms of marginality on college campuses. The compelling stories brought together in this volume vividly illustrate the deeply contextual nature of how ‘diversity’ is produced, negotiated, and experienced in institutions of higher education in America. The volume should be required reading for higher education administrators and faculty, and will be a valuable resource for all who seek to understand and truly confront the forms of power and marginalization that underlie the deployment of diversity policies in higher education today."--Kathleen D. Hall, Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania"College Students’ Experiences of Power and Marginality takes a long overdue look at the full diversity of students who occupy today’s college campuses. This rich compilation by leading scholars of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and higher education gives readers insight into how students understand and manage their positions in complex status hierarchies—as well as the costs of pervasive inequalities."--Laura Hamilton, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California-Merced

• Introduction: Power and Marginality on CampusElizabeth M. LeePart One: Identities in Practice At the intersection of race and class: An autoethnographic study on the experiences of a Southeast Asian American college student Kimberly A. Truong, Tryan L. McMickens, and Ronald E. L. Brown "I Kind of Found My People": Latino/a College Students’ Search for Social Integration on CampusSandi Kawecka Nenga, Guillermo A. Alvarado, and Claire S. Blyth Constructing "Hawaiian," Post-Racial Narratives, and Social Boundaries at a Predominantly White UniversityDaniel Eisen "That’s What Makes Our Friendships Stronger": Supportive Friendships Based on Both Racial Solidarity and Racial DiversityJanice McCabePart Two: Institutional Interactions around Power and Marginality Crisscrossing Boundaries: Variation in Experiences with Class Marginality among Lower-Income, Black Undergraduates at an Elite CollegeAnthony Abraham Jack Les Miraculés: "The Magical Image of the Permanent Miracle"—Constructed Narratives of Self and Mobility from Working-Class Students at an Elite CollegeAllison L. Hurst and Deborah M. Warnock Pushed in or Pulled Out? How Organizational Factors Shape the Social and Extra-curricular Experiences of First-generation StudentsJenny M. Stuber Homo Academicus at Play: An Ethnographic Study of Becoming College Men in a First Year Residence HallJane M. Jensen and Karin Ann Lewis Diversity Does Not Mean Equality: De Facto Rules that Maintain Status Inequality among Black and White Fraternity MenRashawn Ray and Bryant Best Being "the Gay" on Campus: Developing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or Queer identities in a college contextElizabeth M. Lee and Chaise LaDousa