Category: Human Rights

Cole Fontenot (U): #BlackAt​: How Social Media Content Analysis Illuminates Experiences of Black Students

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Co-authors: Kennedy Coleman, Tara Greig, Kish Parikh

Increasingly, BIPOC college students have utilized social media to share their experiences of racialized trauma while attending higher education institutions. Presenters outline a social media content analysis study of posts from #BlackAtSMU, highlighting themes that arose. Implications at the institutional level and future directions for this assessment methodology are discussed.

Student Affairs Undergraduate Research Team
Mentor: Allison Kanny

Tara Greig (U): Centering Black Student Voices in a Nested Model of Racial Battle Fatigue

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Winner: Student Affairs (Undergraduate)

Co-authors: Kish Parikh, Cole Fontenot, Kennedy Coleman

Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) among college students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) is an issue of high concern. While higher education research has examined RBF concerning its prevalence, manifestations, and impact on various affective and academic outcomes, relatively few studies have sought to conceptualize this construct within an ecological systems model. This presentation presents findings that examine contributors to racial battle fatigue among Black undergraduate students in a nested environmental model. The study also sought to uncover how these relationships relate to student-level outcomes and how students utilize coping strategies to navigate these systems.

Student Affairs Undergraduate Research Team
Mentor: Allison Kanny

Wren Lee (U): Gay & Greek: Designing for LGBTQ Fraternity and Sorority Members

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College is a time of exploration and growth for many individuals. It is especially important for LGBTQ folxs; for some LGBTQ folxs, college is the first time they can explore their LGBTQ identities free of judgment. Others seek community and find it within fraternities and sororities. Yet, traditional fraternities and sororities are notoriously not LGBTQ friendly. These organizations promote a hypermasculine, heteronormative, homophobic, and transphobic environment. For LGBTQ Greeks, the situation can be emotionally taxing. Through this project, the investigators aim to deepen their learning about these experiences to build solutions to help LGBTQ Greeks feel confident in their LGBTQ identities in Greek spaces. In the long term, the investigators aim to learn more about how to develop systems to protect and empower LGBTQ individuals in anti-LGBTQ spaces. They will learn about the Greek experience for LGBTQ members at Southern Methodist University and co-create a solution for their intersectional needs. They will employ human-centered design methods to help the LGBTQ Greek community feel comfortable in spaces they might not typically occupy.

Wren Lee
Major: Creative Computation; Minors: Human Rights and Women and Gender Studies
Faculty mentor: Dustin Grabsch