Marissa C. Vasquez - Böcker

In this sixty-seventh anniversary year of the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case that outlawed segregation in the nation’s public schools, research reveals that schools have undergone significant re-segregation. The anguish that many of us feel about this incredible failure of public policy underscores the layered aspect of achieving racial equality in America. In Florida, and across the nation, the steps that have been taken to implement affirmative action in higher education have been under constant attack by conservatives, and a series of actions by various state and federal courts have resulted in reduced access and enrollment of students of color in several states. In 1999, Governor Jeb Bush used his authority to redefine affirmative action in his state by issuing an executive order that established the One Florida Initiative (OFI). Bush’s claim that the OFI was intended to increase diversity and opportunities for people of color in Florida’s state university system appears to be contradicted by findings that minority representation actually decreased in most of the state universities after the policy was implemented. Hilton and colleagues provide a cogent analysis of the effects of the OFI on enrollment patterns in the state’s public law schools to help us understand how changes in public policy can have detrimental effects on particular communities. The research is both enriched and complicated by the inclusion of the two law schools: Florida A&M and Florida International Universities, both of which are minority-serving institutions (MSIs). These schools were developed independently of the OFI but had a potential effect on the level of diversity that can be calculated across the system. The use of critical race theory offers an approach that will prove unnerving to some readers, but is one that provided insights that may not have been revealed through a different framework.

Awarded the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Edited Volume Book of the Year 2025As the transfer disparity persists among Latina/o/x community college students and continues to widen for those seeking to complete their baccalaureate degree, we asked ourselves three questions:(1) How do Latina/o/x community college students navigate the transfer preparation and decision-making process?(2) Once at the university, how do Latina/o/x transfer students negotiate their identities and lived experiences as they persist towards graduation and beyond? (3) What policies, practices, and programs at both two-and four-year institutions facilitate access, persistence, and completion for Latina/o/x community college/transfer students?These reflections prompted us to seek answers. This is the first edited book to provide much needed theoretical and empirical insights on Latina/o/x students who enter postsecondary education through the community college.Our book offers a comprehensive outlook on the pre- and post-transfer experiences of Latina/o/x students written by scholars and scholar practitioners working in the field of higher education. In addition, we include specific sections that speak directly to policies, practices, and theory that address transfer pathways for Latina/o/x community college and transfer students.