Georgianna L. Martin

Part of the “Establishment”? Fostering Positive Campus Climates for Student Activists

Abstract Using data from the Wabash National Study, authors examine how students’ perceptions of campus climate influence growth in students’ social and political activism. The goal of this article is to determine to what extent, if any, students’ perceptions of the campus environment affect their orientation toward social/political activism over 4 years of college and to what extent, if any, these effects are mediated by involvement in cocurricular activities. With the recent resurgence in student activism, understanding of campus protesters has again become a needed skill for campus administrators and student affairs professionals. Additionally, as campuses commit to promoting civil discourse and the inclusion of diverse perspectives, improving the campus climates for an important segment of their student population, that being student activists, must be a part of that commitment.

The Relationship between Students' Interactions with Student Affairs Professionals and Cognitive Outcomes in the First Year of College.

This study explored the impact of students’ interactions with student affairs professionals and growth on cognitive outcomes in the first year of college. Interactions with student affairs professionals were associated positively with growth on measures of need for cognition, attitude toward literacy, and academic motivation. A small, negative relationship was found between interactions with student affairs professionals and students’ critical thinking. Implications for student affairs research and practice are discussed.

“Students at the Margins”: Student Affairs Administrators Creating Inclusive Campuses for LGBTQ Students in the South

Activism by student affairs administrators can provide powerful methods for change within higher education for LGBTQ students. Though the LGBTQ community has experienced improvements in campus climates, marginalizing policies for members of that community are still prevalent in higher education. Using the tempered radicals theory to guide this narrative study, we explored how student affairs administrators engaged in advocacy, used educational programs, and worked for policy changes to create more inclusive campuses in the South.

Queer Resistance: LGBTQ Students and Allies in Mississippi Adult and Higher Education

We open this chapter by questioning the assumption that Mississippi has always been a hostile space for LGBTQ people. We offer some historical evidence that there was, at one point, a sort of tense tolerance for same-sex sexual behavior in the state, and the rise of overt and vehement anti-LGBTQ sentiment appears to be somewhat linked to the civil rights era. We then turn to describing the work that has occurred, especially in recent years, on Mississippi’s college campuses around LGBTQ issues. We describe the challenges inherent in such work, as well as some of the efforts that have been successful. Then, we describe community organizations and adult educational spaces in which LGBTQ work has occurred and is occurring. Again, we describe the successes of such efforts as well as the challenges those efforts have faced. We close by theorizing a way forward in LGBTQ resistance in the state.

Conditions of Oppression in Mississippi Adult and Higher Education: The Legacy of White Supremacy and Injustice

We begin this chapter by tracing the legacy of White supremacy in primary and secondary education. We demonstrate the segregated nature of education in the state and the consequences of segregated education for students’ preparedness for higher education. We then document the oppressive nature of higher education in Mississippi for both primarily White-serving institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We begin by highlighting the segregated nature of higher education in Mississippi, in which Black Mississippians heavily attend HBCUs, as well as disparities in funding levels of HBCUs and PWIs, among other factors. Then, we describe the ways in which experiences with PWIs can be oppressive. This includes a discussion of racialized advising, housing, and instructional practices as well as how low-income students, queer students, and others are marginalized within Mississippi’s PWIs. We also document the ways in which community informal learning and adult educational efforts are stratified by race and income in the state.

Thank God for Mississippi

This concluding chapter revisits a concept from the introduction: that Mississippi’s persistent educational shortcomings and oppressive actions cause leaders of other states to remark, “Thank God for Mississippi,” as the state keeps others out of the bottom of national rankings. We ask if this sentiment could be reinterpreted in light of resistance work going on in the state. We describe the ways in which Mississippi can render legible the workings of oppression, and serve as a bellwether of oppressive efforts that might migrate to other states. We also describe the ways that resistance work in Mississippi can be instructive for those working elsewhere. Finally, we offer theories about moving toward social justice and equity in Mississippi adult and higher education.

Oppression and Resistance Timeline

This chapter presents a graphic representation of the grand timescale on which oppression and resistance have been carried out. We present a number of events intended to illustrate how oppression has been enacted from 1607 to 2016. We also provide a number of examples on the same timescale for resistance efforts. This timeline makes clear that oppression started early and continued in force through the present day. It also makes clear, however, that resistance efforts have been ongoing, with more visible successes in the modern day.

Education for Democracy and Resistance in Mississippi: Critical Pedagogy and Liberation in Southern Adult and Higher Education

This chapter includes a review of concepts central to critical pedagogy. We then describe how hegemony, domination, and social reproduction play out in Mississippi. We give attention to the ways in which the dominant ideology of White supremacist heteropatriarchy filters into everyday concepts of knowledge, vocabulary, and representational systems. We then describe models of emancipatory or liberatory education that have been proposed by critical pedagogues and others. We attempt to trace how resistance efforts in Mississippi map onto those models, and the ways in which they diverge. We close this chapter by theorizing how critical pedagogy might inform future efforts at liberation and resistance in Mississippi, as well as in other locations.

Introduction: Understanding Mississippi as a Particular Site of Oppression in Education

In this introductory chapter, we introduce the context of Mississippi adult and higher education. We describe how Mississippi is both similar to and distinct from its Deep South neighbors, and how Mississippi can serve as both a unique case and an object lesson for social justice and equity across contexts. We also review briefly the history of K-12 reform efforts in the state, including their connection to racism, segregation, and oppression. This chapter also includes positionality statements from all three authors, as well as a collective positionality statement describing our combined experiences in Mississippi. Finally, we offer an introduction to the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy which drives our analyses in this text.

Tracing the Development and Entrenchment of Oppression in Mississippi Adult and Higher Education

In this chapter, we explore illustrative episodes from Mississippi’s history that frame our understanding of how oppression came to be entrenched in the state’s adult and higher educational spaces. We briefly outline the development of racialized oppression in K-12 education as a precursory condition to oppression in adult and higher education. We then describe episodes of oppression in Mississippi’s adult and higher education history. These include an analysis of how the Sovereignty Commission and the Citizens’ Councils worked to create oppressive conditions for low-income students, students of color, and queer students in higher education and to suppress adult education efforts. We also document the history of violence against marginalized groups and civil rights workers in the state. We end this chapter with a discussion of how Mississippi’s past is intricately connected to its present and future.