Jonathan A. McElderry – författare

Shaking the Table provides perspectives and narratives of practitioners working in, or who have worked in, identity centers. Colleges and universities across the country continue to grapple with supporting students in their marginalized identities, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, ability, socioeconomic status, religious identity, and citizenship status. The creation of spaces and centers to support students in their acclimation, belonging, and identity development has been one way institutions have sought to address the needs of those with marginalized identities. Those working within these spaces have provided students with transformative learning and developmental experiences.Despite this contribution to campus equity and inclusion efforts, the voices and experiences of those engaged in this work are often invisible. In the face of increasing resistance to equity and inclusion work nationally, and the multiple demands placed on the staff in these spaces, it is crucial to center and uplift these voices that are often relegated to the margins. This book features first-person accounts of the complexities, challenges, joy, and resistance practitioners experience while surviving and healing through and from this work.Shaking the Table is a resource of guidance, wisdom, connection, and community for those who share in this labor and who aspire to do this work. It is also a call to action for colleagues, supervisors, and institutional leaders to better understand, champion, and uplift those working in these spaces.

Shaking the Table provides perspectives and narratives of practitioners working in, or who have worked in, identity centers. Colleges and universities across the country continue to grapple with supporting students in their marginalized identities, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, ability, socioeconomic status, religious identity, and citizenship status. The creation of spaces and centers to support students in their acclimation, belonging, and identity development has been one way institutions have sought to address the needs of those with marginalized identities. Those working within these spaces have provided students with transformative learning and developmental experiences.Despite this contribution to campus equity and inclusion efforts, the voices and experiences of those engaged in this work are often invisible. In the face of increasing resistance to equity and inclusion work nationally, and the multiple demands placed on the staff in these spaces, it is crucial to center and uplift these voices that are often relegated to the margins. This book features first-person accounts of the complexities, challenges, joy, and resistance practitioners experience while surviving and healing through and from this work.Shaking the Table is a resource of guidance, wisdom, connection, and community for those who share in this labor and who aspire to do this work. It is also a call to action for colleagues, supervisors, and institutional leaders to better understand, champion, and uplift those working in these spaces.

Still Shaking the Table: Activism, Unity, and Supporting Students is the second volume in the Shaking the Table series, which centers the voices of identity center practitioners navigating increasingly complex, politicized, and constrained higher education environments. As colleges and universities continue to struggle to meaningfully support students across marginalized identities—including race, gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion, and citizenship status—those working within identity-based centers remain at the forefront of advocacy, care, and institutional change, often at great personal and professional cost. Building on the foundation of Shaking the Table, which focused on survival and healing, this volume moves more explicitly into the terrain of campus activism, coalition-building, and sustained support for students. Amid mounting resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts nationwide, practitioners are increasingly asked to navigate competing institutional interests, political pressures, and shifting student needs, while showing up for the communities they serve. Through first-person narratives, contributors illuminate the tensions, contradictions, and possibilities that emerge when identity-centered work exists in opposition to institutional norms and state-level constraints. Organized around three interconnected themes—Navigating Activism, Fostering Unity, and Supporting Students—this volume highlights how practitioners engage in advocacy within and beyond their institutions, wrestle with questions of privilege and intersectionality, and develop responsive practices to meet students’ evolving needs. Across the chapters, authors explore the labor of coalition-building, the emotional toll of identity-based work, and the critical importance of self-reflection, critical hope, and collective care as strategies for longevity. Still Shaking the Table serves as both a mirror and a roadmap: a reflection of the lived realities of identity center practitioners and a guide for those committed to advancing justice-oriented work in higher education. It is a resource for practitioners, scholars, and graduate students, and a call to action for supervisors, senior leaders, and institutions to move beyond performative commitments toward meaningful, accountable support for identity centers and the people who lead them.

Still Shaking the Table: Activism, Unity, and Supporting Students is the second volume in the Shaking the Table series, which centers the voices of identity center practitioners navigating increasingly complex, politicized, and constrained higher education environments. As colleges and universities continue to struggle to meaningfully support students across marginalized identities—including race, gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion, and citizenship status—those working within identity-based centers remain at the forefront of advocacy, care, and institutional change, often at great personal and professional cost. Building on the foundation of Shaking the Table, which focused on survival and healing, this volume moves more explicitly into the terrain of campus activism, coalition-building, and sustained support for students. Amid mounting resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts nationwide, practitioners are increasingly asked to navigate competing institutional interests, political pressures, and shifting student needs, while showing up for the communities they serve. Through first-person narratives, contributors illuminate the tensions, contradictions, and possibilities that emerge when identity-centered work exists in opposition to institutional norms and state-level constraints. Organized around three interconnected themes—Navigating Activism, Fostering Unity, and Supporting Students—this volume highlights how practitioners engage in advocacy within and beyond their institutions, wrestle with questions of privilege and intersectionality, and develop responsive practices to meet students’ evolving needs. Across the chapters, authors explore the labor of coalition-building, the emotional toll of identity-based work, and the critical importance of self-reflection, critical hope, and collective care as strategies for longevity. Still Shaking the Table serves as both a mirror and a roadmap: a reflection of the lived realities of identity center practitioners and a guide for those committed to advancing justice-oriented work in higher education. It is a resource for practitioners, scholars, and graduate students, and a call to action for supervisors, senior leaders, and institutions to move beyond performative commitments toward meaningful, accountable support for identity centers and the people who lead them.

Colleges and universities across the country continue to struggle supporting students with marginalized identities, including (but not limited to) gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, ability level, socio-economic status, religious identity, and citizenship status. The creation of safe and inclusive learning environments necessitates the adoption of equitable policies and practices (McElderry & Hernandez-Rivera, 2019).Therefore, this book can be used as a tool for practitioners to further support students from marginalized identities at PWIs. Grounded in the NASPA/ACPA Core Competencies, this book allows practitioners to share their knowledge and best practices in how they support students of color across the following functional areas in higher education: Student Learning & Development; Social Justice & Inclusion; Health & Wellbeing; Advising & Supporting; Assessment, Evaluation, & Research; Senior/Executive Leadership.