African American college men holding leadership roles in majority white student groups

Abstract

<p>Examining the experience of African American college men has been a subject of many higher education scholars. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to be aware of the lived experience of seven African American college men who hold/held leadership positions in a majority White student group. Using symbolic interactionism and phenomenology as my framework in order to better understand how these men make meaning of their experience leading a majority White group, four themes emerged from this study: natural transition; the pull between Black and White environments; perfectionism; and power and influence.</p> <p>Implications for student affairs at PWIs include is the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of the students' past high school experiences and helping those African American men in leadership roles to balance their responsibilities as a leader of a majority White organization and their desire to support the Black community. This study also brought to the forefront that student affairs professionals are many times only encouraging African American students to be involved with Black Student Associations or NPHC groups. As professionals we must never limit a student's leadership but but rather encourage them to sharing their abilities with a variety of student groups on campus.</p>