During his sophomore year at Vassar, the college hosted the Consortium on High Achievement (CHAS) annual Black and Latino Males conference, where more than 20 selective liberal arts colleges sent teams of students, faculty and administrators to participate. I watched as he networked and built relationships, tapping into the strengths responsible for his success.
Kenny is not unique. Hundreds of Black and Latino male students like him have flourished during the 13-year history of the conference, which has also been held at Trinity, Swarthmore, Bucknell, Bates, Haverford, Middlebury, College of Holy Cross, Clark University, University of the South at Sewanee, Williams, and Skidmore.
Some of the most gifted and talented students of color attend selective liberal arts colleges that often have the financial resources to generously fund them. We are in a good place to change the access game, but the challenges remain. On any given consortium campus, there are fewer than 8 percent Black and Brown students, respectively. Black and Latino men are even more underrepresented. Add to this picture the prevailing stereotypes—that they are low-performing and apathetic, products of dysfunctional families and communities that devalue education, are threatening, aggressive or macho, or are the athletes admitted under different academic standards—and the campus becomes even smaller and further marginalizes them.
Not surprisingly, stereotypes and deficit views of Black and Latino men follow them to campus. However, University of Pennsylvania higher education professor Shaun Harper, author of Black Male Success in Higher Education and Succeeding in the City: A Report from the New York City Black and Latino Male High School Achievement Study, urges us to think beyond deficit paradigms and focus on the positive and success behaviors that Black and Latino male students bring to our campuses. Deficit-based thinking ignores institutional shortcomings and does little to foster more inclusive and affirming learning environments for men of color and other marginalized students.
Success behavior was also evident in research I conducted on racial climate at a selective northeastern liberal arts college. Black and Latino males at this school, despite societal stereotypes and daily microaggressions, persisted and developed behavioral and psychological strategies for academic success. Thus, as Harper suggests, we should ask instead, “Why do these young men succeed?” We hear a great deal about why Black and Latino men don’t graduate high school, have the lowest college graduation rate or end up unemployed, selling drugs or in prison. Media make a point to paint this picture. But who sings the praises of those who succeed?
If we fail to correct the deficit-based lens through which we often view the most underrepresented group on campus, we risk exposing men of color to the worst of our institutions. Unwittingly, we then set a low bar for their performance. Graduating with a 2.0 or 3.0 is not enough; they deserve to leave our campuses with the highest academic achievement while having positive campus experiences.
