In this article, Uma Jayakumar investigates the relationship between white individuals' exposure to racial diversity during college and their postcollege cross-cultural workforce competencies. Using survey data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, housed in the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, the author uses structural equation modeling to show that for whites from both segregated and diverse precollege neighborhoods, their postcollege leadership skills and level of pluralistic orientation are either directly or indirectly related to the structural diversity and racial climate of their postsecondary institutions, as well as their level of cross-racial interaction during the college years. The author concludes that postsecondary institutions may provide lasting benefits to white students by promoting a positive racial climate for a racially diverse student body. These findings support the theory put forth by Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin (2002) for explaining the benefits of racial diversity at the postsecondary level. The United States' population increased by 2.8 million between 2004 and 2005, and people of color accounted for 81 percent of the growth (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). At this rate, one in every two U.S. residents will be a designated racial/ethnic "minority" by 2050 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2001). Yet, as we become an increasingly diverse nation and global society, neighborhoods and schools are paradoxically returning to levels of racial segregation not seen since the 1960s (Kozol, 2005

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In this article, Uma Jayakumar, Rican Vue, and Walter Allen present their study of Young Black Scholars (YBS), a community-initiated college preparatory program in Los Angeles. Through in-depth interviews and surveys with twenty-five middle- and higher-income Black college students, they document the positive role of community in facilitating college access. The authors show that students’ perceptions of YBS's support of their college aspirations are qualitatively different than perceptions of their schools’ support. The authors theorize that YBS participants embrace college-going as an act of resistance to deficit-based narratives regarding the racial achievement gap and social reproduction. By drawing on students’ experiences, they put forth a new model of a liberatory college-going process for students of color that leverages community cultural wealth and promotes transformative resistance.

In the context of newly emerging racial backlash with implications for colorblind ideology, the authors explore understandings of race and racism among white students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). They build on Bonilla-Silva’s four frames of colorblind ideology and describe a fifth—the disconnected power-analysis frame. Interviews with 18 white students across three HBCUs revealed that this frame allows students with a limited but growing awareness of racial inequality to more strategically engage with and benefit from an environment where race is salient, while preserving white privilege in the process. The findings underscore the enduring significance of colorblind frames and the need for continued vigilance in naming covert race-coded language that perpetuates white supremacy.

This paper examines how faculty and institutional characteristics shape engaged scholarship. Controlling for faculty dispositions, disciplinary differences, and institutional characteristics, the authors examined the impact of perceived institutional support for community partnerships, community-based research, and teaching on faculty engagement. They found that institutional support significantly increased the likelihood that faculty members used their scholarship to address local community needs, and the likelihood that they collaborated with local community in research and teaching.

Critical race theory can be an important tool for developing a deeper understanding of the experiences of specific Asian American ethnic groups and individuals.

While colleges may reflect sexual prejudices of the societal culture at large, they also have the capacity to resist or even transform these troubling viewpoints. Based on longitudinal data collected from 13,881 students nationwide, this study investigates the impact of college experiences on sexually prejudicial attitudes. Results indicate that individuals are more accepting of lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships after four years of college and that experiential components of racial diversity in the college environment are associated with a decrease in sexual prejudice. Interpretations of findings include the possibility that the observed trends are indicative of sexual prejudice becoming less socially acceptable, as more insidious forms of heterosexism maintain the dominance of the privileged group.

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