Journal of College & University Student Housing "Housing While Black" Theme Issue - 49

Serving as a Resident Assistant While Black
contexts shape RAs' experiences (see, for example, Harper et al., 2011), we chose a
single case study approach focusing on the experiences of Black RAs at one institution.
We used a narrative inquiry approach for data collection and analysis (Clandinin &
Connelly, 2000) to gain insights into participants' lived experiences and highlight their
unique voices via counternarratives (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995).
Our research team consisted of four white women. The first author has seven
years of residence life experience and conducts research on the experiences of minoritized
populations in higher education. The fourth author currently works in a senior
leadership position in residence life. The second and third authors do not have any
residence life experience but work in other areas of higher education. Throughout the
research process, we reflected on how our identities and differing levels of residence
life experience may influence relationships with participants and our interpretation
of the data. We engaged in peer review to solicit different perspectives. Two Black
professional residence life staff and a Black faculty member, who conducts research
on Black college students' experiences, reviewed a draft of our manuscript, focusing
in particular on apparency, the understandability of the findings and whether they
resonate with their experiences, and verisimilitude or how truthful and authentic
findings appear (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). We revised our manuscript based on
their recommendations.
Case Description: The Residence Life Department at PRU
PRU is a public research university located near a larger urban area in the Midwest of
the United States and serving approximately 16,000 students. PRU is at the cusp of
losing its PWI classification, with white students accounting for 49% of the student
population and 45% of the residential population in 2020-21. The university houses
3,500 students in 11 traditional residence halls and one apartment complex. In 2020-21,
only 2,863 students lived on campus due to COVID-19 safety regulations and the lifting
of the first-year residency requirement, and 39% of those identified as Black. Of the 119
RAs employed at PRU, 40% identified as Black (see Table 1, page 47 for detailed demographic
information about PRU students and staff).
Participants
Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
To be eligible, participants had to both identify as Black and currently serve as a resident
assistant at PRU. We identified eligible participants from the department's staff
database and invited them to participate via email. Interested students completed an
online consent form. Eight students initially expressed interest, but only five completed
the interviews. Participants were asked to choose a pseudonym to protect their
confidentiality (see Table 2 for participant demographics, page 47).
46 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

Journal of College & University Student Housing "Housing While Black" Theme Issue

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