Abstract:

While more Latinx students are enrolling in higher education, underrepresentation in four-year degree attainment persists. Connecting Latinx students with culture centers on college campuses has been a promising intervention. Such centers have been shown to play a critical role in student integration, learning, and, thus, retention of Students of Color. However, we know little about how ethnic identity impacts participation at culture centers and why racially/ethnically minoritized students do not access these resources. Using a LatCrit theoretical framework, this mixed method study explored the role that Latinx ethnic identity played in participation at a Latinx cultural center and identified the reasons for participation (or lack thereof). Results showed that for many Latinx students, the culture center on campus was a place that felt "like home," as other research corroborates. For others, such as multiracial Latinx students, it was a place where ethnic identities were questioned because they failed to fit essentialist notions of Latinx identity. Recommendations point to the increased need for campus programming that disrupts monolithic conceptualizations of Latinx ethnic identity and fills the needs of an increasingly diverse Latinx student population on college and university campuses.

摘要：

虽然越来越多的拉丁裔学生开始接受高等教育，但获得四年制学位的人数仍然不足。将拉丁裔学生与大学校园的文化中心联系起来是一项很有前途的干预措施。事实证明，这些中心在学生融入、学习以及留住有色人种学生方面发挥着关键作用。然而，我们对种族身份如何影响文化中心的参与以及为什么种族/民族少数学生无法获得这些资源知之甚少。这项混合方法研究利用 LatCrit 理论框架，探讨了拉丁裔种族身份在拉丁裔文化中心参与中所发挥的作用，并确定了参与（或缺乏参与）的原因。结果显示，对于许多拉丁裔学生来说，正如其他研究所证实的那样，校园内的文化中心是一个“像家一样”的地方。对于其他人来说，比如多种族的拉丁裔学生，这是一个种族身份受到质疑的地方，因为他们不符合拉丁裔身份的本质主义概念。建议指出，对校园规划的需求不断增加，这种规划打破了拉丁裔种族身份的单一概念，并满足了学院和大学校园中日益多样化的拉丁裔学生群体的需求。