Transitioning, Belonging, and the Black Student Experience: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the orientation and transitional experiences of Black undergraduate students at Metropolitan State University (MSU, pseudonym) an urban, public research university in the southeastern region of the United States. MSU is a unique research site for this study, as Black students’ six-year graduation rates equal that of White students. Using sense of belonging as a conceptual framework, the research team collected data from 28 participants in seven focus groups throughout the 2018-2019 academic year. Findings revealed that participants experienced disparate orientation and transitional experiences, as well as a poor racial climate throughout their time at MSU. Specifically, participants noted a shortage of Black faculty, limited Black cultural programming, and a need for identity-based space. Among working with campus partners to improve the racial climate, implications for orientation professionals include recruiting professional and student staff members who represent the racial composition of the university and ensuring culturally relevant content during orientation programs.

Courageous Navigation

This final chapter examines the early 1970s. During the summer of 1970, Pressly spoke out against segregationist academies. Concurrently, black Mississippians challenged the tax-exemption status of segregated white private schools. As a result, the IRS required private institutions with tax-exempt status to establish non-discriminatory admissions policies. Under the leadership of William Dandridge, NAIS gave more attention to the quality of the black student experience in independent schools. Yet these changes could not fully interrupt the institutional and interpersonal racism that black students experienced in independent schools. As shifting politics occurred in Atlanta, the black students at Westminster immersed themselves in academics and extracurricular activities, and the students became even more important to the institution. Michael McBay, who had been harassed, became the activist, in the more traditional sense, among the black students. As Michael, Malcolm Ryder, Jannard Wade, and Wanda Ward graduated, new black students like Corliss Blount and Donata Russell joined Westminster. Altogether, thirty-five black students matriculated at Westminster during the first years of desegregation, and over half graduated in time as they individually succeeded, broke barriers, and courageously navigated an institution not originally created with them in mind.