This volume of New Directions for Student Services illuminates several realities regarding racism, cross-racial interaction, race-based educational inequities, and campus racial climates in higher education. Authors describe how student learning and development are stifled by the mistreatment of race as a taboo topic on most college and university campuses. They also discuss the disconnection between espoused and enacted institutional values concerning inclusiveness and racial equity, as well as the need for increased accountability and intentionality. In addition to igniting critical consciousness about one of the most vexing problems in American higher education, the chapters in this volume include several practical implications for reducing racial toxins in campus environments and engaging students in meaningful learning experiences about race inside and outside the classroom. Chapters include Nine Themes in Campus Racial Climates and Implications for Institutional Transformation Beyond Artificial Integration: Reimaging Cross-Racial Interactions Among Undergraduates Critical Race Perspectives on Theory in Student Affairs Enhancing Racial Self-Understanding Through Structured Learning and Reflective Experiences The Complicated Realities of Whiteness: From Color Blind to Racially Cognizant The Equity Scorecard: A Collaborative Approach to Assess and Respond to Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Student Outcomes Resituating Race into the Movement Toward Multiculturalism and Social Justice This is the 120th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Student Services, offering guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Author Biography

Shaun R. Harper is assistant professor of higher education management in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Lori D. Patton is assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa University.