Student Organizations and Institutional Diversity Efforts: A Typology

Summary

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American higher education has become focused on increasing access and success for traditionally underrepresented populations. Despite the myriad of institutional efforts, attention has not been given to the role of student organizations in supporting these efforts. This article looks at the role campus student organizations can play within campus diversity efforts and presents a typology for understanding campus organizations' diversity activities. This typology will aid in organizational self-understanding and in promoting student organizations to become more inclusive of campus diversity efforts.

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Student Organizations and Institutional Diversity Efforts: A Typology

Campus Climate, Diversity and Student Organizations

Research has indicated that the campus climate fostered through both the curriculum and co-curricular life of the campus play a key role in supporting student success and student college persistence (Astin, 1984, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Tinto, 1993). Yet many traditional college campuses and their surrounding communities continue to be perceived as unwelcoming, or at best, neutral to the presence of diverse students (Brown, 1991; Mallory, 1997; Person & Christensen, 1996; Sutton &Kimbrough, 2001). Levine and Cureton (1998) suggest that multiculturalism remains the most unresolved issue on today's college campuses. Many would argue that the context of the college experience, the campus climate, has much to do with both the quality of the experience and persistence to graduation.

In recent years, campuses have devoted significant ...

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