The Backdrop of Equity Efforts: The Parallels of Campus Staff and Community Organizing

Katherine S. Cho

The Journal of Higher Education, 2025, vol. 96, issue 7, 1190-1217

Abstract: Within the growing political attacks on higher education, including bans against Critical Race Theory and the dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, campus staff are uniquely positioned to respond and resist within their respective institutions. Through a qualitative narrative inquiry with 63 campus staff of color across the United States, this study frames staff efforts and experiences through a lens of community organizing—illuminating the ways campus staff strategize and engage in transformative change. Grounded in a theoretical understanding of power and institutional mechanics, through a combination of semi-structured interviews and institutional data, findings illuminate the shifting perspectives and subtle nuances campus staff engage in to better support themselves and their campus communities. Campus staff serve not only as the backdrop for initiatives by interpreting and executing programs and policies, but also as the critical imaginaries who can engage in pockets of resistance and support. By positioning campuses as sites of community organizing, this study shifts the lens of campus activism toward the daily resistance, survival, and transformation happening on the grounds and behind the scenes.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2025.2553364

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