“No Space for Humanizing Us:” Men of Color Identifying Institutional Needs at a Rural University

Abstract

Men of color are not persisting or graduating from college at similar rates as their same-aged peers. This qualitative study seeks to understand how men of color understand and experience college at a rural comprehensive public four-year university on the west coast. This study draws on focus group and interview data from 23 Black, Latino, and Asian American men whose enrollment status at the rural university varied from first-year undergraduate to graduate students. Using the notion of sense of belonging as the theoretical lens, we find that students highlighted the importance of peer groups and the need for vulnerable spaces on campus to explore their gender identity. With the findings from this paper, we aim to help student affairs professionals better understand how to support men of color in rural universities.