Journal of College & University Student Housing "Housing While Black" Theme Issue - 70

The Black woman's ability to engage agency in her practice comes at a cost when
White employees lack the know-how to consider the possibility of causing harm in
their interactions, resulting in Black women needing to engage their professional skill
sets to digest the experience of invisibility in the workplace.
Nikki's experience demonstrates what other women have acknowledged as an unfortunate
occurrence in a historically White institution.
Sitting around the room with like15 people . . . And I just remember, [an emergency
unit] came in and I spoke up. . . . as I was there representing res life. The guy who was
VP of communication was like, " Who are you again? " And I was like, " Hello! We have
communicated through email for like four years. You have talked to me, met me,
and now you're facing me asking who are you? " . . . It was just the realization of,
you can be in a space for four years with people. You can meet them in meetings.
All of us had our pictures [included on] our email. And you can still be unmuted and
someone be like, " Who are you again? "
Similarly, Angela routinely attended a small meeting of four to six people, where the
highest ranking staff in academic affairs were present. As she recalled,
I was always talked over or around. I would make a comment, and it wouldn't be
acknowledged, and when it was, it would be more of a smile and nod. It was demeaning,
and I felt stupid. I didn't see the point in being there. It was hard because everyone
in the space was White except for me.
These moments when their authority was challenged are examples of microaggressions
and overt disrespect; many participants asserted that this was due to their
race and gender. Though they were qualified for their SHO roles, murmurs of affirmative
action and questioning of who is in the role abounded. It is important to note that
this area was the most challenging space for Black women to thrive, although agency
was a part of their leadership practice.
Advocacy to Lift as We Climb
The importance of advocacy was a significant finding for the two research studies.
These leaders discuss the challenges and value-add of walking the walk in their senior
leadership role to support underrepresented student and staff populations. Jesse S.
discussed a few of the initiatives that she implemented upon assuming her SHO role:
creating a weekly newsletter with identity-based, celebratory months highlighted; providing
time in departmental meetings for staff to process bias incidents; and working
to ensure that they felt supported when such incidents occurred. Not long before her
interview for the study, she had created a " re-imagined " position to focus on diversity
and inclusion efforts.
Volume 48, No. 3 * 2022 67

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

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