Dafina Lazarus Stewart

Being All of Me: Black Students Negotiating Multiple Identities

A qualitative study of five Black students revealed interesting findings concerning the negotiation of identity and race during the college years. This article discusses significant findings regarding the role of the college matriculation process and two possible patterns for how these students negotiated the multiple dimensions of their identities.

Perceptions of Multiple Identities Among Black College Students

A qualitative study of 13 self-identified Black and African American college students across three institutions revealed important findings relevant for understanding the multifaceted and complex ways in which these students both perceived and made meaning of the multiple facets of their identities. Implications for the ways in which social identity factors are seen as cooperative and coherent are discussed. Also, provocative findings related to the incorporation of non-unitary facets of identity are shared.

Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students Coming Out at the Intersection of Spirituality and Sexual Identity

In this study, the researchers examined how lesbian, gay, and bisexual undergraduate students negotiated and defined their spiritual identities during the coming-out process. Although there were varied responses, the findings suggest that students describe spirituality as acceptance, personal relationships with a powerful essence, and connections to nature. When navigating multiple identities, students experienced various levels of intersectionality including irreconciliation, progressive development, arrested development, completed development, and reconciliation.

Researcher as Instrument: Understanding "Shifting" Findings in Constructivist Research

Two studies investigating the meaning and articulation of multiple identities among Black college students revealed shifts in the findings from the 2001 study to the 2005 study. This theoretical review explores the role of the researcher as instrument within the constructivist research paradigm as a possible explanation for some of these apparent differences. Implications and suggestions for researchers and graduate preparation are offered.

Understanding College Students' Spiritual Identities: Different Faiths, Varied Worldviews

Abstract This critical essay reviews Small’s (2011) book reporting research on the spiritual identities and discursive practices of college students in intrafaith and interfaith dialogue. Small’s recommendations and research methods are instructive and helpful to both scholars and practitioners in higher education and student affairs. This research opens new pathways for discussing faith diversity in higher education in ways that recognize issues of marginalization and supports true pluralism.

The multifaith campus: Transforming colleges and universities for spiritual engagement

Dafina Lazarus Stewart, Michael M. Kocet, and Sharon Lobdell explore what college and university campuses would look like if transformed to promote and sustain religious and secular pluralism and interfaith cooperation.

Know your role: Black college students, racial identity, and performance

This article is a report of a critical constructivist study of racial identity and performance among 13 Black, traditional-age students enrolled at three different colleges, two historically Black and one predominantly White. The study’s approach understood identity to be socially constructed and reliant upon community affirmation and validation. The findings highlight (1) the role of internal community pressure, (2) the ways in which racial performance dominated the students’ discussions of their racial identities, and (3) the intersection of internalized racism and sexism. The overarching conclusion points to the need for promoting acceptance of racial heterogeneity within communities of Black young adults. Implications of these findings for research and practice recommend that college administrators and educators pay more attention to the influence of campus student communities on racial identity as by-products of cultural production.

Ethical Elders: Campus Role Models for Moral Development.

Dana is a graduate assistant in the second year of a masters program in student personnel. In a class discussion of assistantship issues, Dana reveals that he has decided not to enforce the universitys policy of “writing up” all underage students who are in a residence hall room where alcohol is present. He says that in his opinion the punitive nature of the policy, which imposes a

Black Disciples and White Missionaries

200 fine, flies in the face of any opportunity for learning and drives the targeted behavior further underground. Dana says that the residence hall supervisors know about the decision and that they have discussed the possible ramifications and consequences. As an educator, what is your responsibility to both Dana and to others in the campus community? What are the obligations of others? The purpose of this article is to explore the layered dimensions of learning in the context of everyday ethical dilemmas and to examine the ways in which student affairs educators, classroom faculty, and institutional leaders can serve as ethical elders on campus. We believe that educators are obligated to serve as ethical role models, especially for students and younger colleagues who aspire to serve as educators themselves.

Roadblocks and Detours

This chapter presents the elementary and high school experiences reflected among these participants and the varying roles that Black and White teachers and organizations played in supporting their educational pursuits. Collectively, they attended a variety of high schools: some college prep and others not; segregated public schools and mission schools for Blacks; private White high schools; and integrated public schools. For those participants who were raised in the North, experiences with Northern segregation, often in the context of educational co-curricular activities, are acknowledged. Southerners shared their experiences with or ideas of the North and what it would be like as well as the ways that segregation did not consistently demarcate their lives.