In this article, Carola Suárez-Orozco and colleagues investigate how to improve undocumented undergraduate student experiences across a variety of US campuses. The authors draw on a national survey of diverse undocumented undergraduates attending two- and four-year public and private institutions of higher education. Using an ecological framework that accounts for risk and resilience, Suárez-Orozco and colleagues provide insights into the challenges undocumented undergraduates face and the assets they bring as they navigate their educational contexts. The authors also consider the role of campuses in shaping these experiences and make recommendations, based on quantitative data and the perspectives of students, for creating undocufriendly campuses.

Through interviews with nine Latina/o students enrolled in a 2-year Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), this study examined their interactions with faculty utilizing validation theory as a guiding framework. Findings demonstrate the critical role faculty serve as validating agents and the importance of supporting 2-year HSIs faculty to practice validating experiences. Validating faculty interactions have the potential to increase Latina/o community college student’s sense of belonging, persistence, and academic self-concept.

Undocumented youth face a series of barriers to health and success in their lives, yet many also exhibit incredible resilience and are thriving despite these odds. A critical component of thriving during adulthood is contribution to family and community (Lerner et al., 2002). In this study, a team of (un)documented researchers conducted a multilayered exploration of contribution by examining the findings of a qualitative study of undocumented undergraduates embedded in a PAR Summer Program designed to serve undocumented students at a large public university. We present results from two layers of qualitative data: (a) transcripts from the Summer Program, which revealed important methodological turning points for our design of the embedded qualitative study; (b) two portraits of undocumented undergraduates' visual (identity maps) and verbal (interview) narratives regarding contribution. By crafting a design that allowed undocumented youth to describe their families through visual and verbal narratives, we were able to gather thick descriptions of contribution. We describe both theoretical and methodological turning points in understanding contribution for undocumented young people as we undertook this project. Further, through the analysis of interviews and "family maps" of two undocumented undergraduate participants we explored the role of contribution to their family and community, as an asset to their development and academic success. Results revealed the reciprocal nature of contribution between family and community members, a value we refer to as collective contribution.

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Background Undocumented undergraduates are a growing population in the United States. Despite being shut out from many resources, such as access to federal financial aid and social services, many are thriving by contributing to their families and communities. Few studies to date have taken a strengths-based approach to understand the lives of undocumented young adults or examined their normative developmental experiences. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine how contribution manifests in the lives of Latino undocumented undergraduates and the extent to which they are engaged in and contribute to their families and communities. Research Design This study employed a convergent mixed-methods design in which parallel quantitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed separately. Through mixed methods, this article examines the family and community responsibilities of a sample of N = 797 Latino undocumented undergraduate student survey respondents, along with three portraits of qualitative visual and verbal narratives. Results Results highlight the value of “collective contribution” in Latino undocumented immigrant families. Through quantitative methods, results reveal that the majority of Latino undocumented undergraduates are contributing to their families and communities in significant ways. Qualitative findings reveal ways in which cultural values manifest as the reciprocal contribution between individuals and their families and communities. Further, results reveal the varied ways that Latino undocumented undergraduates engage with their families and communities, exhibiting the characteristics of ideal citizens, despite being denied a pathway to citizenship. Conclusions The results suggest that Latino undocumented college students are thriving and contributing to the society that gives them conflicting messages about how to belong. Yet, they enter postsecondary institutions and continue to remain engaged in their families and communities. Their engagement has important implications for what type of society we will become and for the need to build on these social resources to make our democracy and community stronger, recognizing immigrants as a resource to strengthen the social fabric of our society.

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Given the increase of violence against Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), there is no doubt a need to tackle racialized violence in schools. This phenomenological study draws on semi-structured interviews with school counselors to explore their experiences and practices to disrupt the racialized disciplinary practices that disproportionally target Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color. We draw on theories of racialized organizations and organizational routines to better understand how school counselors make sense of their practices in racialized disciplinary practices that dehumanize and criminalized youth of color. Findings from this study revealed two themes: 1) school counselors’ perceived neutrality towards disciplinary practices and 2) school counselors’ advocacy in racialized school discipline practices. This study offers some implications for professional school counseling organization, counselor educators, and school counselors to inform their anti-racist pedagogy to dismantle racialized punitive practices in schools.