How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy

"I feel like they act like they're so diverse and multicultural.This is not a representation of how it is for people who go here."

"I know of several occasions, if it weren't for several faculty of color, I don't know how I would have made it from one day to the next." -- from student interviews

Have three decades of integration and multicultural initiatives in higher education delivered a better education to all students? Are majority and minority students reaping similar benefits, specifically in predominantly white colleges? Do we know what a multicultural campus should look like, and how to design one that is welcoming to all students and promotes a learning environment?

Through a unique qualitative study involving seven colleges and universities considered national models of commitment to diversity, this book presents the views and voices of minority students on what has been achieved and what remains to be done.

The direct quotations that form the core of this book give voice to Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and bi-racial students. They offer in their own words their perceptions of their campus cultures and practices, the tensions they encounter and what works for them.

Rather than elaborating or recommending specific models or solutions, this book aims to provide insights that will enable the reader better to understand and articulate the issues that need to be addressed to achieve a well-adapted multicultural campus.

Presidents, academic affairs professionals, student affairs personnel and faculty concerned with equity and diversity will find this book helpful and enlightening.