University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

"A steady drop will wear a hole in the rock": feminism, the John Henry myth, and the black male experience in higher education

(USC Thesis Other)

"A steady drop will wear a hole in the rock": feminism, the John Henry myth, and the black male experience in higher education

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

“A STEADY DROP WILL WEAR A HOLE IN THE ROCK”: FEMINISM, THE
JOHN HENRY MYTH AND THE BLACK MALE EXPERIENCE IN HIGHER
EDUCATION: A PERSISTENCE CASE STUDY

by

Nikki Michelle Riley
____________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2007

Copyright 2007 Nikki Michelle Riley

ii
DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to God and my mother, Jorge-Ayn Riley, for all
that she has sacrificed for me. It is also dedicated to my immediate and extended
family (in this world and beyond), close friends, professional colleagues, and both
fathers in my life: James Riley Jr. and Stephen Evans. Both of these men demanded
that I evolve into an intelligent and independent woman. This dissertation is also
dedicated to my grandparents, Corene Render-Green and George S. Green (the
ultimate collegiate sports fan). May you both rest in peace. Finally, this work is
dedicated to the world’s most loyal and loving companion, Afini (my cocker
spaniel). Thanks to all for your love, support, and encouragement through the years.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have been instrumental in assisting me with the completion of
this dissertation. I am particularly grateful to my Dissertation Committee: Dr.
Melora Sundt, Dr. Alexander Jun and Dr. Jackie Fisher. I thank Dr. Michael
Genzuk, Dr. Joel Colbert, Dr. Reynaldo R. Baca, Dr. Brandon E. Martin and Dr.
Keith Howard for serving on my committee at the beginning of my dissertation
process. A special thanks is in order to Dr. Brandon E. Martin, for suggesting a
focused dissertation topic of interest that would be applicable to all of my education
related research interests, and for providing a model of excellence in academic
writing.
I would also like to take the time to specifically acknowledge Dr. Joel
Colbert as a caring and supportive academician. Though I understand that better
professional opportunities were a necessary part of Dr. Colbert’s future, in my
opinion a great void was established upon his leaving Rossier. He was very much
missed during my doctoral experience, and I thank him for taking a special interest in
me as a student and for recognizing and appreciating all of my talents. I shall never
forget Dr. Joel Colbert.
I thank Dr. Adrianna Kezar for her assistance with the IRB approval process.
I thank Dr. Ricardo Stanton-Salazar and Dr. Robert Rueda for providing feedback as
I conceptualized my research questions for this study. Dr. Salazar is one of the most
brilliant academicians that I have encountered within his field. I thank Dr. Nelly
Stromquist for willingness to “lend a hand” when needed. I thank Dr. Shaun R.

iv
Harper, a prolific academician and author in the area of African American male
academic achievement, for providing me with additional literature sources for my
study.
Special appreciation is expressed for the chair of my committee, Dr. Melora
Sundt, who served as an objective “sounding board” and consult during my time as a
doctoral student within the Rossier School of Education. She also provided excellent
guidance at each stage of this dissertation process. I also thank her administrative
assistant, Lisa Galvan. Finally, I am especially thankful to Dr. Jackie Fisher for his
leadership, wisdom, and unrelenting support during my career as an educator. It is
my honor and privilege to work for, and with, Dr. Fisher.
Aside from Dr. Fisher, a number of professional colleagues have been an
important source of influence and support during this dissertation process. I am
grateful to the world’s greatest boss and academic dean, Dr. Leslie Uhazy, for his
support during the writing of this dissertation. Mr. Newton Chelette, an athletic
dean, has been a wonderful friend and knowledgeable resource with regard to the
world of intercollegiate sports. Additionally, my college’s men’s basketball program
and the wonderful student-athletes within it will always occupy a special place in my
heart. Mr. Kevin Carr of the NBA is appreciated for his collegiate and professional
sports acumen, and I would like to thank Ted Younglove and Aaron Voelcker for
their professional support and statistical expertise. Additionally, during this
dissertation process, I am appreciative of the support of my professional tenure
committee: Dr. Leslie Uhazy, Dr. George Shahla, and Mrs. Lynn McDonnie.

v
I would not have had the fortitude, perspective, writing skills and research
experience to navigate an independent dissertation project without the mentoring and
support I received during my tenure as an NIH research fellow, nearly a decade ago.
I am especially grateful to my life-long mentor and wonderful friend, Dr.Diane Bild,
M.D. and her CARDIA colleagues. I also thank Dr. Teri Manolio, M.D., for
expecting only the best from me, even as a fresh-faced undergraduate student. I
would like to thank my good friend and mentor Dr. Eugene Carpenter, M.D., for his
influence, encouraging words, support and spiritual perspective on life. He is a truly
unique and gifted medical scientist and artist.
The circle of family, friends and support that I have around me is what truly
gives my life meaning. A USC faculty member (Jack Epps), who has a very special
place in my life, once stated to me that “I was very lucky to be surrounded by so
many people who love me.” He is right, I am truly blessed and want to thank and
tell the following people how much I appreciate and love them. First I would like to
begin with a general thanks to all family and extended family. Also, Grandpa, I
know that you were up there in heaven keenly interested in the sports themes
prevalent in this dissertation and cheering for the USC football team. I could only
imagine the kind of string art you would have created for the school. However, just
like the Hampton Pirate, I would have kept that glorious art work all to myself and
added it to my personal collection.
I would now like to specifically thank: Mom (the most awesome and
beautiful woman in the world); both Dads, James Riley and Stephen Evans; Aunt

vi
Myke, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Atha, Aunt Juanita, Aunt Karen, Aunt Leneta, all of my
cousins (especially Kristynna), Shirley Arnold and my Washington, D.C. family
members, my Michigan and Ohio based family members, Dr. Jessica Harper and her
mother, Dr. Christine Harper, Glenn Collins (my wise counselor), Wendy Cios, Zia
(soon to be Dr.) and Yolanda Nisani, Dr. Youssef Ezzeddine (thanks for grading all
of those papers), Kim Fite, Patricia Harris, Nancy Estiok, and Mrs. Lynn Gordon
(also known as Mrs.G.), who will always be a life-coach to me, and the USC “Sistah
Corner” (LaShawn, Karen, Misook and Veronica), with special thanks to Soror
LaShawn Moore for her unconditional love. I also want to thank USC faculty
member Carroll Hodge for her kindness during my early years as a graduate student
at the University.
I would also like to extend words of thanks to all of the medical professionals
who cared for me these past two years, along with the substitute faculty that kept my
classes running during this dissertation process, which at times was hindered by my
health situation. I would also like to thank all of my students for their
encouragement. If there is anyone I inadvertently left out of this discussion, please
accept my heartfelt apologies and know that I very much appreciate your role in my
life.
Additionally, I would like to especially thank all of the wonderful men that
have shared their lives with me during this study. I am a better woman and educator
from meeting and talking with you during this dissertation process. You have
touched my life in a most profound way. I will always be proud of your complexity

vii
and diversity, which represents an individual and collective combination of: wisdom,
beauty, machismo, sophistication, hustle, creativity, brilliance, charm, humility,
frustrating yet lovable arrogance, humor, compassion and sensitivity. I am
privileged for the opportunity to have known you. I also appreciate all of your love
and support during the writing of this dissertation. Because of your empathy,
personal accountability and desire to witness and contribute to the long, overdue
justice for the Black man, I credit you, in large part, for the efficient manner in which
I was able to proceed with and complete this dissertation. Much love to you my
brothers “bruthas”, in struggle we are united as one. Thanks again, for everything.
Finally and most importantly, I want to thank God, my life force, strength
and guidance. To have God’s grace and love in my life is my greatest
accomplishment.

viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables ix
Abstract x
Chapter One. Introduction 1
Chapter Two. Review of the Literature 19
Chapter Three. Methodology 39
Chapter Four. Data Presentation 72
Chapter Five. Summary, Conclusions and Implications 150
References 175
Appendix A. Research Questions, Categories and Themes 189
Appendix B. Research Protocols 192
Appendix C. Participant Profile Form 196
Appendix D. Recruitment Flyer 199
Appendix E. Informed Consent Form 200

ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Bachelor Degrees Awarded for the University of California, 4
by Race/Ethnicity, 2005

Table 2. African American Male Undergraduate Enrollment 6
by Institution Type in California, 2005

Table 3. Associate Degrees Earned Among California Males Enrolled 7
in the Community College System, 2005

Table 4. Desert Community College Student Grade Point Averages (GPAs) 53
by Ethnicity, Winter 2007

x
ABSTRACT
The democratic and inclusive community college system has served as an
important conduit for the post-secondary educational experiences of Black men. It
has been suggested that the diversity of the community college student population
creates a campus climate that facilitates African American male academic success.
This study focuses on the academic and social integration experiences of fourteen
African American male community college students who persisted towards
graduation or transfer from a Southern California community college. Prior studies
have focused on the persistence of African American students at large, often public
universities. These studies tend to discuss African American male college students
from a deficit perspective when comparing them to Black female or White college
students. Further, African American men are collectively viewed as homogenous,
static beings. Few studies have explored the potentially endogenous or emic
perspectives of collegiate faculty, relative to the academic experiences of African
American men. This study attempted to fill a gap in the literature by focusing on the
academic and social integration experiences of African American men enrolled in a
Southern California community college. The results of this study are discussed
within the context of the Black feminist perspective of the researcher.
The purpose of this study was as follows: (1) to describe the influence of life
experiences on the academic and social integration of African American male
students who persisted at this Southern California community college; (2) to describe
what administrators, faculty, staff, counselors and coaches said this college did to

xi
contribute to the persistence of these men; and (3) to compare administrator and
student perceptions of the factors that influence the academic and social integration
of African American men in the community college setting.
A qualitative methodology guided this ethnographic case study. Semi-
structured, open-ended interviews were the primary data source. This approach
enabled readers to experience and understand, through detailed descriptive data,
what the academic and social integration experience was like for African American
men at a Southern California community college. Phenomenological inquiry,
grounded in traditional student attrition models and Critical Race Theory, directed
the data analysis. This methodological approach enabled the researcher to explore
the life experiences of the participants along with their interpretive world view.
The completed analysis produced multiple thematic patterns. Parallel to the
existing literature, most of the study participants were not socially involved or
integrated with the respective college campus site. Faculty interaction and campus
climate were the most significant persistence factors for the students interviewed in
this study. Family support, personal maturation, and the deconstruction of media-
derived, negative, stereotypes of African American men were also significant. A
large majority of the study participants were either in the process of pursuing the
athletic/entertainment career dream, or had done so in the past. Additionally, at least
half of the study participants were former or active duty military personnel.
Many other themes related to the life narratives and the academic persistence
of the study participants were described as complements to the study’s significant

xii
findings. Data from administrators, faculty, counselors, staff and coaches was
compared to student interviews. The culmination of analysis resulted in suggestions
for institutional policy and practice, especially as related to the college’s student
equity and learning outcome agenda.

1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
“And tell me friend, how in the world have you been been? Tell me
what’s out and I want to know what’s in. What’s the deal man,
what’s happening?”
— Marvin Gaye, What’s Happening Brother

Richard Simpson is a 47-year-old African American male, single father, and
high school dropout. He was recently accepted to the University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA). Complementing his admission to the prestigious Southern
California university, he was also awarded a $30,000 a year scholarship, one of 51
students nationally to receive this honor. The scholarship is the largest in the United
States offered to community college transfer students. However, to fully appreciate
Richard’s accomplishments, one needs to consider the challenges of his life. He was
born in Chicago, Illinois, but his birth mother and father were not in a position to
care for him. A woman named Caroline Gray, a native of Southern California,
adopted Richard. Caroline raised 44 children in her lifetime, according to Richard,
who kept the surname of his birth mother. Richard described his life as “great,” until
his freshman year of high school, when his adopted mom got sick. Though he was
able to finish his freshman year, a summer job eventually turned into long-term
employment. After that, he worked a variety of jobs over the years, including as a
medical records employee and security guard. Richard worked his way up to area
manager for the security guard firm.

2
However, soon after his promotion, Richard’s life took another dramatic turn
when he became ill with diabetes and lapsed into a coma. Although Richard
eventually returned to work, he got sick again and the doctor would not clear him to
return to his job. Richard suspects that the stress of his job made his chronic disease
worse and prevented him from working.
Eventually, Richard lost his home in Los Angeles. Attracted by the lower
living costs, he moved to a small, Southern California desert community while
awaiting the outcome of his workers’ compensation case. Unfortunately, he was
unable to get workers’ compensation, because his diabetes was deemed a pre-
existing medical condition. Life’s downward spiral continued, as Richard resorted to
hotel living. When his money ran out, he made his way to a homeless shelter, where
he could at least get two meals a day and a safe place to sleep. While at the shelter,
he sought assistance from Los Angeles County’s Social Service Division, but the
County doctors also would not clear him to work or for Social Security benefits.
Aside from an occasional odd job that would put a few dollars in his pocket, Richard
was under-educated, jobless, homeless and “flat broke.”
However, Richard’s luck soon changed. One day, an outreach counselor
from a local community college called Desert Community College (DCC) visited the
shelter to share information about the college’s available opportunities for area
residents. Richard decided to enroll at DCC. Soon afterwards, he was also finally
approved for Social Security disability income, which helped him secure a place to
live with his son. Richard graduated from Desert Community College in the Spring

3
semester of 2007. He achieved a 3.84 grade point average, qualifying him to
graduate Summa Cum Laude, an honorary distinction limited to college students
who maintain a grade point average between 3.75 and 4.0. When asked to reflect
upon his life experiences, Richard concluded, “Without the community college
system, I wouldn’t be in school. I don’t know where I’d be.”
Richard Simpson’s story of persistence and “beating the odds” speaks to the
significance of the community college system in the upward mobility of many adult
students who exhibit unusual life circumstances and academic needs. Since their
inception, community colleges across the nation have embraced the challenge of
educating post-secondary students with diverse academic and vocational goals.
Further, with their inclusive, open admissions policy, community colleges have
served as the initial, welcoming conduit to academic, professional and social
mobility for many minority students (Bailey & Morest, 2006; Cuyjet, 2006). This
pathway to affluence is especially important to the lives of African American men,
who, due to their elevated unemployment, high school attrition, prison incarceration
and homicide rates, are often described as an “endangered species” (Cuyjet, 2006;
Malveaux, 2004; Ellis, 2004; Cross & Slater, 2000; McElroy & Andrews, 2000; Petit
& Western, 2004; Jordan & Cooper, 2001; Noguera, 1996; Weber, 1993; Gordon et
al., 1995). Two-year colleges are most often the Black male’s first experience with
higher education, and for many their only option for obtaining a college degree
(Cuyjet, 2006). Unfortunately, within higher education, when compared to White,
Asian, and Latino male students, African American men are the lowest-performing

4
student group by almost any academic measure. Transfer rates are the only construct
in which African American men are not the lowest-performing group, but they are
still well behind White, Latino and Asian subgroups (Bush, 2004). Notably, transfer
to and subsequent enrollment in a four-year college or university does not
necessarily equate to Bachelor’s degree acquisition for any student group, including
African American men. In 2007, Black men represented 3.3% of the state of
California’s general population, while making up only 2.8% of the state’s public
education system’s undergraduate enrollment population. Compared with White,
Latino and Asian men, Black men received the fewest number of Bachelor’s degrees
in the state of California’s public higher education system (See Table 1).

Table 1. Bachelor Degrees Awarded for the University of California, by
Race/Ethnicity, 2005
Race/Ethnicity
African
American
Males
White
Males
Latino
Males
Asian/Pacific
Islander &
Filipino Males
Native
American
Males
Number of
Bachelor
Degrees
Awarded
398 6,985 1,931 6, 238 100
(California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2005)

A 2004 study conducted by scholar Edward C. Bush showed that Black men
enrolled in California community colleges were less likely to meet with their
instructors than other student sub-groups, and were less likely than any other male

5
group to be involved in extracurricular activities. This data suggests that African
American men enrolled in community colleges are not engaging or becoming
involved with their respective academic institutions. This engagement or integration
could facilitate their persistence and subsequent academic success (Tinto, 1993).
Further, Bush states that, given the large numbers of Black men enrolled in
community colleges, these institutions may be the educational facilities best
positioned to address the plight of this student population, at least initially.
Males in every major ethnic group are under-represented in California’s
college-going population (California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2005).
College enrollment data demonstrate that Latino and African American high school
graduates are participating in college at rates far below those of Asians and Whites
(California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2005). Further, despite recent
gains, eligibility rates for African Americans and Latinos are far below the rates for
Whites and Asians — the eligibility rate is defined as the percentage of California
public high school graduates meeting the minimum requirements for admission to
the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) (California
Postsecondary Education Commission, 2005). Only about 6% of African American
and Latino high school graduates are eligible for the University of California,
compared with 16% of White graduates and 31% of Asian graduates.
Disaggregating eligibility rates by ethnicity and gender shows that the
situation is even worse for male students. Graduation and eligibility rates for men
are lower than for women in all ethnic groups, and the differences are greater for

6
African Americans and Latinos. The lower high school graduation rate for male
students, combined with the lower eligibility rate for male graduates, means that only
2.1% of Latino male students and 2.4% of African American male students were
eligible for the UC in 2003. Eligibility rates for CSU were also low. Less than 6%
of male Latino high school students and less than 7% of male African American
students were eligible for CSU. These low rates are particularly disturbing because a
university degree is now regarded as the minimum entrance requirement for many
careers that provide at least a middle-class income (California Postsecondary
Education Commission, 2005). Students of color, especially men, are struggling to
accomplish this goal of social and economic mobility. Tables 2 and 3 demonstrate
the 2005 enrollment of African American males in California’s public higher
education system, as well as a race-based comparison of their earned Associate’s
degrees.

Table 2. African American Male Undergraduate Enrollment by Institution Type in
California, 2005
Institution Type
University of
California
California State
University
California
Community
Colleges
Number of African
American Males
1, 814 7, 206 41, 712
(California Postsecondary Commission, 2005)

7
Table 3. Associate Degrees Earned Among California Males Enrolled in the
Community College System, 2005
Race/Ethnicity
African
American
Males
White
Males
Latino
Males
Asian/Pacific
Islander Males
Native
American
Males
Number of
Associate
Degrees
Awarded
1, 874 12,124 6, 643 3, 073 275
(California Postsecondary Commission, 2005)

Student retention is one of the most widely researched content areas in higher
education (Tinto, 1993; J.P. Bean, 1985; Bean & Metzner, 1985; Pascarella &
Terenzini, 1977, 1979, 1986; Cabrera, Nora & Castaneda, 1993; Kohen, Nestel &
Karmas, 1978; Aitken, 1982; Peng & Fetters, 1978; Hu & St. John, 2001). While
many higher education scholars have engaged in exhaustive research seeking
answers and predictive models relative to student persistence and graduation, most of
these studies have focused on students attending public, four-year academic
institutions, whereas most Black males are enrolled in two-year institutions. Most
academic studies in higher education also lack the “voice” and perspective of the
African American male student’s academic experience in “his own words.” Further,
these persistence studies tend to treat African American students as monolithic, static
beings. Social integration is positively related to academic success and degree
completion (Harper & Wolley, 2002; Tinto,1993). African American males at two-
year institutions of higher education do not integrate socially as well as Black men

8
enrolled in four-year schools (Flowers, 2006). However, it is problematic to
generalize assumptions about academic and social integration to all African
American males enrolled in any institution of higher education (Cuyjet et al., 2006).
The paucity of research in the community college setting, especially with
regard to persistence, suggests that more studies of the African American male
community college student are warranted (Flowers, 2006; Bush 2004). A large
majority of higher education persistence studies are quantitative in structure and, due
to insufficient sample sizes, are unable to disaggregate data by race/ethnicity. It
should not be concluded, however, that students enrolled in two-year institutions,
especially African American males, integrate in similar ways. There can be varying
levels of academic integration within a higher education setting, especially if one
considers athletic status (Miller & Kerr, 2002; Pascarella et al., 1999; Maloney &
McCormick, 1993). Since African American male athletes represent a large
proportion of the collegiate population, it is likely that their athletic commitments to
their respective institutions result in enhanced integration practices, when compared
to their non-athletic counterparts. However, when considering the graduation rates
of college athletes, it has also been well documented that, though African American
male student-athletes have higher college graduation rates than their non-student-
athlete counterparts (Person & LeNoir, 1997), these graduation rates can vary by
sport, especially when one considers the revenue-generating sports of big-time
Division I football and basketball (Hyatt, 2003). Thus, it can be inferred that athletic
participation may be harmful in some ways to African American male athletes,

9
though they exhibit greater degrees of integration than non-student-athlete Black
males.
The community college setting provides the opportunity to view African
American male students collectively as non-traditional students, from a variety of
perspectives and constructs, especially with regard to their social and even athletic
status. This research study sought to explore the campus experiences of African
American males enrolled in a California community college, in order to determine
their perspectives concerning the social and academic factors that encouraged them
to integrate and persist towards either earning a degree, or transferring to a four-year
institution. Further, this study looked at the perspectives of athletes and non-athletes,
to determine the extent to which the helpful resources, offices and/or individuals they
identified were similar. The study then considered the perceptions of faculty and
staff who work with these African American male students, to determine if the
resources they identified as being helpful and/or barriers were the same as those
identified by the students.
Higher education institutions, and in particular two-year colleges, are
increasingly called upon to use resources effectively. Colleges cannot afford to
provide services that faculty and staff think are helpful, but which students ignore, or
fail to support resources students see as critical to their success (Cuyjet, 1997). The
goal of this study was to provide faculty and administrators at a specific California
community college with enhanced practical knowledge to facilitate and develop

10
recommendations for enhancing the persistence of its African American male
students.
Because I sought to understand the experiences of African American male
student-athletes and non-student-athletes, and to compare those with the perceptions
of faculty and staff, I conducted a phenomonology/ethnographic case study,
involving 23 semi-structured interviews at a Southern California community college.
I chose a qualitative approach because, as Polkinghorne (2005) states, “Qualitative
research is inquiry aimed at describing and clarifying human experience as it appears
in people’s lives” (p. 137). Qualitative data are gathered in either spoken or written
form, using an approach that serves to provide data that is intimate, and, further,
provides emphatic understanding of behavior in terms of its interpretive meaning of
the subjects (Littleton, 2001). I sought to use research methods that would produce
insightful analyses in the area of African American student persistence, beyond the
limitations of a survey. Chapters One, Two, and Three of this dissertation seek to
justify and explain this specific study of African American male student academic
persistence in this community college setting.
This study explored the influence of life experiences on the academic
persistence of African American males attending a California community college.
The constructs of academic and social integration were considered with regard to the
persistence variable. Administrators, faculty, staff, and coaches were also
interviewed.

11
Personal Interest
As a community college professor, I am interested in assisting African
American males in having positive campus experiences and being academically
successful, so that they can persist towards their degree or transfer goals. Having
worked in the higher education classroom for eight years, within the biological
sciences curriculum, I have witnessed many students persist, and fail to persist,
towards graduation and transfer into a four-year institution. While it seems plausible
to focus in this study on those students who leave college, the primary interest was in
those students who remained, with either an intention to earn an Associate’s degree,
or to transfer to a four-year institution to earn a Bachelor’s degree. By learning what
experiences these students had, it is hoped that more effective efforts can be made to
help future African American male college students persist.
I approached this study as an action researcher, because I conducted this
research project at my ‘home’ institution, Desert Community College (DCC) — a
pseudonym. The goal of action research, as described by Patton (2002), is to “solve
specific problems within a program, organization, or community. Action research
explicitly and purposefully becomes part of the change process by engaging the
people in the program or organization in studying their own problems” (p. 221).

Problem Statement
A significant number of African American males attend California
community colleges, and community colleges in general (California Postsecondary

12
Education Commission, 2007). In order for community colleges to better meet the
needs of African American students, it is important to hear about the experiences of
these students, especially Black males. This study seeks to describe the experiences
of African American male community college students in California. More
specifically, it explores the academic and social integration experiences of this
specific student population, with special consideration of the athletic status of Black
male students. On college and university campuses, one out of every nine African
American male students is an athlete (Person & LeNoir, 1997). Most persistence
studies focusing on African American students emphasize their relative status as an
under-represented collegiate group, and their campus socialization and participation
activities (including athletics), as separate entities. Further, the large majority of
these studies were conducted at four-year institutions of higher education (Tinto,
1993; J.P. Bean, 1985; Bean & Metzner, 1985; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1977, 1979,
1986; Cabrera, Nora & Castaneda, 1993; Kohen, Nestel & Karmas, 1978; Aitken,
1982; Peng & Fetters, 1978; Hu & St. John, 2001). This study, however, focused on
the collegiate population of Black male students enrolled in a two-year community
college. It attempted to fill a gap in the literature, by exploring the experiences of
African American male students who persist in a California community college,
from a social and academic integration perspective.

13
Purpose and Significance of the Study
The following research questions reflect the purpose of this study, which was
to consider: (1) What policies, resources, and/or practices do African American male
students perceive as positively contributing to their decision to continue enrolling in
a California community college? (2) What do African American male students
identify as barriers to their persistence in a California community college? (3) What
do college members perceive as the facilitators and barriers to persistence among
African American male students? A further purpose of the study was to compare
relationships or differences between what administrators, faculty, staff, counselors,
and coaches (college members) said they did to support African American students,
and what African American students said they actually experienced, in terms of
academic and social integration. Thus, the analysis resulted in recommendations for
institutional policy and practice.
Allowing African American male students to describe their college
experiences in terms of academic and social integration provided a contextual
understanding of this student population’s academic and social experiences; this
subject is not found in the current literature. A best case scenario would be that this
action research study would generate new theories and a conceptual model
concerning the experiences of African American students who persisted in a
California community college. By comparing what administrators reported, and
what African American male students said they actually experienced, potential
recommendations could also be made for institutional policy and practice.

14
Several structural characteristics make this study unique and significant. The
study focused on persistence, as opposed to retention, and had a conceptualized
framework based on Critical Race Theory, in addition to the traditional integrationist
student attrition models developed by scholars Vincent Tinto and J.P. Bean. A
retention study would have emphasized the factors leading to student departure,
rather than those specific to student persistence. In contrast, a focus on persistence
provided meaningful and rich information about the academic and social integration
experiences of African American male students who progressed through a California
community college. Interviews provided extensive and individualistic perspectives
from each student about his experiences at the college. The interview method helped
with understanding the complexity of each student’s experiences. It is unlikely data
as rich could have been obtained using a survey-based quantitative approach.
The study focused on a California community college, of which there is little
known in terms of African American student experiences. The study of students’
perceptions of their environment was also significant because a qualitative study had
never been conducted at this specific California community college. There was
reason to believe that an African American male student in a California community
college — or another two-year college — would have a different experience than an
African American male student enrolled in a four-year college, or than other college
students represented in various ethnic groups. This study provided a valuable
contribution to the area of retention research by filling a gap in the literature, which
has been based primarily upon research conducted in large, public, four-year

15
institutions. Further, early attrition and student development models have been
developed and empirically tested in primarily non-ethnic student populations.

Assumptions
The primary assumption guiding this study was that each participant would
describe their experiences to the researcher with candor. As the researcher, my
intention was to learn something important about what happens to Black male
students attending the specific California community college being studied. Further,
this information is presented in the words of the study participant, thus giving them a
unique yet collective voice, specific to the academic experiences of African
American males enrolled in community colleges. Finally, it was assumed that
participants were making good progress towards either graduation, or transfer to a
four-year institution.

Delimitations
The focus of this study was a single California community college and a
sample of its African American male student population. The enrollment size for
this community college was 12,834 students for the Fall 2006 semester, with an
African American student population of 18.6%. The African American men in this
study were restricted to those individuals that had been enrolled at the college for
three consecutive semesters.

16
Limitations
All research studies have limitations in format and design. The first
limitation in this case was that of generalizability. This study took place at a single
California community college, therefore the results are applicable only to this
specific college. A second limitation was in the area of researcher effect. In this
study, the researcher was female, and all student participants were male. Interviews
as research methods also have their limitations, since the researcher’s presence may
cause biases in the responses. Also, according to Littleton (2001), not all people are
equally articulate and perceptive. Furthermore, inevitable study design weakness
may cause the interviewer to not ask appropriate questions because of lack of
expertise, or unfamiliarity with the language or cultural norms of the group being
studied. It was projected that the pilot study would assist in adequate preparation for
the actual study interviews.

Definitions
Academic Integration: Interactions with faculty, staff, and peers with regard
to academically-related endeavors relative to the respective institution.
African American: A socially-based construct of race/ethnicity which refers
to persons of both African and American cultural and ethnic heritage. The term
Black may be used interchangeably with the term African American.
Persistence: Operationalized for this study as current enrollment in a
community college for three consecutive semesters.

17
Social Integration: External (non-classroom) interactions with faculty, staff,
and peer members of the respective academic instititution.
Student-athlete: A student actively engaged in intercollegiate sports at the
respective institution.

Summary
In summary, by using qualitative research methods to study African
American male students in a California community college, I sought to identify
academic and social factors or experiences that contributed to the academic
persistence of Black male college students at the respective institution, Desert
Community College (DCC). The findings generated were used to compare faculty,
staff, student and administrative responses with regard to perspectives on issues
relative to Black male student persistence at the respective institution. Finally, the
findings were compared to the literature to identify similarities and differences stated
in literature about Black male collegiate persistence. Most importantly, it was the
hope of the researcher that the information gained through this study would assist
future African American students, especially males, in achieving academic success
and eventually obtaining their college education and subsequent degrees.
In the remaining chapters, I outline the stages involved in this study. In
Chapter Two, I review the literature on student persistence, including Black student
issues and persistence in higher education, and the challenges that Black male
student-athletes experience within the intercollegiate athletic system. In Chapter

18
Three, I discuss the research methodology. In Chapter Four, I present the analysis
and results of the collected data. Shared student profiles help the reader to become
familiar with the participants. Chapter Four also presents the data according to the
research questions. In Chapter Five, I summarize the study results, and compare
them with the existing literature, while drawing conclusions applicable to all college
students. Finally, suggestions for community college administrators and
recommendations for future research are presented.

19
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
According to Creswell (2003), the purpose of the literature review in a
qualitative research study is to utilize the literature to learn from the research
participant without pretense. Further, because qualitative research is exploratory by
design, the research uses the participant as a resource to gain further insight and
understanding with regard to the stated research question or questions. The
presentation and use of the literature for the purposes of this study will be from the
positivist perspective, in that the literature will be used to establish a sound
theoretical framework for the study. This is can be regarded as standard practice for
qualitative studies that are conceptualized as critical theoretical studies, as is the case
with this specific dissertation study (Creswell, 2003).
Additionally, Merriam (1998) notes that the literature review has many
functions, one of which is to provide a meaningful foundation for contributing to the
knowledge base. This literature review will begin with a brief discussion of the
theoretical framework for his study, followed by a generalized introduction to
problems specific to the African American community, and will then lead into how
these socio-economic challenges impact the educational status of African American
men, specifically within the realm of higher education.

20
Theoretical Framework
Levin and Levin (1991) defined persistence simply as a student’s decision to
not drop out of college. A review of the literature on student persistence reveals
several influential theories that provide a comprehensive framework for this study:
Tinto’s Student Integration Model, Bean’s Student Attrition Model, and Critical
Race Theory.
Vincent Tinto’s (1975, 1987, 1993) Student Integration Model has shaped
attrition research for several decades. Tinto (1987) proposed that the more a student
is integrated into the institution, both academically and socially, the more likely it is
that the student will persist towards graduation. While motivation and other college
attributes (e.g., high school GPA, and parental support) are important, Tinto’s theory
is based on interactions with various campus members after enrollment. Further
academic and social integration (formal and informal) experiences of students are
important to Tinto’s student integration model.
The second theory to be used in this research study is Bean’s Student
Attrition Model. Bean’s model has proven to be significant in explaining student
persistence at non-traditional undergraduate institutions, though it is important to
note that several scholars have indicated that the integration models of student
attrition are not necessarily applicable to students of color (Tierney, 1992).
Critical Race Theory (CRT) was derived during the mid-1970s as a response
to the failure of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) to adequately address the effects of race
and racism in U.S. jurisprudence. Critical Race Theory was developed initially from

21
the work of legal scholars Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, and Richard Delgado
(DeCuir, 2004). CRT specifically involves the followings tenets:
counterstorytelling, the permanence of racism, Whiteness as property, interest
convergence, and critique of liberalism.

The Status of African Americans
The remarkable civil rights gains for African Americans (Blacks) in the
1960s has failed to eradicate the pervasive challenges of equitable employment and
educational opportunity for Blacks. This is evident by the hefty poverty rate of
African Americans, reported to be twice the national rate, at 24.4% (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2003). Blacks make up approximately 13% of the American population, but
comprise 40% of the chronically poor, and maintain an unemployment rate that is
double that of the general population (Hagedorn, 2001). Further, an indomitable
achievement gap confines African Americans to the lowest rung of the academic
success ladder, including the realm of higher education. The National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) reports that in higher education, total minority
enrollment increased from 15% to 30% between 1976 and 2004. However, during
those years, Black college student enrollment only increased two percentage points,
from 10% to 12.5%. Further, NCES data for the year 2000 concludes that Blacks
aged 25 and over were less likely than Whites to have earned an Associate’s,
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

22
Unfortunately, college degree enrollment and attainment also differs by
gender within the African American community. In the year 2000, Black women
made up 63% of higher education enrollees, compared to 37% of Black men
(NCES). This gap between the academic achievement of collegiate Black men and
women has remained steadfast for almost two decades. Racial discrimination of
Black men has been identified as the main culprit, along with perceptions of Black
female favoritism by the dominant majority within the American education system
(Cross, 2001). Subsequently, education scholars have investigated and written
extensively on African American achievement in higher education.
An area in which the academic achievement of African American students
within higher education has been particularly scrutinized is college athletics
(Zimblast, 2001; Sperber, 2000; Duderstadt, 2003). College and University athletic
programs have earned criticism for the poor performance of student-athletes in the
classroom, especially African American male student-athletes. Academic research
has been inconclusive about the costs and benefits of playing sports at the collegiate
level. However, a study investigating the campus-based experiences of collegiate
student-athletes reports that they experience a significant amount of prejudice from
peers, but cites reduced financial strain, and greater support and assistance
(Engstrom & Sedlacek, 1991; Person & LeNoir, 1997). When comparing the
graduation rates of African American student-athletes and African American non-
athletes, however, it appears that Black student-athletes graduate at a significantly
higher rate than their non-athletic peers (Person & LeNoir, 1997).

23
Persistence Studies
The education pipeline can be both student- and institution-specific (Tierney,
1992). Within higher education, academically under-prepared students consistently
fall through the cracks of the leaky pipeline. Education scholars have raised
questions about the causes or reasons for the student attrition process, and what can
be done to help students persist toward and obtain their academic goals.
A recent review of the literature reveals the following variables as related to
undergraduate student persistence: parental levels of education, academic ability,
personal background, personality, values, institutional variables and commitment,
college experiences, college environment, student faculty interaction, college
upperclassmen, campus culture and living conditions, student engagement,
noncognitive predictors, academic and social integration, external encouragement,
clear academic goals, the utility of the academic program, and addressing feelings of
helplessness and hopelessness (Mason, 1998; Hyatt, 2003; Hagedorn et al., 2001;
Flowers, 2006; Harper & Wolley, 2002; Hu & St. John, 2001; Tierney, 1992; Kohen
et al., 1978).
Student attrition research seeks to identify and study the student groups that
are most likely to drop out of college. Scholars such as Tinto, Astin, Spady and J.P.
Bean have developed and empirically tested what some refer to as longitudinal
process models (also referred to as college impact models), the purpose of which is
to study the attrition process over a specified period of time. These models also
assess the pre-collegiate characteristics of the student population under review.

24
Vincent Tinto’s (1975) model of student attrition is the most popular and
widely cited of the longitudinal process models. Tinto’s model posits that an
individual’s characteristics have a significant effect on whether or not they decide to
stay within an academic institution. Tinto argues that a student’s institutional
commitment strongly influences their decision to stay at school. Ultimately, Tinto
surmises that positive integration experience and academic institutional commitment
enhance student engagement, and subsequent academic persistence.

Classical Persistence
This section summarizes the results from several classical persistence studies.
In 1977, Pascarella and Terenzini found that informal student-faculty interaction
specific to intellectual and course-related matters was a significant predictor of
college persistence. Additionally, Pascarella, Duby and Iverson (1983) found, upon
testing Tinto’s model in a non-residential commuter institution, that person-
environment fit was not as important, but, rather, that institutional commitment by
the end of the freshman year, largely due to positive interactions within the
institution, had the greatest influence on persistence behavior. The authors proposed
a revision to Tinto’s model, in which the characteristics that students bring to an
institution (e.g., academic aptitude, race, sex) not only influence their interactions
within the college environment, but also have a direct, unmediated effect on
persistence. Tinto’s model posits that a student’s background can be a determinant

25
of their interaction with an institution’s academic and social systems, however no
direct mention of the persistence construct was made.
An additional study conducted by Pascarella, Terenzini and Wolfe (1983)
identified the importance of the orientation experience and its impact on freshman
persistence; orientation facilitated a student’s initial ability to cope with a new set of
social challenges in an unfamiliar environment. While J.P. Bean (1985) determined
that interactive effects based upon class-level peer support were important elements
in student retention, in 1980 Pascarella and Terenzini predicted freshman persistence
and voluntary drop-out decisions from a theoretical model, and found that the results
generally supported the predictive validity of the major dimensions of the Tinto
model, in that persisters scored high on student-faculty interaction scales.
Pascarella and Terenzini also identified the interaction effects of the Spady
and Tinto conceptual models with the most consistent pattern of interactive effects
concerning the frequency and quality of student-faculty relationships. These
relationships were most important in positively influencing the persistence of
freshmen whose entering characteristics and levels of academic and social
integration were predictive of withdrawal. In 1986, Pascarella found that long-term
persistence of two-year college students was the result of person-environment “fit.”
Additionally, for both men and women, persistence was influenced by academic and
social integration. Further, Cabrera, Nora and Castaneda (1993) found that an
integrated model of student retention accounted more for the interplay between
individual, environmental and institutional factors. Finally, Kohen, Nestel, and

26
Karmas (1978) found that young men who initially matriculated in a two-year
institution were more likely to drop out of every stage of undergraduate life — even
after having transferred to a four-year institution.
The topic of academic persistence in minority college students has also
garnered significant interest among academicians (NiiLampti, 2005). A consensus
among scholars regarding the definition of academic persistence remains elusive,
however. In general, education researchers classify persistence and retention factors
into two categories: cognitive/intellectual measures of persistence; and non-cognitive
measures, which emphasize psycho-social factors. Several studies have suggested
that minority student academic success may be more related to non-cognitive
characteristics (Sedlacek, 1992). Further, it has been suggested that academic
success at predominantly White universities requires different skills for African
American students, that the results of studies conducted in minority student
populations limited to cognitive variables may therefore be difficult to interpret, and
that such analyses may reveal the ineffectiveness of considering cognitive factors in
isolation when predicting academic success within this population (Tracey &
Sedlacek, 1985; Young & Sowa, 1992; Hyatt, 2003; Niilampti, 2005).

African American Student Persistence
Non-cognitive variables suggested for predicting academic persistence and
success among African American college students include: positive self concept,
realistic self-appraisal, understands and deals with racism, demonstrated community

27
service, prefers long-range to short-term goals, the availability of a strong support
person, successful leadership experience, and knowledge acquired in a field
(Littleton, 2001; Latiker, 2003; Flowers, 2006; Schwartz & Washington, 2002;
Hyatt, 2003; Mason, 1998; Hagedorn et al., 2001). These non-cognitive factors do
not negate the significance of cognitive factors, but may be especially relevant for
minority students in education (Sadlacek, 1992; NiiLampti, 2005).
In 2001, a qualitative study conducted by Robert Littleton examined the
experiences of 24 African American students who persisted towards graduation at
small, predominantly White colleges in the Southeastern United States. The purpose
of this study was to focus on the experiences of students who persisted, and thereby
examine factors that enabled African Americans to succeed in a predominantly
White, small college environment. This approach was chosen in place of a retention-
based study that might only have considered factors leading to student departure.
Themes observed within the Littleton data included: approachable and caring
faculty; Black students acting as representative spokespersons for all African
Americans; accessibility to African American role models; stereotypes;
environmental appeal; students as sojourners; and having minority status within the
dominant culture and the respective cultural institutions.
Tony Latiker (2003) conducted a qualitative study of student persistence in a
private, historically-Black college, and found six major factors related to student
persistence: the physical appearance of the campus; living conditions; student/faculty

28
relationships; school influence/culture; student involvement; and the impracticality
of transferring to another academic institution.
Schwartz and Washington (2002) conducted a predictive academic
performance and retention study among African American men, and identified
statistically-significant relationships between several cognitive variables, such as
high school grades and high school rank, and several noncognitive variables related
to student academic performance and retention, including attachment to college, and
academic and personal-emotional adjustment. Predictors of retention in this study
were high school rank and achievement, along with social adjustment.
Finally, Lamont Flower’s (2006) study sought to estimate the influence of
attending a four-year institution (versus a two-year institution) on African American
male students’ academic integration and social integration experiences during the
first year of college. The study results drew the following conclusions: African
American males at four-year institutions were more likely to attend study groups
outside of the classroom than African American males at two-year institutions;
African American males at four-year institutions were also more likely to talk with
faculty about academic matters outside of class time and meet with their advisors
concerning academic plans than African American males at two-year institutions;
African American males at four-year institutions reported more social integration
experiences than African American males at two-year institutions during the first
year of college. African American males at four-year institutions also reported that
they were more likely to have informal or social contacts with their advisors or other

29
faculty members outside of classrooms and offices, but these differences were not
statistically significant. African American males also reported that they were more
likely to participate in varsity or intercollegiate sports, but this difference was also
not statistically significant (Flowers, 2006).

The Status of Intercollegiate Athletics
Men’s basketball has the worst graduation rates of all competitive collegiate
sports. A six-year review of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) data
reported graduation rates of 58% for Division I men’s basketball (Lapchick, 2006).
Further, only 49% of those graduates were Black men. These numbers are far lower
than the graduation rates reported for female college basketball players (71%) and
White male college basketball players (76%) (Lapchick, 2006). Thus, the academic,
professional, and personal future of the Black, male collegiate basketball player
remains in peril.
Without question, college athletes, especially those at (NCAA) Division I
Schools, enjoy access to academic support and student services that the general
student body can only dream of (Simons, 1999). However, celebrity status and
capitalistic greed tug at the core desires of these young men (Parmer, 1994). While
many talented, Black, male basketball players are called upon to compete in college
sports, few are chosen for the NBA draft (approximately 1.3%), and, as statistics
report (collegeathleticsclips.com and USA Today, 1995) most do not earn their
college degree (fewer than 40%, and less than 1% of those who leave college early

30
for professional sports careers). This is a crushing blow to the illusion and purported
mission of the NCAA student-athletic program.
Many studies have suggested that the lack of academic motivation of
collegiate basketball players, especially Black male athletes, is a significant
contributor to their underachievement (Gaston-Gayles, 2004; Parmer, 1994; Snyder,
1996; Simons, Rheenen & Covington, 1999; Benson, 2000; Spivey & Jones, 1975).
However, a major limitation of these studies is that most of them consider athletic
and academic motivation separately. It is plausible that athletic motivation might be
transferred to the academic domain, and subsequently improve academic
performance. Further, exploring relationships (or lack thereof) between athletic and
academic motivation may provide insight into how motivation (athletic, academic, or
both) impacts the academic persistence and retention of this specific student group.
The following sections explores this topic, and demonstrate parallels between the
academic and athletic motivational experiences of student-athletes in college.

Athletes and Motivation
Motivation can be defined as the process in which goal-directed activity is
initiated and sustained (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Specifically, scholars define
academic motivation as “the persisting motive to achieve in school,” whereas
athletic motivation is the “persistent need or desire to persevere, excel, or succeed in
physical tasks” (Snyder, 1996). This review of research exploring the academic and
athletic motivation of college student-athletes is not exhaustive, however key

31
findings of several of the studies suggest parallels in the application of motivational
constructs within academic and athletic domains, and thus may provide insights into
the reasons for African American male student persistence.

Academic Motivation and College Athletes
A study of 361 Division I student-athletes at the University of California,
Berkeley, reported fear of failure, and commitment to athletics, as negative
influences on the academic motivation of college athletes (Simons et al., 1999).
Student-athletes in this study defined as failure avoiders or failure acceptors were the
poorest academic performers, and were disproportionately Black male participants in
the revenue-generating sports of football and basketball. These students were also
more likely to engage in self-handicapping behaviors, felt more exploited in terms of
their role in and commitment to the university, and had a lower academic self-worth
than their peers (Simons et al., 1999).
It can be argued that academic failure may cause student-athletes to direct
more of their efforts into athletic endeavors, because they receive the extrinsic
motivation of peer and coaching staff recognition for their athletic exploits.
Additionally, college student-athletes’ expectations of success in academics are
lower than their expectations of success in athletic competitions, based upon their
perceptions of a potential professional sports career (Lucas & Lovaglia, 2002).
Interestingly, analyses of “what works,” in terms of proven persistence in the
academic experiences of Black student-athletes, suggest that community service,

32
leadership development, enhanced social integration (versus isolation from the
general student body), and a positive academic self-concept, all lead to improved
performance and academic success (Gaston-Gayles, 2004; Sellers, 1992; Tracey &
Sedlacek, 1985; Young & Sowa, 1992).

Athletic Motivation Among Basketball Players
Research drawing upon the athletic indices of motivation among a group of
young Greek basketball players points to preferences in a mastery versus
performance motivational training climate (Goudas, 1998). Further studies suggest a
significant correlation between athletic identity, task value and persistence among
athletes (Cox & Whaley, 2004).

The Athletic Recruitment Experiences of African American Male Athletes
The recruitment of talented African American male students can begin as
early as the middle school years. Sociologist Earl Smith (2004) reflects upon the
reported significance of sports in the lives of young African American males:
Athletics are important for African American males regardless of their level
in school. Some scholars feel that athletics is so important within African
American civil society that it is embedded within their culture. African
American males in elementary, junior high, and high schools tell researchers
in survey after survey that sports are more important to them than anything
else. Most of them cannot, however, tell researchers why sport has become
“a way of life” for so many of them. (p.136)

This early emphasis upon the athletic abilities of these talented African
American males may support the development of a defined role engulfment or

33
socialization process (Adler & Adler, 1991), in which African American males
embrace a masculine-based athletic (sports) identity (Martin & Harris, 2006), rather
than developing a healthy academic orientation or identity (Zand & Thomson, 2005).
Further, sacrifice by African American male students of a purported feminine
academic identity, in support of the more culturally accepted masculine sports
identity, may occur within the context of the early recognition of Black male athletic
talent (Martin & Harris, 2006). African American male students may also associate
academic success with a form of “acting White,” and subsequently may engage in a
peer and personalized form of academic underdevelopment and underachievement
(Fordham & Ogbu, 1986). Reflecting on the recruitment of male versus female
athletes, author Sara Gohl (2004) highlights gender differences in the process,
especially in the area of academics and future professional development and
planning:
In contrast to the well-balanced women, men tend to be pushed in one
direction, focusing on one sport, sacrificing their academic success for the
dream of becoming a professional athlete. If they are talented or have
potential, college coaches recruit them heavily and early. The courtship may
start as early as junior high at summer camps and off-season tournaments.
The coaches shower the athletes with attention, and the young men become
so inebriated by the dream of playing college and professional sports that
they forget about academics. (p. 6)

Excessive media representation may also play a role in the socialized,
athletically-based identity of African American males. Further, culturally-created
images of the academic ineptitude of male athletes, especially those of the African
American community, continue to populate the collective thinking of the dominant

34
culture psyche. Though the stereotype of the “dumb jock” persists in today’s media
representations of Black male athletes, historically, from the time of the
reconstruction era to the integration of college sports, Black men recognized and
accepted the burden of being exceptional in everything, including school, in order to
achieve even moderate success in society, as noted by author Jon Entine (2000), who
addresses this topic in his book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and
Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It:
Overjoyed at first by the prospect of freedom, former slaves found the going
rough. With little education, most Southern blacks had few of the survival
skills necessary to make their way in a hostile world. Education, particularly
in rural areas, was close to nonexistent, and health problems were rampant.
Despite such horrendous conditions and in defiance of incalculable odds,
some of the best athletes between 1870 and the new century were blacks,
who were frequently better educated than their white counterparts. They had
to be, for their entrée into sports was largely through the university system, at
that time the whitest of white American institutions. (p. 142)

If today’s young, black, male athletes became familiar with the experiences
of their historical colleagues, perhaps it would be interesting to note the impact, if
any, on their perception of education, the importance of their academic success, and
their subsequent desire to persist within the academic arena.

National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Response to the Black Male
Athlete’s Academic Struggles
The NCAA has struggled with student-athlete academic achievement and
reform since its inception nearly 100 years ago. Recently, it has become a common
trend for American colleges and universities to serve as minor leagues for

35
professional basketball and football (Ross et al., 2004; Thelin, 2004; Sperber,1990).
The spending on college sports has increased exponentially. For example, the
television network CBS paid the NCAA six billion dollars to televise the men’s
basketball tournament for 11 years (Siegel, 2004). That amount of money breaks
down to approximately $540 million in profit, each year, for the NCAA and
(primarily) their Division I affiliates. The plausible estimate of a (Division I)
college or university’s investment of approximately $100,000 per year per athlete in
a team cohort of 12 basketball players, suggests an expense of $1.2 million per year.
These comparative numbers demonstrate a collective sentiment that institutions of
higher education benefit from the prestige and profitability of successful football and
men’s basketball sports programs.
However, the celebration of the accomplished capitalist’s dream in college
sports overshadows the obvious and ominous exploitation of Black male athletes, of
whom over half are contracted to a form of indentured servitude to their relative
sports programs. Consumed by the monstrous jaws of big-time college sports, the
“best” football and basketball players (most of them Black men) in the collegiate
system are then funneled into the rat race of professional sports, only to experience
further exploitation and eventual dismissal, when deemed no longer useful. Further,
the time constraints and demands on a student-athlete’s schedule have substantially
increased the pressure in a “tension-filled” situation, as the NCAA and the general
public cling to the unraveling strands of idealism surrounding the image of students

36
first, and athletes second, as noted by author Sara Gohl (2004) when reflecting upon
the results of a Knight Commission study in the Duke University Law Journal:
The Knight Commission, an organization that was created to study problems
in intercollegiate athletics, reports that student-athletes spend an average of
thirty to fifty hours per week on sports, in contrast to the maximum twenty
hours per week students receiving federal work-study aid may work.
Additionally, 70% of Division I basketball players admit that the time
requirements of their sport cause their grades to suffer. The NCAA has
attempted to alleviate the time pressures on student-athletes by limiting the
amount of time student-athletes may spend on athletic activities to a
maximum of four hours per day and twenty hours per week during the
season. Schools are also required to give athletes one day off per week
during the playing season. However, this requirement does not take into
account travel time, nursing injuries, mental preparation, nor the possibility
of strongly encouraged “optional” workouts. (p. 8)

Academic Related Beliefs and Perceptions of African American Male Athletes
The perceived lack of interest of Black male student-athletes in academics
cannot be ignored. Though the following statements reflect the sentiments of a
Black football player (when asked about his attitude toward school), they may be
indicative of the psyche that many Black male athletes have with regard to their
academic college careers (Benson, 2000):
Schoolwork is something I can’t get excited about. Do you ever get excited
about work? I think one reason athletes don’t do well in school is because
they see it as just something you have to do. You get to college because of
football. Everyone just wants to play pro ball. School is just something you
gotta do to play pro ball. It’s like people tell you that’s what you can do, go
play pro football, and you’re like “Yeah!” I mean, it’s something you like to
do, and you can earn a lot of money. And that just puts your schoolwork
down. It’s just something you gotta do. You gotta be eligible to get there.
Everybody’s just trying to get by, really. No one’s interested in academics,
they’re just trying to get it over with. Do whatever. Just get by.

37
Other reported negative perceptions of Black, male college athletes
concerning school include low expectations by school officials, peer pressure by
teammates, and lack of accountability by professors (Benson 2000). Educational
researchers have noted the heightened sensitivity that Black students have with
regard to teacher perceptions (Uhlenberg & Brown, 2002). A 1997 study conducted
by Casteel, examining the attitudes of Black and White middle school students
concerning rewards and punishments in the classroom, noted that more than 70% of
the Black students sought primarily to please their teachers with their classwork,
whereas only about 30% of the White students sought approval primarily from their
teachers — most were focused on their parents first. This implies that teacher
actions in the classroom affect Black students far more than their White classmates,
and that teacher expectations could have a potentially significant influence on inner
city Black student performance (Uhlenberg & Brown, 2002). Many of these young
athletes may harbor painful memories of classroom experiences, but the emphasis of
their athletic ability may cause them to embrace that particular identity. Further, a
player’s desire to please the coaching staff (for playing time and exposure) is likely
to support the ideals and behaviors exhibited by Black students to seek approval
from teachers through their work. Such behavior could prove to be detrimental if the
athletic skills (versus the academic skills) of a Black, male student-athlete are
affirmed and perpetuated by authoritative figures (like coaches), and even athletic
fans, family, and community members, throughout their lives.

38
Interestingly, a recent study demonstrated that male student-athletes enter
college optimistic about their academic prospects. However, their athletic, social,
and classroom experiences lead them to become progressively detached from
academics. For example, Sara Gohl (2004) relates the ridicule an African American
male student-athlete experienced for earning a “B” on a test, while the rest of his
teammates received “Ds” and “Fs.”
Finally, Edward Leach (1995) conducted a qualitative case study of the
community college student-athlete experience, with the results drawing many
parallels with the educational literature regarding Division I student-athletes. With
regard to their academic experiences, community college student-athletes were
challenged by time constraints, academic underpreparation, fatigue, financial
concerns, and an unsupportive coaching staff (with regard to academic pursuits).
The results of this study are of particular concern because of the significant majority
of African American men who begin their academic careers in the community
college system and eventually hope to transfer to the Division I athletic arena. It can
be inferred that African American male participation in athletics, even within the
two-year college system, can hinder the academic persistence of this student
population.

39
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Chapter Overview
This chapter describes the study design, sampling, and methodology of data
collection and assessment for this ethnographic/phenomenological research project.
Fourteen students and nine college members at a southern California community
college were interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended questioning method.
The amount of data collected from these interviews resulted in 187 single-space
pages of typed transcript.The purpose of this study was: (1) to determine the
influence of life experiences upon the academic and social integration experiences of
African American male students who have persisted in a California community
college; (2) to describe the perceptions of administrators, faculty, staff, counselors,
and coaches (college members) at this same institution about the practices or barriers
that impact the persistence of African American male students as it pertains to their
academic and social integration; and (3) to compare relationships or differences
between what administrators, faculty, staff, counselors, and coaches (college
members) say they do to support African American male students, and what African
American male students say they actually experience in terms of academic and social
integration at the specified college. It was speculated that there would be
incongruence between the perceptions of institutional officials and African American
male students. Thus, this study will culminate in recommendations for institutional
policy and practice.

40
The research questions posed by this dissertation were:
(1) What policies, resources and/or practices do African American male
students perceive as positively contributing to their decision to
continue enrolling in a California community college?
(2) What do African American male students identify as barriers to their
persistence in a California community college?
(3) What do college members perceive as the facilitators and barriers to
persistence among African American male students?
(4) How much agreement is there between college members’ perceptions
of the barriers impacting African American male students and the
perceptions of the students themselves?
The first section of this chapter discusses the purpose, design and
implementation of a pilot study used to determine the dissertation’s qualitative
design. The second section covers the major areas of methodology for this study,
including: sample, research strategies, data collection procedures, data analysis, and
methods for verification. This research project was conducted with the approval of
the University of Southern California (USC) IRB Human Subjects Review Board,
and the consent of the Institutional Research Director of Desert Community College.

The Pilot Study
A pilot study was conducted during the Fall semester of 2006 at Desert
Community College (DCC). The purpose of the pilot study was to collect data for

41
use as a supplement to the college’s equity plan. A survey, including Likert scale
items, was used to obtain information about DCC student attitudes, an item requested
by several DCC faculty. Also, a demographic questionnaire was developed, with the
input of DCC administrators, to obtain information about student use and perceptions
of college services. The survey provided data for the DCC Office of Institutional
Research and Planning to facilitate the implementation of additional student
development and extracurricular activities, and improvement of existing activities.
The survey was also used to suggest areas for further exploration in the qualitative
study conducted for this dissertation. Pilot studies can help refine data collection
plans with respect to content and procedure (Yin, 2003), and can also help generate
theory about the people being studied. This pilot study enabled the researcher to test
potential interview questions and/or persistence related themes for clarity, before
engaging in the actual interview process for this study.
A combination of random, convenience and purposeful sampling was used
for the pilot study. I, along with DCC coaches, counselors, staff, and faculty,
distributed pilot study materials. Student participants were recruited using three
methods: (1) students were approached at social sites on campus; (2) students were
recruited at the conclusion of athletic practices after a brief presentation of the study
by me (the researcher); and (3) DCC counseling staff distributed the interview
packets to interested students at the conclusion of their counseling services. Eleven
pilot instruments were administered to a sample of 200 Desert Community College
students in the Fall of 2006. Before completing the surveys, student participants

42
were asked to sign consent forms, which explained the study and granted permission
to access their official academic records in order to obtain their GPAs. An entry
form for the campus lottery was also included in the survey packet; this was utilized
to encourage student participation in the pilot study, and included a drawing for one
$100 prize and two $50 prizes. Upon return of a completed survey packet, the
informed consent and lottery entry forms were separated from the survey
questionnaires to ensure participant confidentiality.
The surveys selected for the pilot study, in collaboration with the DCC Office
of Institutional Research and Planning, were measures of psychosocial factors related
to undergraduate student persistence (Marie, 1994). The instruments included: the
University Environment Scale (Marie, 1994), used to determine student concerns
about the campus environment; the Cultural Congruity Scale (Marie, 1994), used to
determine how well a student “fits” on their respective campus; the Educational Self-
Efficacy Scale (Marie, 1994), a measurement of a student’s confidence in their
ability to accomplish their goals; the Persistence/Voluntary Dropout Decisions Scale
(Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980), a multifactorial instrument that measures dimensions
of Vincent Tinto’s Model of Academic Persistence; the Perceived Social Support
Inventory (Procidano & Heller, 1983), used to assess an individual’s belief that they
have adequate support from family, friends and peers; the College Environmental
Stress Index-Modified (Munoz, 1986; Marie, 1994), used to measure perceived stress
among college students; the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans
(Cuellar, Harris & Jasso, 1980), used to determine Latino/Latina student adjustment;

43
and, finally, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), used to measure
individual self-perception. A short demographic survey was also included with these
instruments.
A total of 200 surveys were administered to students in classroom, athletic
and social settings within the college. Most of the survey respondents were women
in both the student-athlete and non-student-athlete categories. This distribution
supports reported DCC college data that identify the primary student population at
DCC as female. However, for the purposes of this study, male students, specifically
African American male students, were the primary focus.
Eight African American male DCC students completed the surveys. The
student-athlete sample completed forty-two of the surveys. This specific group
(student-athletes) completed an additional survey regarding their athletic and
academic motivation. All surveys administered (except for the general demographic
survey) were tested for reliability in previous studies.
Pilot study results demonstrated that African American students, male
students of various ethnicities and select student-athletes, especially Black males, did
not demonstrate significant interest in participating in research. Of the eight African
American male students that responded in total (regardless of athletic status), all
reported satisfaction with their collegiate experience to date, along with strong
academic self-efficacy and persistence values. This information, along with
recommendations from the literature review, resulted in a change in research strategy

44
for this study, such that, ideally, purposeful and purposeful random sampling of all
DCC African American males would be utilized.

The Dissertation Study
Research Strategies
Several philosophical assumptions guided this study. The ontological
paradigm considered the multiple realities — those of the researcher, participants,
and future audience — when interpreting the study’s findings. The epistemological
assumption included relationships between the researcher and the participants being
researched in the study. Finally, the methodological assumption was the general
conceptualization of the study as applied to educational practice within the specific
research setting (Creswell, 1998). The triangulated perspectives used for this study
were a phenomenology and ethnography, integrated within a case study design.
Phenomenology is a mode of qualitative inquiry in which the central research
questions are guided by the lived experiences of a phenomenon specific to a person
or group of people (Patton, 2002). The ethnographic elements of this study are based
upon the researcher’s desire to understand and learn from the cultural experiences of
African American men. Further, the use of critical theory in the area of race served
as the ideological perspective that guided the conceptual framework directing the
semi-structured interviews for the cases involved in this study, and the subsequent
interpretation of the data (Patton, 2002).

45
A Grounded Theory approach could have been used for this study, if multiple
study sites were comparatively assessed. However, this study was conducted at a
single site. Another possible qualitative study design could have been the use of a
collaborative narrative, in which my (the researcher’s) views of the participants’
lives were considered in relation to my own. However, the purpose of this
dissertation study was to explore the influence of life experiences on a group of
African American male college students as they persisted academically, while
considering an institution’s impact on their schooling.
Thus, this was a qualitative research study, and specifically a multiple-case,
replication-design study that used semi-structured, open-ended interviews conducted
with students, faculty, counselors, administrators and athletic coaches at a Southern
California community college. The multiple-case study design is similar to a
multiple-experiment design. The goal with this experimental design is not to draw
tallied conclusions from general findings. Rather, cross-case analyses can serve as
building blocks to help explain or present data-based arguments, while making
connections to the relevant literature and theory. Robert K. Yin (2003) notes that the
appropriate use of a case study for research methods is when “a ‘how’ or ‘why’
question is being asked about a contemporary set of events, over which the
investigator has little or no control,” (p. 7). The ‘how’ question for this research
study pertains to the issue of how Black males persisting toward either an Associate
or eventual Bachelor’s degree, at Desert Community College, integrate both
academically and socially within this two-year academic institution. Perceptions

46
regarding the integration experiences of Black men at Desert Community College
were also explored.
Triangulation of this research process occurred through review of hard data
(school information), cross-checking member accounts of generalizations and
perceptions presented in the data, and finally my research observations and
experiences. This process also enhanced the trustworthiness and credibility of the
study.
Additionally, some analysis of documents describing the demographics of the
DCC general student body, and the students within the athletic department, was
performed. Patton (2002) notes that documents, or “material culture,” can serve as a
rich source of organizational data, and posits that “documents prove to be valuable
not only because of what can be learned directly from them but also as stimulus for
paths of inquiry that can be pursued only through direct observation and
interviewing,” (p. 294).
The Desert Community College Student Equity Plan (2005) reports that DCC
attracts a significant number of African American students. Further, the report notes
that DCC has successful student development programs that specifically target
special populations, such as the African American student population. These
programs (EOP&S, STAR, and CalWORKS) were established to orient students to
campus life, assist students with defining educational goals, provide continuous
advisement, monitor academic progress, and serve as a general “safety net” for these
students with special student development needs.

47
The Desert Community College Extended Opportunity Programs and
Services (EOP&S) program provides student services for financially limited students
in the areas of book vouchers, short-term emergency loans, tutoring and typing
services. The DCC Student Transition and Retention (STAR) program is a Federal
Student Support Services program, which provides student development services in
some of the following areas: peer/faculty mentoring, financial aid and scholarship
application assistance, academic enrichment, computer lab and research skills
instruction, and a Summer Bridge Program. Finally, the DCC CalWORKS program
is a statewide employment initiative program designed to train and prepare welfare
recipients to compete successfully in the workplace. The CalWORKS program
provides student support services in the following areas: work ethics classes, job
placement, child-care, financial aid, and computer assisted instruction.

Rationale for the Qualitative Design
Since a retention study would emphasize only those factors leading to student
departure, rather than those specific to student persistence, I decided that a
qualitative approach would be better suited for the study’s objective than a
quantitative method. That is not to say that, upon assuming that valid and reliable
instrumentation was available, along with an appropriate sample strategy and size, as
well as an adequate response rate, a quantitative approach could not result in a
significant contribution to the research questions posed in this study. Further, by
accessing a large sample of student participants, a quantitative approach could

48
establish the generalizability of the study’s findings. However, a qualitative method
of research was better suited to the purposes of this study because it provided an
opportunity to obtain “rich, detailed information on a small group of people” (Patton,
2002), that could not be obtained through a survey. Additionally, according to
Merriam (1998), “Qualitative researchers build toward theory from observations and
intuitive understanding gained in the field” (p. 7). In other words, a qualitative
approach for this research study provided detailed and descriptive data regarding the
lives, and social and academic experiences of a sample of African American males
attending Desert Community College.
The qualitative design of this research project served as an ideal means to
obtain a purposeful sample that could best serve the research problem and questions
posed (Creswell, 2003). The use of open-ended, semi-structured interviews enabled
me to “hear” the stories and experiences that shaped the college experiences of these
collegiate Black men, an option not possible with a predetermined quantitative
survey design. Further, the exploratory structure of this study allowed me to have
exclusive one-on-one, in-depth discussions with the student participants, to better
understand what these African American men talk about in public, as well as the
more sensitive topics that they discuss only in private, and perhaps would not
disclose on a questionnaire. This is especially helpful with the race-based conceptual
framework (Critical Race Theory) that guides this project.
A final reason for choosing a qualitative approach for this study was the
concept of meaning. Qualitative researchers are interested in meaning — how

49
people make sense of their lives and their experiences (Creswell, 2003). I was
interested in learning how and why African American males at Desert Community
College made sense of their lives as college students, in conjunction with the factors
that enabled them to persist. Furthermore, I sought comparative measures (albeit
qualitative measures) to assess what administrators, faculty and staff believed they
contributed to the persistence process at Desert Community College, specifically
concerning the academic and social integration of these African American men.
Survey methods may not address the underlying experiences that contribute to the
academic and social integration of these African American men. Thus, qualitative
interviewing served as a better way to obtain this kind of information.
The results of this study may be of use to administrators interested in the
persistence behaviors of minority students on their campuses, especially African
American males. The qualitative approach provided a rich source of descriptive data
for this study and the research questions posed. There is a paucity of research in the
academic literature relative to the experiences of African American men in the
community college setting. Also, many unanswered questions remain about the
factors that foster or hinder African American student (especially Black male
student) persistence in these colleges. It is hoped that administrators, counselors and
faculty at two-year institutions will benefit from knowing about the nature,
complexity and richness of these students’ experiences.
It is doubtful that I (the researcher) could have obtained rich, detailed
descriptions of these experiences through any research approach other than the

50
interview/case study methodology used in this study. The interviews gave students a
“voice” to describe their experiences as college students in their own words. Further,
this mode of action research enabled the interviewer to have immediate follow-up, in
order to accurately reflect the perspectives of the students, administrators,
counselors, faculty and staff, and, more importantly, to assist in the development of
policy recommendations to help this student population.
Several qualitative studies conducted within collegiate settings have used
ethnographic methods. Peter and Patricia Adler (1991), a sociologist team,
conducted a five-year participant-observation study of an NCAA Division I
basketball team, while collecting in-depth interviews of this “secretive and
celebrated” arena. Lois Weis (1985) explored African American student cultural
production and its contribution to academic experience in an urban community
college, while William G. Tierney (1992) conducted a multi-site, two-year
longitudinal study of the American Indian undergraduate experience. Using the
technique of critical ethnography as a comparative case study, Tierney interviewed
over 200 individuals, including administrators, faculty, staff, students and policy
analysts.

Research Design
In this study I interviewed fourteen Desert Community College students. The
intention for each interview was to ask semi-structured questions that resulted in
open dialogue. Each of the fourteen student participants was solicited to engage or

51
participate in a single, hour-long, face-to-face interview. A follow-up second (30
minute) interview was also scheduled, in order to clarify or correct content from the
first interview, and to provide the opportunity for study participants to add new data
to the interview transcript collected in the first interview. Nine Desert Community
College faculty, staff, counselors, administrators and coaches also participated in
these semi-structured interviews.
According to Polkinghorne (2005), the main purpose of qualitative
interviewing “is to gain a full and detailed account of the experience under study” (p.
142). Additionally, Patton (2002) states that asking interview questions in an open-
ended manner ultimately allows participants to answer in their own words.

The Role of the Researcher
The role of the researcher in this study was that of a project manager, and
also that of an action researcher, since the researcher is a faculty member interested
in persistence rates of Black males enrolled at Desert Community College. Stringer
(1999) states that the role of an action researcher is to serve as a ‘catalyst’ to help
people analyze their situation, consider findings, plan how to keep what they want,
and change what they do not like. To date, no study known to the researcher (me)
has previously been conducted at Desert Community College examining African
American male student persistence within the context of academic and social
integration in this academic setting. I additionally assumed the role of an
ethnographic interviewer in the field when collecting data. I wanted to learn about

52
the native experiences and stories of the Black male student participants in the study.
With regard to the ethnographic interview, author James P. Spradley (1979) states
that:
Field work, then, involves the disciplined study of what the world is like to
people who have learned to see, hear, speak, think, and act in ways that are
different. Rather than studying people, ethnography means learning from
people. (p. 3)

A major challenge in the development and implementation of this dissertation
study was the gender of the researcher. It is assumed that there may have been some
concern on the part of student participants, who were African American males, about
being interviewed by an African American female. However, the relationships
established in the classroom setting, by word of mouth, and from a professional
context with institutional gatekeepers (i.e., contact persons, such as the Desert
Community College athletic director), helped to build communication bridges
between me and the student participants.

Study Site, Population and Sampling
The primary site for this study was Desert Community College (DCC).
Nearly twice as many women as men attend Desert Community College. The DCC
student population is estimated to be approximately 13,000, many of whom are low
income and/or first generation students. Between 1999 and 2003 Desert Community
College experienced a slight decline in enrollment of students under nineteen years
old, and a steady increase in student enrollment within the 20-24 age range. As

53
reported in the fall of 2006 (DCC Campus Document), African American students at
DCC have the lowest course retention and success rates with regard to Math and
English, and also have the lowest degree and certification completion rates of all
other ethnic groups, at 13.4% and 27.6%, respectively. Further, despite well-
intentioned student development programs established by DCC, African American
students have the lowest course retention and success rates (84.42% and 58.52%,
respectively) when compared to other student groups (DCC Student Equity Plan,
2005). They also report the lowest GPAs when compared to other DCC student
groups, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Desert Community College Student Grade Point Averages (GPAs) by
Ethnicity, Winter 2007
Ethnicity Average GPA Male Female
Black Non-Hispanic 1.55 1.51 1.57
Unknown 1.85 2.43 1.47
Am. Indian or Alaskan Native 1.92 1.99 1.87
Hispanic 1.93 1.96 1.91
Asian or Pacific Islander 2.28 2.26 2.30
Other 2.38 2.45 2.32
White Non-Hispanic 2.44 2.37 2.50
Grand 2.11 2.11 2.11

54
It is also reported that African American students at DCC are less likely to
attend Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions for designated courses. This may be a
contributing factor to their poor course retention and success rates.
Interestingly, the transfer rate for DCC, which boasts a larger student
population than the surrounding community, is reported to be the highest in the
community for African American students (reportedly, 35%). This elevated transfer
rate has been informally linked to the DCC athletic department’s student-athlete
transfers to four-year institutions. Additionally, the DCC athletic program has a
nationally-ranked men’s basketball program as designated by the athletic industry’s
‘bible,’ Street and Smith’s magazine — DCC’s team is eighteenth among all
community college basketball teams in the United States.
Several forms of sampling were used in this study. Purposeful sampling was
used to select participants for the study. According to Patton (2002), the logic and
power of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for study-in-
depth. Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about
issues of central importance to the research, thus the term “purposeful sampling.”
Identification of participating students, administrators, faculty, and staff is
confidential, and is not listed in the dissertation. Pseudonyms are used for the
students, administrators and institutions, and only the researcher knows the true
identities of the interviewees.
Criterion sampling is an appropriate strategy for intentionally selecting
information-rich cases. It allows the researcher to study cases that meet some

55
predetermined criteria of importance (Patton, 2002). The criteria chosen for this
study were threefold: (1) African American; (2) male; (3) persisting toward an
Associate or Bachelor’s degree, or has earned an Associate or Bachelor’s degree and
is taking courses for other purposes at DCC.
Patton (2002) further suggests purposeful random sampling as a strategy for
identifying information-rich cases, but he notes that it does not ensure a
representative random sample. With regard to the problems with random sampling,
qualitative research expert Carl F. Auerbach (2003) states that:
Random sampling is theoretically impossible in studies of cultural diversity.
For random sampling to be possible, the researcher would need equal access
to all members of a subculture. But members of a subculture are not like
beans in an urn, equally likely to be selected by a random sampling process.
Rather, a subculture is an elaborate social network that researchers cannot
enter at random. They must begin by contacting respected members of the
culture and gaining their trust, and build contacts from there. The reality of
having to do this rules out random sampling. (p.18)

In order to obtain a more representative sample (e.g., athletes and non-
athletes, Black males), I selected respondents purposefully with combinations of
convenience and snowball sampling, along with random, computer-generated lists of
potential study participants.
Faculty, staff, counselors and administrators of DCC were also interviewed
as part of the study. Littleton (2001) referred to this type of data collection for his
research study (administrator interviews) as “elite interviewing.” Elite interviewing
focuses on well-informed, influential people who can provide overall information for
an organization (Littleton, 2001). Kezar (2002) simply defines elites as “persons in

56
power,” and posits that elite interviews have been used by scholars working within
conflict methodology (critical theory) and ethnography (constructivism) to either
identify abuses by elites, or to construct the complex yet complete picture of the
multiple perspectives that elites bring to their authoritative positions. The intention
for this study was to select administrator participants who could give an idea of what
their institution does to foster student persistence. Ideally, an administrator
participant was to be a person who interacts with African American male students,
and could comment on their perceptions of students’ experiences in college. Such
interaction may have taken place through services provided by the administrator’s
representative department, or through a campus organization the administrator
directs.

Student Subject Selection
Desert Community College (DCC) enrolls approximately 700 African
American male students annually. The criterion for inclusion of participants in this
study was current enrollment as an African American male student at DCC during
the 2006-2007 academic year. Students under the age of 18 years were excluded
from the study. Fifty African American male students enrolled in the Fall 2006,
Winter Intersession and Spring 2007 semesters were randomly selected from a
computer-generated list. The statistical program SPSS was used to randomly select
student cases by using student identification numbers. Black male students enrolled
in the three semesters were pre-selected from a computer database prior to their

57
selection by the SPSS program. These students were mailed a flyer describing the
project, and requesting voluntary interview participants; mailing was performed by
the Desert Community College Institutional Research and Planning Office, so that I
(the researcher) had no contact with personally identifiable information of potential
study participants. Selected participants were also referred to the research project by
Desert Community College faculty and staff who were familiar with the study.
Finally, I contacted currently-enrolled but former students from prior courses taught
by me for possible participation in the study.
Faculty, staff, coaches: DCC counselors, staff, faculty, administrators, and
coaches, who provide student development services to the Black male student
population of DCC, were also interviewed about their perceptions of the degree of
academic and social integration of DCC Black male students. Of the more than 732
such staff available, five faculty members, two staff members, two counselors, two
administrators and one coach, were purposefully recruited for participation in the
study. These individuals were selected for participation in the study because of their
elevated interactions with DCC Black male students on campus, through their
professional academic responsibilities, as providers of student services, or as
coaching staff for athletic activities. They were given a flyer by the researcher,
along with a verbal description of the study, which included explanation of its
voluntary structure and assured participant confidentiality.

58
Instrumentation
The interview questions for this dissertation study were based on topics
related to student persistence, as derived from a review of related literature and a
site-specific pilot study that included informal and impromptu focus group
discussions, along with collected survey data. The focus group discussions and
collected pilot survey data highlighted concepts and themes that appeared within the
formal dissertation study interviews and final data analysis process. A significant
number of the interview questions used in this dissertation study have been published
in other persistence studies specific to African American college students (Flowers,
2006; NiiLampti, 2005; Littleton 2001), but were slightly modified to fit the current
study.
The student persistence/attrition models developed by Vincent Tinto (1975)
and J.P. Bean (1985) served as the scaffold or skeleton of this dissertation study’s
interview protocol. Tinto’s model posits that the better a student is able to integrate
or “fit,” both socially and academically, into an institution of higher education, the
more likely the student is to persist in that particular institution. J.P. Bean’s
persistence/attrition model contains many of the constructs of Tinto’s model, but was
specifically developed for commuter-type, non-traditional college students, and is
therefore more appropriate for this disseration study’s sample population than
Tinto’s model, which is specifically geared toward the traditional residential college
student.

59
The interview protocols for this dissertation study contained the academic
and social integration constructs of both Tinto’s and Bean’s theoretical models. The
academic integration construct was measured in this study by grade point average
(GPA), and the number of transferable courses completed by the interviewees.
Additionally, the frequency with which students attend study groups or consult with
faculty members about their academic progress was also considered (Appendix B).
Examples of interview questions in this study related to the academic integration
variable included:
(1) Do you attend study groups outside of your classes?
(2) How often do you meet with your academic advisor to discuss your
future career plans or goals?
(3) Have you ever discussed your academic concerns with DCC faculty
(and describe that experience)?
(4) Describe a social or informal contact with DCC faculty outside of
classrooms and offices.
The social integration construct (Appendix B) includes questions dealing
with perceptions of peer interactions, as well as determining the impact of internal
and external support systems on a student’s academic experiences, along with the
frequency of the student’s informal interactions with faculty and staff members.
Examples of interview questions in this study related to the social integration
variable included:

60
(1) Are you involved with any school clubs or extracurricular activities?
(2) Are you involved with sports? If so, which one/s?
(3) How do you share your personal time with other students?
The persistence measures for this study included current enrollment
(Fall/Spring) at Desert Community College, and the number of semesters enrolled at
DCC. Examples of interview questions related to the persistence construct included:
(1) What does the word “persistence” mean to you?
(2) What are some of the reasons that you remain in college?
(3) What are some of the reasons that your peers remain in college?
(4) What are some of the reasons that your peers leave college?
Student interview questions that were directly related to this study’s research
questions included the following:
(1) What factors have enabled you to succeed during your time at DCC?
(2) How would you describe your experiences with the faculty, staff, and
administrators at DCC?
Interview questions that were directly related to faculty/staff perceptions
included the following:
(1) As an administrator, faculty, and/or staff member at DCC, how would
you describe the experiences of African American male students at
this school?
(2) In your opinion, what do administrators and faculty at DCC do to
support African American male students at the college?

61
Data Collection Procedures
The student study participants were interviewed in order to obtain
demographic (background) characteristics. Based upon the literature review,
interview questions emphasized and probed their academic and social integration
experiences as they pertained to the persistence (measured by GPA and semester
enrollment from the Fall 2006 to Spring 2007 semesters, and possibly prior degree
attainment) of Black male students at Desert Community College. During the Spring
2007 semester, study participants were asked to participate in a one-hour face-to-face
interview, and one 30-minute follow-up interview. Many of the study participants
chose to remain longer during the interview discussion, however. The average
student interview lasted one hour and forty-five minutes. Initially, I intended to do
follow-up interviews, but because the initial interviews ran longer than originally
planned, follow-up interviews were not necessary.
The structure of these interviews was that of responsive interviewing, defined
by Rubin (2005) as conversational partnerships. The idea of the conversational
partnership is that a qualitative interview is a conversation in which “a researcher
gently guides a conversational partner in an extended conversation. The researcher
elicits depth and detail about the research topic by following up on answers given by
the interviewee during the discussion” (p. 4). During the interview process for this
study, the interviews were structured such that a mixture of questions were used.
Main questions served as the skeleton of each interview, such that the research
problem for this study was fully explored. A main question translates the research

62
topic into terms that the conversational partner (interviewee) can relate to and
discuss (Rubin, 2005). Follow-up and probing questions were asked during all
interview sessions. Aside from contributing to the collection of detailed and rich
data, follow-up questions had several purposes: (1) to address specific comments that
the conversational partner (interviewee) made, and (2) to examine interviewee
oversimplifications, new ideas, or relevant stories. Finally, probing questions were
used during each interview to keep the conversational flow going (Rubin, 2005).
During the interviews, student participants were asked a series of questions
related to their academic and social experiences at Desert Community College. The
athletic status of the study participants was also considered during the interview
process. The majority of the questions used in the interview protocols were the same
for all students, regardless of athletic status. Other, specific questions for the
student-athlete interviewees directly addressed sports participation and its role in
their college integration experience (Appendix B). The study design was the same
for DCC faculty, staff, administrators and coach interview sessions, though their
designated interview protocols were different (Appendix B).
Each interview was scheduled at the participant’s convenience. Locations for
the student interviews included a private campus-based office, private homes, and
local food establishments. All interviews were conducted at places determined to be
comfortable for all study participants (a private room/office on campus, or other
appropriate locations on or near the DCC campus). All interviews were audiotaped
and transcribed for common themes and relevant findings. Clarifications of obscure

63
findings were (upon data transcription and analysis) confirmed by follow-up
telephone calls or face-to-face interviews. Additionally, a participant profile form
was completed by each student that was interviewed. Each student was asked to
select a pseudonym to be used as a unique identifier during their participation in the
study. All participant profile forms and data tapes were locked and stored in the
office of the researcher.
At the beginning of each interview a letter was given to the study participant
explaining the research project’s purpose, along with the INFORMED CONSENT
DOCUMENT (Appendix E). This procedure enabled the student to make informed
decisions about whether or not to participate in the study. The letter to the student
emphasized the intention to enforce student confidentiality, and further clarified that
no information collected about them during the study would be used to identify them
in any way. The student letter also mentioned that participation was completely
voluntary, and that no penalty would be enforced for withdrawal from the study,
which could occur at any time by the choice of the study participant. Additionally, it
was noted that, in the case of withdrawal, compensation would be on a pro-rated
basis.
The INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT (Appendix E) was used for
clarification purposes to establish: (1) voluntary study participation; (2) study
procedures; (3) confidentiality enforcement; and (4) the understanding that the
participant could choose to stop the interview process at any time. Before each
interview, I discussed the CONSENT FORM in detail, and asked the student to sign

64
two copies, one of which the student kept. Original copies of this form were locked
in the researcher’s office. Prior to the start of each interview I also reviewed with the
student the major points of the informed consent process on the form (Appendix E),
to ensure that they understood the purpose and methodology of the project, along
with the enforced confidentiality protection. Desert Community College faculty,
staff, and administrative study participants were afforded the same protective
measures.
Upon receiving the consent of each study participant, I recorded their
interview using audiotape. Each student participant was compensated $25 cash for
study participation, after the interview session. The $25 was given to all student
participants who made a good faith effort to participate in the study. (Desert
Community College administrators, faculty and staff member participants in the
study were compensated $10 for study participation.) One student and several
faculty members declined the cash payment. The compensation was intended to be a
fair acknowledgement of the student’s and college member’s contribution to the
project, and for their time. All study participants provided a complete and full-length
interview.
Field notes were also recorded during the interview process. Patton (2002)
asserts that field notes are an important part of the interview process, because they
contain the researcher’s feelings, reactions to the experience, and reflections about
the meeting.

65
Data Analysis
After transcription, interview data, field notes and documents were coded for
thematic content. Authors Herbert and Irene Rubin (2005) define themes as
“statements that explain why something happened or what something means,” while
qualitative researchers Strauss and Corbin (1998) identify patterns as being formed
“when groups of properties (general or specific characteristics) align themselves
along various dimensions.” Themes and patterns within the data were analyzed. The
interview data was coded using the conceptual framework of the study, which
included Vincent Tinto, J.P Bean and Metzner’s Student Attrition Models, along
with Critical Race Theory. Triangulation of data occurred using multiple sources,
including case study and document analysis, along with internally-generated Desert
Community College (DCC) institutional data. Additionally, expert debriefing
sessions were implemented, both during the actual interviews and throughout the
data analysis process. The data themes were organized into tables, both before and
after the interviews. The study-design was flexible, in that adjustments to the
interview protocols were made as required by emerging data thematic patterns.
The following section discusses the coding method for this dissertation study.
A coding method is defined by Auerbach & Silverstein (2003) as a “procedure for
organizing the text of transcripts, and discovering patterns within the organizational
structure” (p. 31).

66
Data Coding
Thematic analysis can be defined as a way of seeing textual data in which a
codable or important moment is recognized, encoded, and eventually interpreted
(Boyatzis, 1998). The goal in discovering a codable (thematic) moment is the ability
to see or identify patterns within collected qualitative data. A good thematic code
should have the following elements, as posited by author Richard Boyatzis (1998):
(1) a label or name; (2) a definition of what the theme concerns; (3) a description of
how to flag the theme, or to know when that theme occurs; (4) a description of any
qualifications or exclusions to the identification of the theme; and (5) examples, both
positive and negative, to eliminate possible confusion when looking for the theme
within qualitative text. These tenets were used in the identification and development
of the themes specific to this dissertation study.
Two important terms must be considered when discussing the thematic
coding procedure (Boyatzis, 1998). The first term, unit of analysis, refers to the
entity on which a study’s interpretation is built. The second term, unit of coding,
refers to the basic element of the raw textual data that can be assessed qualitatively.
The relationship between these two concepts is that the unit of coding can never be
larger than the unit of analysis. The phenomenon of interest to this study was the
academic and social integration of African American male students at a select
California community college — and, in line with Critical Race Theory, the life
experiences and narratives of the (student) study participants as they related to their
academic persistence. A second phenomenon of interest to this study was how this

67
specific community college’s resources, policies and procedures either facilitate or
impede the persistence and integration of Black men enrolled as students in this
academic setting. The unit of analysis for this study was the measure of persistence
in this study population, and the unit of coding was the behavioral/motivational
construct of persistence in this sample, along with consideration of both academic
and social integration on the persistence process.
The purpose of coding the data was to organize the transcripts and discover
patterns within them. This process enabled me to develop theory from discovered
patterns, based upon the life experiences of these men and how they persisted, as
well as the perceptions of DCC institutional members and how they perceived the
persistence processes of the students. The theory, very simply stated, consisted of
descriptions of the patterns found within the data analyzed. This form of coding
acknowledges the idea that there are many ways to interpret qualitative data. In
other words, there is no “one right way.” However, my goal in researching this topic
was to support my interpretations through qualitative analysis of the transcribed
interviews. Because I am a novice qualitative researcher, my coding process was
based upon the work of qualitative researchers Carl Auerbach & Louise Silverstein
(2003), and Richard Boyatzis (1998). The coding process that I used is described in
the following paragraphs.
The primary purpose of coding was to move from raw transcript text to the
proposed research concerns of this dissertation, in a stepwise process, with each step
building upon the previous one (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003). First, I divided my

68
transcript data into manageable portions. This procedure prevented me from
becoming overwhelmed by the massive volume of the interview transcripts that I had
acquired. Prior to reading my interview transcripts, my research concerns
(problems) — along with my theoretical frameworks — were used to focus my text
review. This process also helped with identifying relevant text throughout the
transcripts. Initially, I read through my interview transcripts for enjoyment, and to
become familiar with the content. Subsequent readings of the transcripts were
intended to identify the text relevant to my research concerns. I highlighted relevant
text, considering the following points: (1) Is the text related to my research concern
or problem? (2) Does the text help me understand my participants, or does it clarify
my thinking process? (3) Does the text seem to be important to my review process?
(Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003.)
My research concern was learning about how Black male students persist and
integrate (both academically and socially) in a California community college. I also
wanted to consider how the life experiences of these men influence their integrative
process as it relates to their academic persistence. I wanted to examine this research
concern at the specified community college because I am faculty member concerned
about the low retention rates of African American male students at our college. The
DCC administrators and faculty members share this concern, and have been actively
addressing this issue by examining student learning outcomes (SLOs), and
developing intervention/mentoring programs.

69
After selecting the relevant text, I searched that text for repeated use of
similar words and phrases to express the same ideas in each transcript (Auerbach &
Silverstein, 2003). The commonalities of these repeating ideas within each transcript
were identified as themes. Those themes were then organized into more abstract
theoretical constructs, which were used to focus the theoretical narrative. Authors
Auerbach and Silverstein (2003) defined the role of the theoretical narrative in
qualitative data analysis as follows:
The narrative is the culminating step that provides the bridge between the
researcher’s concerns and the participants’ subjective experience. It tells the
story of the participants’ subjective experience, using their own words as
much as possible. However, it also includes the researcher’s theoretical
framework by including the theoretical constructs and themes in parentheses
throughout the narrative. Weaving together subjective experience and
abstract concepts brings together the two very different worlds of researcher
and participant (p. 40).

In addition to making the transcript text more manageable, repeating ideas
were recorded and organized into themes according to established categories.
Finally, theoretical constructs were derived from these organized themes and
grouped into abstract concepts that were consistent with my theoretical framework,
and which helped in retelling my interviewees’ stories in terms of the theoretical
constructs. For example, when assessing a student’s academic integration (a known
construct of student attrition models, such as that of Vincent Tinto), themes and
patterns relative to student-faculty interaction both inside and outside the classroom
environment were considered. Additionally, I took notes as I read through the
transcript texts. I chose to conduct the data analysis for this dissertation project by

70
hand, rather than using a computer program. I wanted to work with the data in this
way so that I could become more intimately involved with the process of developing
and constructing the themes. Finally, for this phase of the data analysis, I organized
repeating ideas, themes and constructs into lists. The next paragraph will describe
that process in more detail.
As I worked through each transcript, I established several files. One set of
files was for transcripts that contained relevant highlighted text. An additional file
contained lists and notes from my repeating idea file. This file was established as
my “starter text” from which all other data analysis occurred. The starter text was
the first selected relevant text from that file. The repeating idea file came from those
ideas within the transcript that appeared to be related to the starter text. This same
process was used to organize repeating ideas into themes and their relative categories
(based upon starter ideas), along with the development of theoretical constructs (to
group themes into abstract concepts) for the creation of the final theoretical narrative.
The theoretical narrative was created by organizing the theoretical constructs into the
interviewees’ personal stories.

Verification
The replicated case study design makes generalization of the findings of this
study to other settings difficult. However, because this is a multiple-case study,
replication of the study protocol enhanced the study’s external validity, because all
of the study participants were interviewed or assessed with the same interview

71
protocol. Reliability is extremely important to the thematic analysis process. In this
study, reliability was more a matter of consistency in judging themes within the
transcript data, than the actual verification of that data. Because this is a qualitative
study, the traditional notions of reliability and validity, as used in quantitative
studies, do not apply. As a qualitative researcher, I was seeking in this study to
establish ways in which my thematic coding procedures could be understood by
other investigators (transparent), communicated with understanding and clarity
(communicable), and established with consistent categories internally (coherent).

72
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION
This chapter examines the data gathered from student, faculty, and
administrator interviews. During the Spring semester of 2007, fourteen African
American male students, three administrators, three faculty members, two counselors
and a coach were interviewed at Desert Community College (DCC), a community
college in Southern California. The data was gathered from audiotaped interviews
and, upon transcription, resulted in 187 single-spaced pages. The data was coded,
and then analyzed for themes. The findings of this study are presented in five
sections.
In the first section, Participants, brief narratives of each student’s
background are presented, so that the reader can become familiar with the life stories
of the fourteen African American male participants. The presentation of these
narratives is congruent with the application of Critical Race Theory in this study, and
seeks to contextualize the themes found in the data. Administrators, counselors and
faculty members are also mentioned, and are referred to collectively as “college
members” in the relative sections.
The second section, Themes from Student Interviews, discusses student
interviews, and addresses the first two research questions: “What policies, resources
and/or practices do African American male students perceive as positively
contributing to their decision to continue enrolling in a California community

73
college?” and “What do African American male students identify as barriers to their
persistence in a California community college?”
The themes from the college member interviews are discussed in the third
section, Themes from College Members. This section addresses the third research
question: “What do college members perceive as the facilitators and barriers to
persistence among African American male students?”
The fourth section, Comparing Student Interviews with College Member
Interviews, compares the second and third sections of this chapter, and addresses the
fourth research question: “How much agreement is there between college member
perceptions of the barriers impacting African American male students, and the
perceptions of the students themselves?”
Finally, the fifth section concludes with a summary of the previous four
sections.

Participants
This section presents student participant narratives, and a brief description of
college member participants for this study. Each student narrative begins with a
direct quote from the student. The use of participant quotes before and throughout
the narratives is a way to provide a unique and definitive voice for each of the
African American males interviewed, using their own words.

74
Student Participants
In order to maintain confidentiality, each student interviewee chose a
pseudonym prior to each interview. The student narratives also include profiles for
each student, listing the following characteristics (based upon availability/
applicability): age, college major, athletic status, military service, number of
semesters enrolled at Desert Community College (DCC), reported undergraduate
GPA, reported high school GPA, high school type and racial demographic, marital
status, children, personal family structure, current occupation, campus activities and
transfer plans.
The first seven interview participants are, or were, athletes (two
professionals), the following three participants have all worked as professional
entertainers, and the final four participants have all served in the military.

Participant 1: Todd
“The NFL basically stands for Not For Long, because any play could
be your last.”

Todd, a 30-year-old retired National Football League player, grew up in
Compton, California, and comes from a two-parent household. His father played
professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, and his mother was a housewife. Todd
attended the Southern California prep-league football powerhouse, Southwest High
School, which was predominantly Black. He also has a brother that played
basketball for Southwest. From Southwest, as one of the most highly recruited

75
athletes of that year, Todd chose to play as a defensive lineman for a prominent and
very successful PAC-10 football team. He eventually transferred to a small,
historically-Black southern college, and left after his junior year to play football for
the Miami Dolphins. He has a Bachelor’s degree in construction management and is
currently completing his science requirements for dental school. He has enrolled for
nine consecutive semesters at DCC. His college GPA is 2.8. He does not remember
his high school GPA. Todd is married with two children (both are girls), and his
wife is a middle school principal. He says his wife played a significant role in
helping him rebuild his life after his professional football career ended. Todd has
worked as a probation officer and physical education teacher. His current occupation
is a security guard.
When asked to describe the life of a student-athlete, Todd reflected on his life
as a PAC-10 football player:
Once you sign that piece of paper, you are theirs. The counselor schedules
your classes for you. You register before anyone else in the school does.
Your classes have to end by noon because you have to go to team meetings
every day before practice at one o’clock. The meetings are for about an hour.
The meeting is over about two o’clock. Then you have to go to the training
room to get taped and get dressed and be in the field by three o’clock, then
you practice for another two hours — then after those two hours you go to
conditioning, then after that you go back to the field room and watch another
hour of practice tapes, then you go eat, then go to study hall, then go to your
room and sleep or whatever. You have to lift [weights] twice a week — with
the D-Line [defensive line] you have to lift three times a week and during the
off season they want you to lift four times a week.

However, despite the physical responsibilities that he had as a student-athlete, Todd
remembers an athletic program that was committed to academic excellence:

76
All of my teachers were nice. Attendance was mandatory. The athletic
department hired tutors to take attendance and if you weren’t there you [the
scholarship athletes] had to run stairs. So, you didn’t want to do that. When
the tutors left, then you could leave. As you prove yourself academically and
show them that you are taking care of business, they stop taking attendance.
It was mandatory that you had a tutor after practice every night. We had a
tutor, we worked in study groups and I brought my GPA up. I was getting all
“B”s. Actually, I would have graduated in three-and-a-half years. I was two
quarters away from graduating when I left.

But at times, Todd confirmed, the academic focus at a big-time college sports
program can be cast aside for the sake of winning:
When I was at the University, I was put on [academic] probation because I
had a 1.5 GPA. After that my dad had a pep talk with me and they told me
they was going to kick me out of school. But, even If I had a 1.6 and failed,
the football program would have got me reinstated again, so I could play. It
happens all of the time. Many people have failed. There was this one guy,
the best strong-safety I’ve ever seen, never went to class, but every year he
was reinstated. I won’t say his name, but he’s a good guy. But, it’s just a
business.

Todd admitted that while attending college he often missed his time as a high
school student at Southwest, which he describes fondly as a “party school” and “the
only school that I have really felt connected to.” These feelings are in striking
contrast to his experience as a PAC-10 student-athlete, where it was “all business.”
However, in addition to physical stamina, Todd quickly pointed out the intellect
required to be an elite athlete:
You have to study your playbooks. That’s in college and for professionals.
They have these big ol’, thick playbooks…. Athletes are not dumb, because
you have playbooks with over a hundred different plays that you have to
remember, each week they pick different schemes and plays and if you don’t
know it, you won’t play, so you have to know it. You have to make
adjustments during the game, you know, where if somebody shifts, or if
somebody’s off, like tailback offset to the right, then you have to shift to the

77
left, or the linebacker shifts, or doubles, you have to shift, and the D-line
shifts, and you have to do this on the run.

When summarizing his thoughts about the primary difference between college and
professional sports, Todd had this to say:
At the college level, that’s like slavery, because they are making millions and
millions of dollars off of the college players — yeah, they get a free
education, but all that time, you put in on the field, all that blood, sweat and
tears, they don’t even want to give you, no type of money. And you can’t
accept nothing or else you go under investigation. Yet, the coaches, they get
endorsements and they make millions of dollars.

Todd described his transition from collegiate athletics to the professional ranks as
“going from broke to having money,” and, though he played through injuries and
pain during his professional career, Todd mentioned the perks of being an NFL
football player:
The positive thing about the NFL is that they have financial advisors that they
offer to you, they come to facilities and give you a card and try to help you
save your money. They also school you on people coming to you and trying
to get your money away from you, people up to no good. They also have the
FBI come in, so say for example if you have babysitters, they can do
background checks for you — either personal or professional. You have all
kinds of contacts that they [the NFL] make available to you. You also get a
lot of free stuff too, like loaner cars, and clothes.

Regardless of the perks, Todd referred to the harsh realities and limited life-span of
an athlete:
Athletes are a dime a dozen. If you get hurt in practice — I’ve seen people
get their knees blown out in practice and you stop a second to see who it is —
then there’s coaches yelling: “Move it down ten yards.” And while the
trainer’s tending to them, you’re still having practice because you have to get
these plays down and be prepared. So, it’s just a meat market. As soon as
you come into the NFL that’s what you learn — Not For Long. You better
get it right. You better get out there and perform because if you have an off

78
day you’re going to hear about it in the meeting. And if you have too many
off days, you’re gone.

A knee injury ended Todd’s athletic career, a life-changing event that he described
as:
A feeling of emptiness. Like being lost. Like, what am I going to do now?
You have plans, you call yourself preparing for it. Something you’ve been
doing your whole life, become accustomed to doing, and it is basically a part
of you. You live, breathe, sleep, and eat football. It was hard, and you see a
lot of grown men crying when they retire and walk away. It’s true, because
that’s like a part of your soul has been ripped away from you. It’s a real
thing, it’s like, say the love of your life, telling you they don’t want to be with
you. Just imagine that, eating at your heart. That’s the way it is.

Participant 2: James
“You have boxes of letters in the coaches’ office. You mean you
didn’t get them?”

James, a 32-year-old Air Force Officer, was born in North Carolina, and
traveled extensively as a child because of his mother’s Air Force career. As a child,
James and his mother would often visit his father, who spent most of his life in
prison. Eventually, James moved to California with his mother and sister. Along
with his sister, James was an athlete in high school (football, basketball, and track),
and upon his graduation he attended Mammoth Junior College. From there, he
transferred to Fresno State, and was a walk-on for the school’s nationally-ranked
football team. While at Fresno, in addition to his athletic commitments James
pledged the fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, and eventually graduated from the school with
a degree in social work. Subsequently he joined the Air Force. He is currently

79
stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. James has been enrolled at Desert Community
College for one semester. As a DCC student, he is completing his science
prerequisites for a military-sponsored graduate program in physical therapy. James
is currently employed as a medical lab technician on his military base. He is married
and the father of three children. He also plays semi-professional football, and
coaches Pop Warner football for local kids.
During his senior year of high school, James, who describes himself with a
laugh as “a good student when he wants to be,” was heavily recruited by multiple
colleges because of his athletic talents. He said that getting letters from the Ivy
League schools, including Brown and Columbia, “felt good and was humbling,”
because he was “one of those kids that thought he wouldn’t get accepted to a four-
year college, so he didn’t take the chance of applying.” Unfortunately, it was also
during his senior year of high school that James encountered an unrelenting obstacle
that followed him thorough his remaining high school and college years. James
described the beginning in a series of “star-crossed” encounters:
I used to run my mouth all of the time and, you know, when it came to
football, I would say things like, “I’m the best,” and “You can’t beat me.”
But, by doing that, I kind of shot myself in the foot. Because I ran my mouth
off to my high school coach and between my junior and senior year he was
telling me to come and do this and to come and do that, and at the time I was
running track and I told him, I can’t come to football practice because I’m
running track, and he said to me, forget track, this and that — if you don’t
come to football practice right now, you aren’t going to play. So, I ran my
mouth off to him: “I’m the best one that you have. You can’t find anyone
better than me.”

80
So, during my senior year, Coach proved me wrong. It wasn’t that he found
someone better than me, it’s that he developed someone to be better than me.
He spent a lot of time with this guy. He got close with this guy. They did all
of these special workouts over the summer, and so coming into my senior
year — I was a senior and he was a junior — and coming into that football
season, he actually got more passes than I did.

So, by me mouthing off to the coach, I shot myself in the foot. We were
going to our team banquet and one of the coaches asked me which school
[college] did I choose to go to, and I was like, what do you mean, what
school did I choose to go to? And he was like, you have boxes of letters in
the coaches’ office, you mean that you never received them? I was like, nah,
I never received them. And this same coach was like, you never heard it
from me. And so being that I never heard it, I didn’t say anything.

Though James matured, and eventually enrolled in a community college to
continue his athletic and academic pursuits, his former high school football coach
continued to defame him whenever the opportunity arose. James talked about his
frustration in obtaining a “fresh start”:
I had proven myself on the Fresno team, but my former high school coach
was still trying to get at me because during a practice at Fresno State one of
the coaches was throwin’ words at me during practice one day, saying stuff
like, “Yeah, I heard that you used to be mouthy.” And, “I heard that you
used to run with the bad crowd.” And this and that, and I’m sitting here like,
how does this guy even know that? He doesn’t even know me or hasn’t even
known me that long. I’ve seen how the program works. Before I busted my
knee it was James this and James that, you’re doing a good job, we’re going
to get you in the game, we’re going to do this and do that, and soon I busted
my knee. That was pretty much it. I didn’t hear my name anymore. I was a
walk-on with a busted knee.

Like Todd, James also observed academics taking a back seat to athletics in a
big-time college sports program. He reflected upon the hypocrisy of the system and
the privileges afforded to collegiate athletes when compared to the general student
population:

81
They [the athletes] still have that mindset that I don’t need to go to school.
I’m going to make it [to the pros]. There was guys on our team with like 1.2
GPAs, and I’m sittin’ there like, how is that possible? I mean, I wasn’t tryin’
to hate on nobody, but GPA-wise, how is that possible? My girlfriend at the
time had been put on academic probation because her GPA had dropped
below a 3.0 and she came in with like a 3.3 GPA. But here, you have this
football player, with an undeclared major, with a 1.2 GPA, and he’s still able
to go [maintain enrollment] because he has an athletic scholarship.

However, despite his alma mater’s academic concessions towards the football, James
proudly described his former athletic program’s attempts to move toward academic
excellence among football team members:
At Fresno, the athletic program made it mandatory that faculty know that you
are on the football team. Fresno State has the academic game plan, and it
was presented to us by one of the coaches over there, and I think that it was
anybody below a 2.5 GPA had to attend mandatory study hall, twice a day.

It was at six in the morning, before your classes started, and then an hour
before practice. So, the coaches made it known to all of the instructors that
we were on the football team, and we all had to sit in the front row of the
class, no sitting in the back, and you have to sit at least within the first three
rows.

The coaches would check around to make sure that you were in class, and if
you weren’t in class the instructors would report you to the coaches. If you
weren’t in class you had to have a good reason, and it improved a lot of
people’s GPA.

That’s one of the things that a lot of people don’t know about the Fresno
State Athletic Program. They put time in to the academic part. They
checked everybody’s records. They found out how many were graduating,
compared to how many were not graduating, the 3.0s to the 1.5s, and they
were like, we want to bring this up. We can’t have two people on the football
team with a 3.8 and everybody else below a 2.0. So, one of the coaches
developed this academic program.

When asked why he joined a fraternity, and its impact on his college
experience, James had this to say:

82
Phi Beta Sigma was more me, and I grew up around a lot of Sigmas. I think
during the pledging process it was the studying and learning the
organization’s history that helped me with school.

He also talked about the similarity of the peer bonding experience in sports and
fraternal organizations:
You’re still among men. You still have the brotherhood and the bonding. It
was like two different lives. You can hang with the guys on the football team
or hang with the Greeks. That was unusual because a lot of the Greeks didn’t
get along with the football players.

Despite enjoying his extracurricular activities as a college student, James provided
his own perspective on the limited life-span of an elite athlete:
I’ve seen it happen to my friends, who are all African American. I’ve seen
the ones who made it for a little bit and came back. I’ve seen the ones that
got there, got injured and came back. One of my friends played for the
Atlanta Falcons, and they went to the Super Bowl that year, or the playoffs,
and after it was over he was cut from the team, and he’s sitting up there with
four or five cars that he can’t afford anymore and, you know, no job, didn’t
graduate — what is he supposed to do?

And, while coaching Pop Warner football, James has seen the role that parents play
in shaping either an athletic or academic identity, or both, in their children:
I hear the parents pushing for their kids to get their time on the field, so that
they can get that scholarship and go to a four-year school. At the school on
the Base, I actually had one of the players come to me because he had missed
practice for like a week and he’s African American, and I asked him, where
have you been? And he said, “Man, I failed the test and my mom told me
that I couldn’t come to practice.” And he was actually one of the better
players on the team, and we suffered a little bit that following week, but we
still won. His mom has that belief that football is not going to pay the bills.
It is about education.

83
Participant 3: Trayvonne
“What goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room.”
Trayvonne, a 20-year-old sophomore, is in his second semester at Desert
Community College. He was a Division I (D-I) basketball player, who arrived on
campus during the Fall semester of 2006 only to discover that his athletic scholarship
had not been renewed, due to the arrival of a new head coach for the men’s
basketball program. The seven-foot power forward subsequently enrolled at DCC
and became a member of their men’s basketball program, which is ranked second in
the state among California Junior Colleges. Trayvonne is currently being recruited
by several D-I basketball programs, one of which he will select and transfer to in the
fall of 2007. He is the product of a two-parent household, and his father was a D-I
football player. He attended several high schools, and graduated from Pearblossom
Christian High School in 2005. His high school GPA was a 2.8, and his collective
undergraduate GPA is a 3.5. He is not involved in any extracurricular activities
aside from basketball. Trayvonne is not married, nor does he have any children.
Trayvonne does credit his academic success to his parents: “I always had to get
home to do my homework, before I could do anything else. My dad and my mom,
especially my mom, they was on me real tough about that.”
Trayvonne talked extensively about his experiences as a Division I basketball
player, however he asked that those comments remain confidential. His
academically-relevant narrative comments are included in the following section.

84
Participant 4: Jaffe
“It’s a dirty game, you just got to take advantage of it and do the best
that you can.”

Jaffe, a 20-year-old sophomore, is the leading scorer for the nationally-
ranked DCC men’s basketball team. He has been enrolled at the College for two
semesters. Jaffe is a sociology major and one of the most highly-recruited junior
college basketball players in the country. His Division I suitors include UNLV,
Pepperdine, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the product of a
two-parent household. His father, a native African, is a teacher with the Los Angeles
Unified School District. He helps his mother take care of his grandfather, is not
married, and has no children. Jaffe is a graduate of Edmanton High School. His
high school GPA was a 2.0, and his undergraduate GPA is a 3.3. Jaffe’s brother
played Division I football for the University of Nebraska. Jaffe did not play
basketball until his senior year of high school; before then, he played football,
although his favorite sport is soccer. He attributes his love of soccer to his father’s
Nigerian roots, where soccer has a huge following. However, Jaffe admits that he
did not pursue his soccer interests because “In high school, being Black and going to
Inglewood. They have a soccer team there, but it was a burden. If I played for the
soccer team, I was going to get it.”
Jaffe did provide in-depth commentary on his perceptions of the basketball
world. He too asked that most of his discussion points remain off the record,
although, surprisingly, he did describe the athletic recruitment process as tough and

85
annoying, because “You’ve got to figure out who is being truthful and who you can
actually trust. In certain cases, I can tell who I can trust, but the coaches have gotten
so good at it throughout the years.” When asked if he understood the “business-like”
atmosphere of a successful Division I sports program, Jaffe credits his brother, a
former Division I football player, with showing him and telling him the ropes, during
the hectic recruiting season. Accordingly, Jaffe exhibits a mature and candid insight
as to what awaits him in the landscape of big-time college sports:
To be honest, I think all those [athletes] who play football and basketball are
like modern day slaves. They get used. They don’t get paid. They get a free
education, and that’s a valid point, but at the same time they’re taking years
off their lives to play these sports. It’s a dirty game, but at the same time
they’re getting a free education.

It’s tough, to be honest, because even the coaches — if you tryin’ to go hard
with the academics — they’re going to tell you to step away from the
academics and focus more on the athletics. It’s a dirty game, you just got to
take advantage of it and do the best that you can.

Participant 5: Bill
“My dream is bigger than circumstances.”
Bill, a 23-year-old liberal arts major, has been enrolled at DCC for three
years. He will be transferring to San Francisco State University in the Fall of 2007,
where he will study Psychology. Bill grew up in Southern California, and is the
product of a two-parent household. His father was a professional baseball player in
the minor leagues, and his mother was a housewife. Both of Bill’s siblings were
involved with the traditional sports of basketball and football. Bill’s original goal in

86
life was to be the “world’s greatest sprinter.” This decision was strongly influenced
by his father’s position that he “not go into baseball, and create his own path.” Bill
attended a public high school, where his GPA was a 2.5. However, Bill spent most
of his high school career focusing on competing in track and field events.
Unfortunately, Bill lost interest in attending his high school, so he dropped out. He
completed his high school credits through both Continuation and Adult Education
schools. Bill enrolled at DCC and continued to train with the school’s track team,
while working part-time at Target. He maintained a GPA of 2.3 and became
involved in the campus Student Government Association, the Latino Club, and a
community-based reading program for a local retirement community.
Bill’s dreams of becoming a world-class sprinter were cut short when an
injury forced him into retirement. He credits his volunteer work at the retirement
community as being life-saving, due to a single question posed to him by a man that
he befriended:
He was the first person that asked me what my dreams were. He actually
cared enough to ask me my dreams, and this man actually reminded me of
my grandfather, and in some ways it helped me to get over the death of my
grandfather. I saw the love and hope in his eyes. He was real — and I then
felt that I could interact with him and, from interacting with him, that caused
me to start to look at things differently.

Participant 6: Sam
“During the time when I was using drugs heavily, my parents still
would feed me and help me out as far as clothing me, but when I was
in the house, I would have to clap. The reason I had to keep clapping

87
was because if I stopped clapping, that means that I was picking
something up and stealing something that wasn’t rightfully mine.”

Sam is a 39-year-old single parent, with two young children. He is in the
midst of divorce, and decided to enroll in school (in 2004) to take care of his
children, whom he wants to “look up to him” as they mature. He is a liberal arts
major, and eventually plans to attend dental school. Sam did not finish high school,
because he was pursuing a professional baseball career. However, soon he will
graduate with both his high school diploma and his Associate’s degree, concurrently.
Sam’s current undergraduate GPA is a 3.1. Sam is the product of a two-parent
household. His father was a high school drop-out, who eventually became a crane
operator. His mother was an LSU (Louisiana Southern University) graduate, and
was an elementary school teacher in Southern California. She is now retired. Sam
attended private Catholic schools for much of his youth, however he did convince his
parents to let him attend a public high school for a year, which he now admits was a
mistake. Sam described his parents as making good money, however he was very
conscious as a young man of their struggles, and concedes that observing his parents
struggle ultimately led to him seek life in the “fast lane,” with the opportunity to earn
“fast money”:
My mother worked at J.C. Penney’s until she got her teaching credentials.
She’s a graduate of LSU. She did what she had to do, but they were still
having a hard time, even though they had the college degree at that time. For
Black people, it didn’t matter what kind of education you had.

88
Despite his parents’ desire to give him a “good life,” during his tenure in
public school Sam remained seduced by the dangerous excitement of a better life,
with a heightened pace:
In tenth grade, I talked them [my parents] into saving some money. My mom
wanted to get a new car. So they let me go to public school for one year, and
it was a disaster. That was the thing that killed me, because that’s when I got
the alternate freedom. All day you go to school with kids whose fathers are
in the penitentiary, moms are in penitentiary, and they stay with their
grandmother in single family homes. I didn’t know what a single family
home was until that time.

I got a chance to go to my friends’ houses, and their parents didn’t really care
if they went to school or not. Their parents would say things like, “I’m just
not buying you no clothes. So you better get the clothes you’re going to wear
next week.”

I got a chance to see that kind of stuff and I kind of wanted that, but it wasn’t
anything good, just felt like they were adults but didn’t have to pay bills.
That’s kind of when everything walked by, that’s when I got my first felony,
and everything. I didn’t get a felony, I got a misdemeanor. My parents
wound up paying a lawyer and getting it taken care of and getting it thrown
out. That was kind of the start of the end.

When asked to elaborate upon his reasons for leaving high school early, Sam
had this to say:
I was trying to do football. But I just wasn’t getting what I needed for the
football, and baseball was something I did just as a hobby. My neighborhood
was more on the red side as far as the Blood/Crip thing. My neighborhood
was Bloods, and our uniforms [the baseball team’s] were red, and I loved that
aspect. When I would walk home there wouldn’t be any problems. So, I
played baseball and wound up getting a pro-tryout because I played baseball
pretty much all my life. But, I wound up messing that all up.

They wanted to take me right out of high school and send me to a farm
league, and I went. They paid me some money to come out, and I wound up
wanting to take that money to invest on a hustle. One thing led to another,
and we were on our way home from giving a friend of mine a ride home. On
our way home, our friend in the front seat wanted to play around and turn off

89
his lights while we were on the off-ramp, and we ran into another car. One of
my friends was killed, and the car motor came in and landed on my leg, so I
wound up getting into rehab and my knee was never the same. That’s when
the depression kicked in, and that’s when I started getting into drugs.

Sam struggled through the rehabilitation process for several years, until an unusual
event changed his life:
I went into rehab and decided not to go back to L.A. I said to myself that I
was going to try to make it out here, got turned down for a job at
McDonald’s, and was walking down the street when I saw some guys
breaking into a car. I kind of got mad because it wasn’t me breaking into the
car, so I interrupted their little party. The guys ran away, and the owner of
the car saw what was happening and ran over to check his car. He went to
his glove compartment and he had $10,000 in the glove compartment! He
was a manager in a dentist’s and he hadn’t made his trip to the bank yet.

He was so happy that the money was still there, he asked me, do you have a
job? I said no, and he said, well, you start tomorrow. So I worked in their
file room, and they loved me because I’m a people person. He [the manager]
wound up telling me to put the files down and he wanted to train me to do
other stuff. That was it, and I took it from there and went on my own.

Sam’s change of fortune also resulted in him enrolling at DCC in order to pursue his
dental career interests. Though he has been enrolled off and on at the College for
many years, he remains highly committed to his professional goals.

Participant 7: Fred
“Some of the guys were so scared when we were over there, and I told
them, don’t worry about it, this is what you signed up for. A lot of the
guys were like, no, I signed up so that I could get me a decent job and
a degree.”

Fred, a 42-year-old criminal justice major, served in Operation Desert Storm
as a combat engineer for the Army, specifically as a demolitions expert. He is a

90
native of New Orleans, and plans to transfer to California State University
Northridge in the Fall of 2007. His high school GPA was a 3.0, and his current
undergraduate GPA is a 2.9. He has been enrolled at DCC for six years. He is the
father of two boys. Fred attended a public high school and is the product of a two-
parent household. His father spent most of his life in prison, however Fred visited
him regularly because of his father’s wishes for Fred “not to end up like him.”
Fred’s aunt and grandmother raised him through adulthood. He currently works in
the petroleum industry, but has held multiple odd jobs in Southern California since
he moved there with his wife and son. He attended Davidson Junior College and
New Orleans State University. However, he did poorly academically, and had to
drop out of school. Fred surmised that his pre-college academic training was limited,
and did not prepare him for college-level work:
I graduated from high school in New Orleans. I ran track when in high
school. It was a predominantly Black high school. I wanted to run track in
college, but my academic situation prevented that. I wasn’t doing that well
when I was trying to run track and go to school. In college I took a couple of
classes and then dropped out.

The sad thing about Louisiana is that the schools are not that great, so when
you make that jump from high school to college, you’re really making a big
leap, and that is the thing that hurt me so much. I wasn’t mentally prepared,
the college classes caught me off guard.

91
Participant 8: Joe
“I think that it was inner strength.”
Joe, a 40-year-old nuclear medicine major, is originally from Newark, New
Jersey. He has been enrolled at Desert Community College for six semesters. He
plans to earn a Master’s degree in radiation medicine/technology. Joe attended a
culturally-diverse public high school, where his GPA was a 3.5. His current
undergraduate GPA is a 2.9. Joe is married with two children, and works a full-time
night job as a security guard. He spent twenty years of his life in the Navy as a
preventive medicine specialist. He talked about the challenges of juggling school
and a military career:
I joined the Navy in August of 1983. My goal as far as the military was to
get a college education. That became very hard because of my assignment.
Basically, I kept being pulled away, either being deployed or as a T.A.D.,
which is temporary duty. It’s like being deployed but you’re in another
country or part of the U.S., and you’re working there during that time.

When asked to elaborate about life in the military, Joe addressed common
misconceptions about enlisted military persons:
When you go on to college and you’re right in the middle of, let’s say,
biology, they can pull you out of there. Well, if I say I got like two more
tests and I’m done, they say, sorry, you have to pack your bags and let’s go.
Most of my 20 years, I was very timid of taking classes. I’d take a class here
and a class there, and sometimes I get pulled out, so I said, well, it’s like
damn if you do and damn if you don’t, but you have to keep trying, don’t
give up.

People have a misconception of the military, but they are highly skilled. You
have to be well educated, unless you are going to be with the grunts on the
ground and all you have to do is point a weapon and shoot it and be able to be
in the trenches and be able to fight. But even so, a lot of those individuals are

92
getting ambitious and want to get out of there and start looking for a better
future.

Despite his struggles as an adult student, Joe reflected upon his experiences
in school as a child growing up:
I didn’t want to fail. I had a rough childhood, but I had a gift. I was above
average kind of kid, very smart, so the teachers knew that and I just kept
pushing myself forward. The part that really inspired me, I said to myself,
when I leave high school, I want to be on college level. And pretty much
across the board I was like college level material, but there were people that
showed me. The teacher said, let me show you something. This is your
[exam] score at college level. You can’t get higher than 12.9. That’s it, 12.0
or better is college, but if you look down at — she showed me a guy that was
a football player who was reading on 4th grade level, and they were
graduating him. This was a shame, but then again, looking down through the
years, he never applied himself. He just stayed in athletics, lifting weights,
and bullying a few kids, beat them up for looking at him the wrong way.

Though academically gifted as a child, Joe admitted that the school system initially
labeled him as a “special needs” student:
I remember my 7th and 8th year, I had to fight a lot and I was paranoid, so
when I got to high school I stuck with my books, but I stood my ground. I
didn’t get bullied. Not like you see on TV. It was a school that dealt with
hard kids, kids that couldn’t get along in class, but then they started calming
me down, and the teachers said, “Look at his scores, he’s off the chart, he’s
too advanced.” So they put me with the regular kids and they saw the same
results, and they put me back in a regular class. I went back to regular class
all happy. A kid handed me a joint. My brother smoked, and I knew what it
was, and I said, I’m not smoking that, I have to get through this. I think it
was inner strength.

93
Participant 9: Ken
“I don’t want you comin’ at me thinkin’ that I’m Step-n-Fetch-it, or
somebody else. I want you to know that when you come to me that you
are dealing with an intelligent Black person, and you need to talk to
me and treat me like I am an intelligent Black person, because I am a
48-year-old man and I will not tolerate any other kind of treatment.”

Ken, a construction engineering major, chose not to use a pseudonym, and is
represented best by his own introduction:
I am a 48-year-old male. I am originally from San Fernando, California.
Lived in Littlerock since the early 1960s. I graduated from Palmdale High
School in 1976. Served in the military for ten years. I got out of the military
[the army] in 1986, 91-Charlie T6, and was a combat medic. Worked in
Mojave, California for flight systems, worked for McDonnell Douglas in
Torrance for five years, decided to go into deep sea diving. I ended up in
Mississippi as a deep sea diver for eleven years. I now work as a contract
welder. I’ve traveled to Mexico, did some time in Iraq, Indonesia, South
Africa and Venezuela. I ran a construction company in Iraq recently —
worked with the military extensively. They wanted me to stay in Iraq, but I
wanted to come back and finish my degree before making that kind of
commitment.

Ken also spoke of the challenges of juggling military and academic responsibilities:
I’ve been working on my degree for twenty years. I started my first college
course in 1978. I ended up going into the military because I really wanted a
break from school, and as soon as I got into the military I found out that I
really wanted to go back to school. I went into the military when I was
seventeen. I graduated from high school when I was sixteen-and-a-half years
old. When I got in the military I saw that promotions and things were
contingent upon a person having a degree.

And as you mature, you come to realize that in order to get the things that
you want in life you better have some type of education, or at least some type
of skill.

Until the end of my career I wasn’t in a hospital, I was a combat nurse. And
you were constantly going to the field, so to take three months off to go to
college was kind of difficult.

94
Ken has always believed in personal excellence, but he talked about how his
efforts were not always recognized by his superiors in the military:
They wanted me to go NCOA [Non-Commissioned Officers Academy].
Initially I did not want to go, because I did not want to buy a new uniform or
cut my hair. For every excuse I gave them they came up with answer. So,
anyway, they talked me into going to the NCO academy, and I’ve always
been good in school and, after the first week, they put everybody’s score on
the board, so you knew exactly where you stood, and in my class, my
classmates, they came to me and said, “You know, Ken, did you know that
you got the most points out of everybody else?”

Pretty soon, the instructor started bragging, saying, “I got the top student in
my class.” At the end of the class I had out-distanced the rest of the class by
one hundred points. We had one exercise to do, and that’s the
Commandant’s inspection. All you have to do is put on your uniform, stand
at the foot of your bed. He comes in, looks at your room, and he walks out of
your room. That’s it. That’s the last exercise we had to do.

He comes in the room, he stands in front of me, looks up me and down, and I
hear him when he turns around and says to the Sergeant Major, “Outstanding
soldier.” And he walks out the door.

The next day, I go out and look at the scoreboard. I had dropped down to
10th place. Now, the Commandant’s inspection is worth one hundred points
— I am one hundred points above everyone in the class. After that one
inspection I ended up being 8th or 9th in the class. Now, what that meant
was, I didn’t get honor grad, which would have been an army commendation
medal. So, my Company gave me a letter of commendation and three months
off. My Company was real proud of me, but I was real pissed because I
didn’t win honor grad and everybody was telling me, “You just got screwed.”
And a little white girl won and that was that.

In that particular case you’re not going to get a Colonel to say he cheated
you, so there’s no point in fighting it. The only thing that you can do is have
that Colonel get pissed off at you and have you doing some extra duty or
some other BS that you don’t want to get involved in.

But all of the Sergeants that actually ran the courses, they all said to me, “We
don’t know what to tell you, you just got screwed. You should have won,
because hands down you were the best cadet we had.”

95
But that’s life, you don’t get everything you want, but that don’t mean that
you quit trying. I think that’s what I took out of that experience. I’m not
going to let the system beat me. Nobody can beat me but me.

Participant 10: Charlie
“Even though I may struggle, I’m here to fight.”
Charlie, a native of Southern California, is a 19-year-old sophomore who has
been enrolled at Desert Community College for four semesters. He is a political
science major, with plans to transfer either to California State University Long Beach
or California State University Northridge. Charlie attended an ethnically-diverse
public high school, where his GPA was a 3.0, and his current undergraduate GPA is
a 2.5. He is in ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) and will enter the United
States Air Force as an officer. Charlie plans to spend his military career in the fields
of Special Forces and Intelligence. He aspires to earn a doctorate in foreign policy,
and lists Colin Powell and Condeleeza Rice as admirable public officials. Charlie is
the product of a two-parent household. He has a brother and several cousins that
have pursued military careers. His father is an electrical engineer, and his mother is
a social worker, though she resides in Arizona. Charlie is married, but has no
children. His wife and best friend are also in ROTC.
When asked to describe his academic experience, Charlie talked about the
personal choices he made, and how they have shaped his professional and academic
paths:

96
Back in high school, when I was considering playing sports, like basketball
or running track, or choosing JROTC, I chose JROTC, because you know
what, I want to be a leader. And you can be a leader on the basketball court,
but I mean how many people can do that? It takes a certain kind of person to
lead somebody into combat or fly a mission. I believe that my characteristics
fit the mission protocol.

Anybody can pick up a football and practice, and be good at it. That goes the
same way with leadership. It takes a certain kind of person to say, you know
what, I’m going to take the challenge — I’m going to lay my life on the line,
to protect you all. I’ve accepted the responsibility to serve the higher
purpose.

Charlie reflected upon what leadership means to him:
“Willingness and sacrifice. Willing to get the job done, no matter what it
takes, and taking care of your people when they’re down, getting them
through.”

Though Charlie embodies the qualities of a strong military leader, he
acknowledged the challenges and humanistic qualities of an effective leader:
It’s all about trust [in yourself]. If you are the person in charge, then you’re
gonna make the call and people are putting their lives in your hands, then you
have to make the right choices. So, I’m confident, I believe that I am
confident in doing the right thing. Yes, you’re going to be scared, but that’s
when the training comes in.

Participant 11: Dennis
“I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t have any regrets.”
Dennis, a 27-year-old father of three, is working towards an Associate’s
degree in respiratory therapy. He does not have any immediate plans to earn a
degree beyond this. Dennis grew up in South Central, Los Angeles, and spent a
portion of his childhood in Simi Valley, California. He has been a student at DCC

97
for three semesters. He attended an ethnically-diverse public high school, and
graduated with a GPA of 3.2. He briefly attended Pierce Community College,
though did not report his undergraduate GPA. Dennis is the product of a two-parent
household. His mother is a real estate agent, and his father works for the Department
of Water and Power (DWP). He has been married for two years, and his wife, a
graduate of CSUN, is a kindergarten teacher. Dennis is currently employed as a site
coordinator for an after-school program.
When asked about his previous academic experiences, Dennis talked about
the lack of structure and personal focus of his high school years:
My high school was the worst. It’s like they don’t care, and it’s kinda like
they just passed me along for showing up, and then I started to get involved
in the wrong things, like smoking marijuana, and from that point on I started
ditching and smoking, and then I wasn’t too concerned about what was going
to happen in the future. I would say that in high school I didn’t have any
plans. I guess that is why I just took jobs here and there and after high school
and went to school.

When asked about his first college experience, Dennis had this to say:
I attended Pierce College before, but I was really young — about twenty-one
or twenty-two — and I wasn’t really serious about it. So I took classes and I
dropped some — didn’t drop some, and I got bad grades. I took a basketball
class, which I loved, so I ended up enrolling in that every semester. Pierce
was a good school, but I did not take structured classes. Back then, I just
wasn’t ready for school. I was just going because it was the thing to do. I
wasn’t even getting financial aid because my parents were making too much
money. So, I was working to pay for school, and just not going. My major
was undecided. My friends were going to school, so that’s why I went. Then
once we got there, they were just handing out credit cards, and so, it was like,
“cool, free money.” But now I am paying for that.

98
When asked to compare his current college experience with his experience at
the previous college that he attended, Dennis acknowledged that, in addition to his
family commitments, the primary difference is himself:
I think DCC is no different than the other community college that I attended.
It’s just that I’m different. It is my family. Me and my wife, we sit down and
talk about the things that we want to do. So, we are going to have sacrifice
for a few years, but it will be worth it. I want to be there for my family, and I
want to have an eight-to-five job. I wouldn’t say that my dream is to be a
respiratory therapist, but it is something that I would like to use for other
things. At twenty-seven, I’m starting my college career. I’ve made some
mistakes, but I don’t have any regrets.

Participant 12: Roy
“You never stop dancing.”
Roy, a 40-year-old criminal justice major, is a native of Southern California.
His professional goal is to become a police officer, though he mentions that if he
“had more time” he would be a coroner. He has been enrolled at DCC for four
semesters, and plans to transfer to California State University at Los Angeles (Cal
State LA). He plans to earn his Master’s degree at the University of Phoenix in their
on-line degree program. Roy attended a public high school, and his high school
GPA was a 3.2. His current undergraduate GPA is a 3.4. Roy is not married, nor
does he have any children. He is the product of a two-parent household. He is
currently employed as a computer repairman, and he states that: “I am the nerd who
fixes the nerd’s computer.” Roy reflected upon the life experiences that have
influenced both his professional and academic choices:

99
I was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in West Covina, got involved
in drama, chorus, and chamber singers. I took a dance class and got involved
with a dance company. I spent a few years studying dance, traveling and
working. I was living and working in New York at the time that I hurt my
back. It was a hugely traumatic thing to have to give up singing and dancing.
I ended up joining the Navy.

When asked why he chose the Navy, rather than exploring other potential
options, Roy summarized the poignant events that changed his life after the untimely
termination of his dancing career:
It was a big macho thing. My dad was in the Navy for fourteen or fifteen
years. It was about proving that my back was okay. I really wanted to go
into the Marines. I knew that I would never make it through their boot camp
because of my back injury. So I studied electronics in the Navy.

I was in the Navy for a year and a half. I set out to prove something. For a
year and a half I did not come home, and I was not really well. I was
depressed, I got into trouble — so the Navy and I were technically not a good
match. I should have gotten counseling help by then, but I didn’t get it.

I came back home and hit my mother. She wouldn’t be quiet. So, I spent
some time in the hospital [three to four months] with “real” crazy people.
My mom let me come home. We stayed at my aunt’s in LA, and that was
during the riots. Then everybody got kicked out. I was homeless for six
months. My brother wouldn’t let me stay with him. I moved in with my
cousin and his boyfriend, and they ended up kicking me out.

At times during the interview, Roy would break into song and dance. He had
an affinity for Broadway tunes. He cited Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra as two
of his favorite entertainers:
I have a cousin who is a fantastic dancer. He danced with Janet Jackson. I
danced in Opryland for a couple of years in Tennessee. My step-dad would
call me and tell me that he was proud of me. After I hurt my back I did not
want to come back to L.A., because I had traveled all over as a dancer — the
country and Japan. I was always the one doing great things.

100
Roy explained his love for the performing arts:
I love the control and performance about being a dancer and being able to
analyze things and doing things differently. You never stop dancing. Even
after I hurt my back and went into the Navy, physically I could still dance,
but mentally it was just a rollercoaster.

Though his experience of being homeless was an extreme hardship, Roy
made the best of his circumstances, and even developed an unusual but valuable
skill:
I washed car windows [for money], and learned how to say “Do you need to
have your windows washed?” in Russian and several other languages.

Participant 13: Jack
“I think my mom cried at my American Idol audition, because she was
shocked that I made it. She was just really happy for me.”

Jack, a Southern California native, is a 20-year-old general studies major. He
began taking classes at DCC in 2002 as a high school student. He has maintained
consistent enrollment ever since, and is currently classified as a sophomore. Jack
attended Western High School, a public institution known for its IB
(Interbaccalaureate) Program. He proudly mentions that his high school always
earned high test scores on state examinations. Jack has been singing and dancing
since the age of three. A finalist for the popular television show American Idol, Jack
currently holds two jobs, as a professional choreographer and retail sales associate.
Jack plans to transfer into a performing arts program. Upon earning his Bachelor’s
degree, he intends to continue to pursue work in the entertainment industry in the

101
areas of singing, choreography and fashion. His back-up plan is to teach in one of
these areas with an earned Master’s degree. Jack is the product of a two-parent
household. His father is a contracted plumber for Los Angeles County, and his
mother is a retired bookkeeper for a large supermarket chain. Jack has three
brothers. He is not married, nor does he have any children. When asked to describe
his passion for entertaining, Jack said the following:
I like the rush of performing. Auditions can get really scary, and people are
mean, and this industry is not nice, and people that you are competing
against, like when you go to auditions, they’re really, really, mean, and I
guess people get discouraged easily and sometimes I get discouraged, but I
just kind of have that mentality and focus and I know that I’m really, really
talented, and people will say “you’re just being big-headed,” but I just feel
that I have a lot of talent. Even with anybody else, if you have a lot of talent
and you can really sing and you can really dance — which I believe that I
can, deep in my heart — like, that’s really what keeps me going. Like when I
don’t make an audition, yes it’s disappointing, but I just move on to the next
one. That’s just the way the industry works, and if you think you’ve got it,
then you’ve got it. What you think is going to push you to keep on going.

However, despite his love for performance, Jack credits his parents for keeping his
feet planted firmly on the ground when planning for his future:
I am going to school because my mother always tells me that you need
something to fall back on. Because in the entertainment industry it’s like
only one in a million gets picked. There’s no chance of me going into the
entertainment industry and being able to feed myself. There’s so many
people that don’t make it, and there’s so many people that have way more
talent than me who don’t make it. And there are so many times when I’m
just like, I don’t want to go to school. I’m sick of school, you know. I don’t
know what I want to do. I don’t want to be an engineer, and this college does
not have my major. That kind of discourages me, but my dad says that
“While you are pursuing this you need to have a way to pay your bills and
feed yourself.”

102
Jack credits American Idol alumna and Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer
Hudson as his inspiration, though he is quick to point out that he liked her before her
break-out role in the movie Dreamgirls. When asked to share his motivational
philosophy, Jack cited the importance of inner strength and a positive attitude
towards disappointments:
It’s hard to audition. So many people try and get discouraged. Sometimes I
look up to myself to prove people wrong. I just want to prove them wrong.

Participant 14: Don
“A steady drop will wear a hole in the rock.”
Don, a 25-year-old criminal justice major, grew up in East South Central Los
Angeles. His mother was a health care administrator, and is now recovering from a
crack cocaine addiction. His father is a former crack cocaine user and dealer, and
has spent the majority of his life in prison, which is where he resides now. A
poignant memory in Don’s life is when both he and his father were gunned down on
the front lawn of their home. They were lucky to survive the assault of a rival drug
dealer with Latin American origins. Unfortunately, like his father Don is also quite
familiar with California’s penal system. There were times when he and his father
were locked up at the same time. Don played football in high school for one year,
but has a history of expulsions from several different high schools for selling drugs.
Don was also a substance abuser himself. Don eventually dropped out of high
school, and ended up in a juvenile camp, just one step away from a trip to a

103
California Youth Authority (CYA) facility. He notes that the “YA” is a place that
nobody wants to go to, not even the worst juvenile offenders.
Interestingly, as a young boy Don was labeled as a gifted student.
Subsequently, during his time at the youth camp, Don was the team leader for his
camp’s Academic Bowl Team, which would compete with other youth camp teams
for bragging rights and a trophy. Additionally while serving his sentence in the
youth camp, Don fought for the opportunity to take courses at the local community
college (DCC), because the courses that the camp offered where not challenging
enough and thus would not prepare him for college. Due to his record of good
behavior at the camp, Don’s request was honored.
Upon his release from the youth camp, Don did not want to return to high
school at the age of eighteen. He felt that it would be embarrassing to come back as
an adult 10th grader. Thus, Don spent most of his time working at several part-time
jobs. Tragically, he spent a large portion of this time either living on the streets or in
homeless shelters. Don remembers at one time living on L.A.’s skid row, a place
where he said “people would smoke crack in broad daylight, with cops driving right
by them.” Ultimately, his tenure on skid row actually changed his fortune, because a
nun that frequented the area (to assist the homeless) took Don to a local Catholic
shelter (because he was “clean” and sober), and eventually transferred Don out to a
shelter in near the DCC campus.
Don continued to work odd jobs, and eventually acquired a car, which he
chose to live in at times. He re-enrolled in courses at DCC, and began to work

104
towards his GED. He met a young woman in one of his classes and they became
good friends. Their relationship was purely platonic, however she allowed him to
live with her and he loaned his car to her when needed.
Like many African American men, Don has dreams of becoming a rapper.
Several years ago the DCC campus held an American Idol-style contest for aspiring
rappers, sponsored by Aretha Franklin’s manager. Don’s friend and roommate
encouraged him to enter the contest, however he initially was not interested. But
when his roommate gave him an ultimatum of “Enter the contest or start living in
your car again,” Don quickly had a change of heart.
Though Don did not have a demo tape, he asked the enthusiastic audience to
provide him with a beat by clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Don came
out of the contest a winner, and scored a small gig (job) with a music production
company, selling CDs on the various streets of Los Angeles County. Don was also
able to hustle his way into a job as an impromptu cameraman on the red carpet at the
first BET (Black Entertainment Television) awards. He cites that opportunity as one
of his life’s most joyful moments because, aside from gaining entrance to multiple
after-show parties, he photographed the “money shot” of rapper Snoop Dog and his
entourage exiting a heavily-armored, bulletproof van, which was later searched by
ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) agents, who found a small arsenal of semi-
automatic weapons.
Don’s hustle and charm has served him well during his current tenure at
DCC. This semester, he was unable to secure financial aid or a part-time job that

105
would pay enough to cover both his personal and school-related expenses. While he
searched for a job that would meet his needs, Don designed and implemented a
personal fund-raising campaign, which involved sharing his life’s story and
petitioning local businesses for financial assistance to cover his school-related
expenses. Don talked about the motivating factors that drive his campaign:
Well, pretty much I feel that I was never really given a chance to make it, you
know, to be educated, you know? I mean, I was always in overcrowded
schools, and not enough books, or the books that we had were so badly used
or so outdated, and the teachers weren’t there. So I was never given a proper
opportunity, you know. So once I got of age, where I wanted to pursue an
education — and not just any education, but the best education that I can — I
realized that I don’t have the financial, the liquid resources that I need to do
it, you know? So now I’m just trying to build up some support, to help
support the cause of me getting an education.

Don acknowledged an important mentor that he met early in his life, a
television and stage actor who has taken a keen interest in helping at-risk-youth:
His name was Glynn Turman. Most people would know his character as
“Sarge” from the television show A Different World. He is someone who can
look beyond his fame, you know, and reach down to a level of understanding,
and look you eye-to-eye and truly see your need, and is willing to accept the
responsibility, you know, to take on that need. I met him through a friend,
who met him through his mother because he has a camp for at-risk youth
called Camp Giddyup. Every year kids come out and he teaches them how to
rope and ride horses and various other cowboy-like activities.

One thing Don said to me is an old parable. He said:
A steady drop will wear a hole in the rock. And that just has so much
meaning. It tells you that, no matter how hard the situation is, if you just
keep at it and keep at it, eventually you are going to start to wear it down.
You know, it’s going to strengthen you, you know, you’re just going to get
stronger ‘cause you’re keeping at it, but you have to be steady because it’s
the steady drop that wears the hole in the rock.

106
College Member Participants
The college member participants served in various capacities at Desert
Community College, and had a collective professional experience of approximately
215 years. Three women and six men were among the interviewees. Four of the
interviewees were of African American descent, and five were Caucasian. Three of
the interviewees were administrators, three belonged to faculty, two were counselors,
and one was a coach. For reasons of confidentiality, college member pseudonyms
and demographic details will not be shared.

Themes from Student Interviews
Multiple themes were identified from the fourteen student interviews. This
section provides a detailed analysis of each theme, and addresses the first two
research questions: “What policies, resources and/or practices do African American
male students perceive as positively contributing to their decision to continue
enrolling in a California community college?” and “What do African American male
students identify as barriers to their persistence in a California community college?”
The themes in this section are presented using the theoretical framework of
Vincent Tinto’s (1993) longitudinal, student attrition model, along with J.P. Bean
and Barbara Metzner’s (1985) nontraditional undergraduate student attrition model,
which considers a (university’s/college’s) structure to be a network of interacting
systems comprised of both formal and informal social and academic domains. The

107
use of these two models to structure this chapter’s discussion is appropriate, since
this study was conducted in a community college (two-year college) setting.
Vincent Tinto’s model is a conceptual guide for studying college student
attrition. The premise of Tinto’s model is that students who successfully integrate
both socially and academically into their respective higher education institutions are
more likely to persist than those who do not. Components of Tinto’s attrition model
include: family background, skills and abilities, prior schooling, individual intentions
and goals, institutional commitments, external commitments, academic and social
systems, and, finally, academic and social integration.
Bean and Metzner’s model of student attrition has many similarities to
Tinto’s model, with modifications that are applicable to a non-traditional student
population. Non-traditional students tend to be older than 24 years of age, and to be
enrolled in school on a part-time basis. The Bean and Metzner model includes
background variables (age, enrollment status, and residence), educational goals, high
school academic performance, ethnicity, gender, parental education levels, and
academic variables (grade point average (GPA), study skills, advising, absenteeism,
major certainty, course availability, and drop out). Table 1, presented in the
appendix of this document, demonstrates the categories and themes for the first
research question.
The institutional commitment construct of the Tinto model reflects the
commitment of faculty and staff to the education of their students. This commitment
comes from consistent (formal and informal) interactions among students, faculty

108
and staff within the domains of institutional life. The specific mechanisms of
institutional actions that support these commitments can result in the success of
retaining students. In this study, the institutional commitments identified as themes
by interview participants include: school accessibility, teachers holding students
accountable, tutoring, the DCC Learning Resource Center, and counseling.
The first research question, “What policies, resources, and/or practices do
African American male students perceive as positively contributing to their decision
to continue enrolling in a California community college?”, presented the following
themes: positive faculty interaction, availability of the Learning Resource Center
(LRC), sound tutoring available in the Learning Resource Center, study group
participation, campus engagement and enhanced academic self-efficacy, and the
availability of African American male mentors.

Theme: Positive Faculty Interaction
While emphasizing the accessibility of Desert Community College to both
his home and job sites, student interviewee Todd provided context for the
significance of positive faculty interaction, as applied to his former school
experiences and the current DCC setting:
Every teacher I’ve encountered always held me accountable for everything I
did. If I wasn’t making the grades they came down with that iron fist on me
and I straightened up. Even as a student-athlete. I’ve been blessed. Some
people did give me special treatment as a student-athlete, but I didn’t prefer
to have people just push me through, because I’ve learned from the older
guys who were just pushed through and, after they finish, they didn’t have
nothin’ to fall back on or they didn’t know nothing.

109
Another student interviewee, Bill, expressed delight in having a DCC
professor recognize and appreciate student contributions in the classroom:
My psychology teacher listened to all of the students. She would thank all of
the students in class [regardless of race], because she would say it was a great
experience for her, because every time she teaches a class, she learns
something new.

Theme: DCC Learning Resource Center Tutoring and the Campus Library
Many of the student participants highlighted the DCC Learning Resource
Center (LRC) as a key factor in their academic success, especially in the area of
tutoring. While some participants expressed a reluctance to engage with tutors in
their own age group, others, like Trayvonne, considered sound tutorial instruction to
be more important than the age of the tutor:
If you know it, you know it. I don’t care. If I need help and you know it, it
doesn’t matter to me. You know, sometimes I think that’s better, because,
you know, it’s like, I don’t know why, but it’s easier to get information from
somebody who is on the same level as you, at the same time.

Ken, on the other hand, described his frustration in dealing with a younger,
less-experienced tutor in the DCC Learning Resource Center.
The LRC is pretty good. The tutoring could be better. I was having
problems with Algebra and I was talking with one of the tutors, and they’re
looking at my textbook, and this is how they were phrasing my help: “Well, I
think you’re supposed to do this,” or “Well, I think you’re supposed to do
that.” And one of the problems with a two-year school is that this guy that is
supposed to be tutoring me probably only has one class ahead of me, and he
doesn’t have it down pat enough where he can teach me and show me how to
do it without thinking about it. If he’s thinking about it, then he’s not sure.
And if I use his methods that he’s not sure about, they may not be the right
methods. That’s not helping me at all, and I think that they need to get better
qualified tutors. By the same token, I had a statistics tutor, and he was

110
wonderful, but at the same token he was saying, “I think this is what they’re
asking for.” And I’m like, come on, you gotta be sure. You can’t be
thinkin’. I can’t tell the instructor, well, I think I got that problem right.
That’s the way the tutor taught me.

While student interviewee perceptions of the LRC were favorable, Trayvonne
remembered a negative experience that he had as a DCC library patron:
As a student, they don’t interact with you. I mean, get to know somebody
before you send them off to do something else. For example, I went to the
library. I was looking for a book, and all she did was just give me a location
and pointed. I waited around for a little while, thinking she was going to give
me a bit more information, but she didn’t, so I just wandered around and
then, about twenty minutes later, I finally found it. That wasn’t the only time
that this happened to me. It has happened before. Maybe it’s just me, but
compared to where I came from, it’s just different here. They don’t want to
have nothin’ to do with you. They make it seem like that.

Theme: Study Group Participation/Academic Integration
Most of the students interviewed were comfortable with participating in study
groups in their courses, after getting through some initial intimidation. Charlie
reflected upon the importance of being exposed to different perspectives during the
learning process, while engaging in study group work:
You learn through discussion. It’s so powerful to talk with your colleagues
because they see things differently than you do. So I think it’s a great
opportunity.

However, Sam was quick to point out that one must gain social acceptance before
being accepted by most study group participants:
When you first go to your first study group, you have to earn your stripes,
because they just think you’re coming to get answers. You have to come
with some information that nobody else knows. I knew what it was being the
older Black man coming to a study group with mainly older White women,

111
and White guys. But I played the game and got in and got my respect and
everything was good, and then I could kind of kick back a little bit.

Theme: Faculty Interaction (Intellectually-Based)/Academic Integration
Though Joe lacked an interest in joining study groups, because he felt as if he
was intruding, he was more comfortable interacting with faculty, because they were
able to observe his solid work ethic:
You start reading, taking notes, start engaging more with your professor,
asking him questions, and he sees that. He sees that you are really trying in
that class. Then you score high on the quizzes, and even when you see other
students struggle and you help them out, sometimes I do that, and you learn
more too about the subject when you teach. What happens is, the ones that
are very timid, hiding in the shadows, suddenly sit up front. That will break
you out of that shadow. When you sit up front, you’re right there, and he’s
staring at you. I used to sit in the back, but when I sat in the back there were
about one or two students that knew what they were doing, but everybody
else was just drifting along. I said, I can’t have this. I started taking more
upon myself because I wasn’t learning anything. I want to learn, and I knew
I had to stay out of the shadows and be more engaged in school.

James, on the other hand, did not feel as comfortable interacting with his professors,
and provided a representative description of how African American males can be
stereotyped by their appearances:
Half the time the professors don’t even look at you when they are talking to
you. They are busy gathering papers. I felt more comfortable talking with
my coaching staff. If I’m not failing or anything, then I don’t need to talk
with the professors. If you go talk to one, you have to make sure that
everything is straight, make sure that you talk properly, no “Yo, yo, yo.”

112
Theme: Campus Engagement/Social Integration
Some of the student interviewees were actively engaged in campus activities.
Todd, for example, discussed the advantages of being involved in a campus-based
teacher education program:
I’m involved in a program that recruits people interested in becoming science
teachers. I became involved because a DCC professor told me about it,
because of the early registration, the perks you get to see a lot of speakers,
like from NASA. You get to network with other students and the program
helps you get single subject credentials within the Cal State system. You
have a system that helps guide you through the school process. And you get
to tutor high school and middle school students in your area of specialty.

Despite his external responsibilities, John also reflected upon the advantages
of becoming socially engaged on campus. He noted that he has been invited to a
number of faculty members’ homes for dinner. However, he also noted that he
exercises caution when interacting with faculty informally, in case they have what he
has perceived to be hidden agendas:
Like one situation a friend got himself into was that she [the professor]
wanted to show her other sorority sisters she helps out Black people. People
have their ulterior motives. I have a good vibe for people who want to help
you out, from the people who want to just dog you.

Additionally, many student interviewees, like Todd, who have had prior
college experiences, are pleased with their enhanced academic self-efficacy, as is
evident from their current collegiate experience at DCC:
It took a couple of years to like get in sync, but now things are startin’ to flow
for me and everything is better. I like the sciences. So it’s going pretty well.
I enjoy it.

113
Further, James mentioned his increased comfort level in interacting with faculty and
DCC campus resources, because of his academic and personal maturity:
I have more confidence now to approach tutors or the professor than I did
before, because I always had that fear of being wrong. But now I can move
beyond that.

Theme: African American Male Mentors and Athletic Participation
The presence of Black male mentors within an academic setting, and on the
DCC campus, was a common theme expressed by many of the student interviewees.
While Roy described it as “comforting” to know that an African American man is
president of DCC college, student-athlete Jaffe also noted the importance of having
Black male mentors represented in the athletic realm of college life, especially at the
Division I level:
In terms of colleges that are recruiting me, head coaches that are Black, they
are at the top of my list, guaranteed, and those who are White head coaches, I
look for how many Black coaches are on their staff. So, they are all White,
you can forget about it. Here, it doesn’t really matter, this is junior college. I
don’t really care about this, but in college, definitely, it has to be there.

Joffe shared his passion for collegiate basketball, along with the possibility of
having a professional sports career, but he remained steadfast in recognizing the
balance that a student-athlete must have with regard to their athletic and academic
identities:
My main goal is to get my Bachelor’s. Anything after that, in terms of
athletics, is a blessing from God. The main thing is to use athletics to
graduate from college. It’s definitely an interest, but I’m not going to put that
kind of pressure on myself, because I will be happy with or without the NBA,

114
but I definitely want to continue my athletic career after college, but if it
doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.

I know how devastating it could be if you put all of your eggs in one basket.
Then, you realize that you’re not good enough, and that’s almost to a point
when you could be suicidal. I look at it as a bonus, it is not a goal that I have
to reach because it is not guaranteed. I’m not going to look at it as, I must
make it into the NBA.

Theme: Family Responsibilities and External Support
While Joe mentioned that his family responsibilities caused him to be more
focused in his academic pursuits, Dennis acknowledged the impact of family
responsibilities upon his current academic goals and success. While he admitted to
not being involved as much on campus, he is able to take advantage of the resources
offered to him:
It’s different here, now that I have kids. Now, I go to night school. I don’t
really get involved in activities here. I get all of the help I can get as far as
financial aid, but as far as socializing, I’m not really involved in that. I think
DCC is no different than the other community college that I attended. It’s
just that I’m different.

In summary, the student interviewees identified a positive classroom
environment, with passionate professors and quality instruction, as one of the best
practices for ensuring a solid and productive collegiate experience. Several student
interviewees also felt that instructors that were “clear communicators” and
“forthright” about student expectations were the most effective in the classroom
setting. A significant number of the student interviewees took advantage of the DCC
Learning Resource Center, but indicated that more experienced tutors might help

115
there. Those student interviewees that did not utilize the Learning Resource Center
cited “pride” and “lack of need” as common reasons for not making use of this
important campus service. All student interviewees demonstrate solid academic
integration, as noted by Tinto’s model, in that all of them were making satisfactory
degree or transfer progress, and most reported undergraduate grade point averages
(GPAs) above the 2.5 mid-range.
Further, most of the student interviewees actively participated in and
contributed to study groups, but many indicated that in order to do this they had to
overcome the barrier of fellow students’ negative perceptions of their academic
abilities. A few of the participants were involved with campus-based activities.
However, most of the participants were not socially engaged on campus, but they did
continue to persist, as evident in their academic integration within the DCC
institutional fabric. This finding is consistent with the literature and the Bean &
Metzner Integrationist Model, which posits that non-traditional undergraduate
students do not socially integrate into their collegiate institutions to the same degree
as their four-year residential counterparts.
The second research question, “What do African American male students
identify as barriers to their persistence in a California community college?”,
presented a number of themes, categorized as either external or internal barriers.
External barriers included: financial instability, athletic commitments,
harassment by campus police, inadequate high school preparation, and lack of
campus-based African American male role models.

116
Internal barriers identified by the student interviewees included: limited
financial resources, limited or non-existent help-seeking behavior, the desire to not
take on additional responsibilities, concepts of masculinity and self-destructive
behaviors. These themes are presented below.

Theme: Financial Stability
When asked to identify the barriers to Black male success in higher
education, Don cited limited financial issues as one of the most significant concerns:
I would have to say financial stability, because a lot of us come from the
ghetto, you know, from families who are not wealthy. So, once we get to
college there’s no support system from home, you know college can only
provide so much. Jobs definitely help for financial support, but it hurts as far
as how much a student can spend time on studying. They say you are
supposed to study four to seven hours per one hour that you are in school.

Theme: Athletic Commitments
As shown in the narrative section of this chapter, both Todd and James talked
about the impacted schedules and conflicted roles of the student-athlete in big-time,
Division I college football. Interestingly enough, as Jaffe prepares to transfer to a
Division I basketball program, it seems that, even at the two-year level, student-
athletes are very much aware of the challenges they face in maintaining their dual
roles (of student and athlete) and identities. Further, like Todd, Jaffe relates the
African American male collegiate student-athlete’s experience to that of historical
slaves. In the spirit of viewing societal institutions through the lens of Critical Race

117
Theory — though it is not cited as such in most studies — it is plausible that sports
as an institution and culture maintains racist dominant culture values. In reality, as
mentioned in both the narratives and thematic commentary, the student-athletes have
(had) limited power, if any, in their dual roles. They are (were) at the mercy of their
coaches and the athletic system in terms of both their academic and athletic
progression. Further, most of those persons occupying positions of authority
(decision-making) within the collegiate athletic arena are/were not African American
men.
To be honest, I think all those [athletes] who play football and basketball are
like modern day slaves. They get used. They don’t get paid. They get a free
education, and that’s a valid point, but at the same time they’re taking years
off their lives to play these sports. It’s a dirty game, but at the same time
they’re getting a free education.

It’s tough, to be honest, because even the coaches, if you tryin’ to go hard
with the academics, they’re going to tell you to step away from the academics
and focus more on the athletics. It’s a dirty game, you just got to take
advantage of it and do the best that you can.

Jaffe also mentioned the importance of having an African American male on
his team’s coaching staff, as well as the significance of this factor during his
Division I recruiting process:
In terms of colleges that are recruiting me, head coaches that are Black, they
are at the top of my list, guaranteed, and those who are White head coaches, I
look for how many Black coaches are on their staff. So, if they are all White,
they can forget about it. Here, it doesn’t really matter, this is junior college.
I don’t really care about this, but in college, definitely, it has to be there.

118
Theme: Hostile Campus Environment Due to Campus Security
Both Tinto’s model of student integration and the Bean & Metzner attrition
model identify the importance of institutional environment and campus climate in the
successful retention and academic persistence of students. Unfortunately, Todd is
among many of the student interviewees who expressed displeasure with what is
perceived to be an overzealous DCC campus police force:
The college has been good to me. The only thing that I can probably gripe
about is the security. The security. They are buncha gung-ho young
Caucasian guys. It’s not all of them. It’s just a few of them that I see. That
they are out to prove a point. That they have power and to let you know that
they are there and trying to make a name for themselves. That, I see. I’ve
talked to a couple of them and they were nice. I’ve said hi to a couple of
them, and they don’t speak. They’re a bunch of redneck security guards.

Jaffe also mentioned a negative encounter with campus police, while waiting
for a ride after his basketball game:
I had just came from a game and was waiting for my ride in front of the
library. I had an ice pack on my hand from injuries that I sustained in the
game, then like two police cars zoomed onto the quad and started questioning
me and going through my backpack, looking for my ID. They wanted to
verify that I was student here, but I was kind of being a jerk, you know.

Don described an encounter with campus police while trying to make a repair
on his stalled automobile:
I had an ‘87 Cutlass Supreme, and they have these big water hoses that go
from the radiator to the engine to keep the engine cool, but there was a
pinhole-size leak in the tubing, so I don’t know where I came up with the
idea, but I found out that duct tape would repair the leak. Because this way it
is cheaper, and I could not repair the leak with a new hose, because it is an
older model. So, I come to the campus and I am asking everybody, excuse
me, by any chance would you happen to have any duct tape? Or would you
know anywhere on campus where I could find some duct tape? About ten
minutes later I am surrounded by about ten guards [campus security officers].

119
Don admitted that a senior campus security officer assisted in defusing the situation,
by asking Don to clarify his purpose in asking for the duct tape; the other officers
were intent upon arresting him first, then asking questions later.

Theme: Negative Faculty Interactions
Bill is among a few participants who have had negative experiences with faculty:
You get the feeling that you’re Black, that they [the teachers] think that you
don’t want to do anything with your life. Teachers judge you by the way that
you dress. It seemed that the teachers had the perception, “Oh look, this is a
trouble maker. Look at the way that he is dressed.”

Dennis described his perception of racist assumptions made by a DCC faculty
member during the first meeting of a chemistry course:
In my Chemistry class there was a Black guy sitting in front of me, and he
was just hanging out. She [the professor] was looking at him but continued
lecturing. He [the black guy] left for good, and at the end of the class when
the teacher was calling roll, and I said here, she said to me, “You can’t walk
in and out of my classroom,” and I looked at her like, I was here before you,
I’ve sat through the whole lecture and taking notes. And it seemed like she
just put us together, and I wanted to go talk to her about it, but then I kind of
just said, forget it. I still learned in the class, and she’s not going to sign my
check or anything, so I’ll just get what I can from it. Luckily, she just sticks
with the book, and I just study from the book. I think I can do well in the
class just by learning from the book.

Trayvonne identified DCC library staff as less than helpful (see the previous
section), and Sam also mentioned a challenging situation that he encountered
involving DCC faculty members in the Learning Resource Center. This situation
was especially upsetting to him, since he worked on the campus as a student aide,
and had established a hard-earned positive reputation regarding his work ethic:

120
One particular time there was a lady that worked in one of the offices, and I
came to pick up my notes from a young lady, and it said no kids in that area.
My kids were too little to leave in the car, and I was just passing through, I
wasn’t planning on sitting there to study and use the equipment. She sent an
email to my boss and other faculty that I was disrespectful, and I did all these
things to her, and there was a gentleman that didn’t like Black people, but he
saw what really happened. So the next day — and I’m a momma’s boy, so I
get emotional — and I was so mad I got tears in my eyes, so he came to me
and said that he would write whatever I needed written, but I wanted to see
her boss, and I wanted to let them know because my parents were pissed that
she emailed [about me] to the faculty, because there was no need for her to
do that, and people were whispering when I came in, saying “That’s the guy
right there.” They wound up making it go away, and she brought me milk
and cookies the next day. But that’s how they do.

Theme: Reasons for Black Male Struggle in Higher Education
When asked about reasons why Black men struggle in higher education,
Todd identified limited help-seeking behavior as a major part of the problem, but
also recognized the psychosocial complexities that may haunt a very marginalized
and disenfranchised group of men:
Some people don’t even know that they can go to college. A lot of them
come from generational gang-bangers. All they want to do is hustle on the
corner or have as many women as they can get. Basically, kids raisin’ kids.
Drugs took us way down, especially from the 80s, and the crack babies, that
messed us all up. Oh, and everybody wants to be a thug. It’s like a fad to be
a thug. Disrespect everybody, acts like they’re hard. The thugs now try and
tear the community down, not respecting the elders. There used to be a
hierarchy in the gang structure. Now, the youngsters, if they don’t like
something, they’re shooting up everybody. It’s just gone mad.

They have low academic skills, and instead of saying I need help, or they
don’t understand, they just act out. A lot of it comes from the home, single
parent homes, parents working multiple jobs, things like that.

121
Trayvonne believes that the limited desire for personal responsibility plays a
significant part in the barriers that African American men face when considering
whether or not to persist academically:
From what I’ve seen, and don’t get me wrong, is that people only go to
school so that they don’t have to work in the real world just yet. You know,
I’ve seen that a lot. It helps them, in that they get the degree, but I don’t
know if that is a good excuse just to go to school. I’ve heard people say,
“I’m going to school, so I don’t have to go to work.” They say that the
teachers don’t help Black students, and I’ve experienced that too. I’ve also
heard some people say that it’s just not for them.

Jaffe mentioned a lack of focus as a barrier to persistence:
We don’t really appreciate how critical it is to get our education. Most of us
want it the fast way, and education is a long process. We are at a
disadvantage. I hate to play the race card, but we have to use that as a
motivation.

James believes that it is a result of self-destructive behavior, based upon societal
perceptions:
I think it is themselves. Because, for the majority of them it is the attitude,
the persona that they portray half the time. And I want to blame it on TV, the
majority of everyone, if you watch the way that they act, it is what they see
on TV. How they dress is what they see on TV.

You know, they come into the classes, lean back in the seat, tap on the desks,
make noise. You know, if the teacher tries to correct them, it’s pretty much,
man, forget this, I’m too cool for this. You know, the teacher tries to correct
their school work, and they say, “Alright, I’ll try and get by.”

You know, and maybe before you could bet by in junior high school and high
school, but once you reach the college level, then it doesn’t matter, unless
you’re an athlete, but if you’re a regular student...

If you come in and try and bring the streets into the classroom, it doesn’t
work.

122
Theme: Family Responsibility
Some of the participants were “family men,” and at times noted that
managing family responsibilities could be a challenge. James also talked about how
family and personal responsibilities can take away from much-needed study time for
some African American male students with these specific characteristics, along with
the pressure to succeed:
Now I am back in school, I got to read this chapter, read this lab, make time
for my wife, see my daughter, put in the family time. I’ve actually noticed
that it is more difficult to juggle things now than when I was undergrad.

How is it that I don’t have time now? I didn’t think I had time then, when I
was undergrad, and I still managed to get things done.

I feel more pressure now than when I was in school before. I am kind of
putting the pressure on myself [graduate studies in physical therapy]. There
are so many incentives in the program, but at the same time it is something
that I never thought about.

A counselor on the Base told me about the physical therapy program, even
though my initial goal was to do counseling and social work, and so I talked
with my mom, and she asked what about the counseling, and I told her, mom,
I have a chance to be a doctor in physical therapy, and that is something that I
never thought about it.

Fred mentioned that one of his family responsibilities is to be a role model
for his son, while acknowledging how he uses his past mistakes as teaching tools
when mentoring his son. Fred also reflected upon the negative or limited help-
seeking behavior that may influence the way that African American males
experience school, and he uses this awareness to mentor his son, specifically in the
area of tutoring:

123
Well, for the ones that are in school, just basically getting help. As AA male,
when I first started college that was one of the main reasons that I flunked out
when I first started — I was too proud to get help. Which was bad, because
all of the help was there. I was just too proud to go get it.

It is the same concept with my ten year old. He needs help in math. I told
him that he needs to go see a tutor. He tells me that he doesn’t want to go to
the tutor. I said, why? He says, they’re going to think I’m dumb. I tell him
that you’re not dumb, you’re ignorant. He says, I’m ignorant? I ask him, do
you know what the word ignorant means? He says, no. I tell him it means
you don’t know. I tell him I’m ignorant, everybody is ignorant about
something.

I tell him, look, you’re not writing your homework down because you don’t
have something to write it on. I went in my book bag, I gave him one of my
little notepads, and I told him, now look, you’ve got one, and I’ve got one.
My homework is on my notepad, any homework that I’ve got, I write it down
on my notepad.

I tell my son, what’s wrong with going to tutoring? I go to a tutor. And he
was kind of shocked to hear it, but I told him, “Son, we all need help with
something.” You learned how to swim, didn’t you? That swim teacher was
your tutor in swimming. So my son went and signed up for a math tutor, and
I told him how proud I was of him.

Charlie thinks that the primary obstacles to Black male success in school are
mental issues:
I think it’s more a mental thing. You have to want to do it. Just like any
sport. If you’re not committed, then there’s no point in investing your time.
People have other agendas, such as work and taking care of their families. It
goes down to choices, making the right choices and just being educated.

On the other hand, Ken believes that a lack of focus, rusty academic skills
and an emphasis on entertainment careers is what is preventing the success of black
men:
Students are playing at getting their degree. I think there’s more Black
people playing at it than White people. Ask some of these people what
they’re majoring in. I see Blacks in the class, you know, you like to talk

124
about what classes you taking and all this. Oh, I’m taking P.E. and basketball
and weightlifting three times a day. Oh, but you plan on going to medical
school? Have you got your Chemistry done? No. I got to take Chemistry.
Have you talked to a counselor? Well, not yet. Well, how many semesters
have you been here? Three. Okay, you’re playing at going to school.
Because if you were serious about whatever degree program you’re in, you
would know what classes you need to take. You wouldn’t be spending all of
your day taking weightlifting, track and football, and taking classes with no
significance to your degree.

You wouldn’t be havin’ no stompin’ across the yard. That’s what’s wrong
with Black people. The problem is with people that watch these movies, they
say, “I want to go to school. I can get an education because I want to stomp
the yard.”

Finally, Dennis mentioned inadequate high school preparation as a major
obstacle to Black male academic achievement:
Palmdale was one of the worst high schools that I’ve ever been to. It’s like
they don’t care, and it’s kind of like they just passed me along for showing
up, and then I started to get involved in the wrong things, like smoking
marijuana, and from that point on I started ditching and smoking, and then I
wasn’t too concerned about what was going to happen in the future. I would
say that in high school I didn’t have any plans. I guess that is why I just took
jobs here and there and after high school and went to school.

It seemed like high school was just a system that you just send people
through. As long as you showed up and did something, they would let you
go through, it’s almost like they were just trying to get their numbers. I don’t
even know how I made it through high school.

Theme: Inability to Connect with Other Black Men on Campus
Many of the participants said that they interacted frequently with other
African American students, but some expressed a desire to stay away from the
African American men on campus. Jack was one of these students:

125
I actually had a lot of Black friends in high school. Here, that’s mostly who I
hang out with. But a lot of Black guys here get on my nerves. Because of
their attitude, sometimes they’re really, really cocky. They’re rude, and they
just get on my nerves. I don’t have time for nonsense, and I just feel that they
are about nonsense. A lot of them are like thuggish, and some of them are
really nice. They talk about stupid things, just dumb stuff. Most of the time I
talk with Black men that are older, because they just have common sense.
And the younger ones just talk about people a lot, and even people they don’t
know, and I don’t like that.

My Dad is from Louisiana, and my style is different, and he always says
“Look at you, Hollywood.” Some of the guys make stupid comments about
me, and I just ignore them. It used to bother me, but it doesn’t bother me any
more. I’m trying to find myself, so I don’t have time for nonsense.

Dennis also seemed to think that the African American male students on the
DCC campus were not desirable social allies:
Not really. From my experience from other classes, some of the Black kids
come in with the high school mentality. I interact with whomever I sit next
to. I don’t really interact with study groups. I haven’t really had the
opportunity to do that, but I’m sure it will be helpful. I also want to be
available for my family. I don’t want to stereotype. It seems like a lot of
them are just not ready.

Todd provided a final insight into the campus-based perceptions and
stereotypes that plague many DCC African American males:
They stand out there, cussin’ and spitin’ and smoking. Revealin’ they selves.
They don’t know how to carry they selves. Bringin’ their little infant babies
out in the cold, just to hang out, whether it’s in a stroller or they carryin’ it.
Girls all hugged up on each other. Boys all hugged up on each other. They
need to respect themselves. Once they learn how to respect themselves, then
they can respect others.

When asked what intervention steps might be effective in assisting these students,
Todd had this to say:
Stop feelin sorry for they selves. Stop makin’ excuses for they selves. They
talk about, “Man, I can’t do that.” They’re denying themselves before they

126
even try it. So, basically they’re putting a barrier in front of themselves.
They’re not even trying. They are looking for a way out.

In addition to acknowledging the importance of solid parenting and child-
rearing, Ken believes that today’s African American males and youth lack
perspective on the position and advantages that they hold in society, when compared
to their predecessors:
The opportunities are there. The racism really had a major effect a while ago,
but now, if a Black man wants to do something, he has the opportunity to do
it. He can take out student loans, like anybody else, and pay to go to school.
He can work, and he don’t have to work, and take out a loan and go to
school.

We need to teach our young Black men how to be men, and they think that if
you can have sex and pull a gun, that you are a man. They don’t know
anything about perseverance or adversity. They don’t know how to keep
going, to achieve a goal, when things get hard. They start cryin’ and looking
for an easy way out.

It starts in the home. My mother taught me how to use my brain and pick and
choose where I want to go. The worst person I was scared of growing up in
the world, it wasn’t the boogey man. It was my mother. If I did something
wrong, I would rather call the police and say I did it, come and get me,
instead of deal with her.

While admitting to, at times, seemingly insurmountable challenges, Joe
mentioned the fact that Black men have to be aggressive in pursuing their academic
goals:
I’m going to tell you it is hard for a Black male. We have to be aggressive in
pursuing our goals. We cannot look for an environment conducive for Black
males. I don’t know about the environment, because Black females can go to
any college or university and they do their assignments. You guys just do
your work. They give you an assignment, you study and prepare for it, take
your test and score high, get good grades and then go home. Then you go to
the next course. But the problem for a Black male is the fact that, from my

127
twenty years in the Navy, a lot of them start to feel that the White man is
holding them back.

In summary, African American males identified both internal and external
barriers to their academic persistence. Further, none of the student-athletes
mentioned significant relationships with their respective coaching staff (on a
personal/social level), though they did bond with teammates. However, what is most
remarkable about this group at DCC, and so many others, navigating their course
through the academy, is that they have persisted, and continue to persist, despite
these challenges.

Themes from College Member Interviews
The third research question, “What do college members perceive as barriers
to persistence among the DCC African American male student population?”,
presented the following themes: not taking advantage of campus-based resources,
limited accessibility to African American male role models, self-destructive
behaviors and the thug life mentality, negative media representations, limited help-
seeking behavior, a problematic home environment, racism on campus, lack of focus,
communication barriers, and athletic status.

Theme: Limited Role Models
A DCC college member interviewee pointed out that often students do not
take advantage of available opportunities, and have limited knowledge of available

128
mentors, though he conceded that there is a dearth of available role models for these
African American male students, and of opportunities for “meetings of like-minded
and culturally-similar individuals.”
African American faculty don’t have to go out into the middle of the quad
and say “Yo, Yo, Yo, brothers I’m here.” But at the same time, what could
be done? How do you make the awareness occur on both ends, because:

“The street is only as good as the people who travel it.”

It can be the brightest street, and have everything that you want on it, but if
it’s not traveled, then it’s a dead street. So, I’ll take an alley, if I don’t know
better, and so the ignorance of not knowing that just on the other side of that
building there’s a brightly lit street, sometimes comes into play.

A second DCC faculty member acknowledged the limited role models for
Black men, because of negative media representation:
If you look around at the bigger picture society at large, for White kids there
tend to be a little bit more variety of role models in TV, not just rap stars and
sports heroes, there’s other jobs. They see people that look like them, doing a
variety of things.

A DCC faculty member asserted the need for African American male
students to be trained as multifaceted, or developed in this way, while rejecting the
typical pursuits of the media-touted athletic dream. When discussing how to best
lead African American male talent from the “traditional entertainment-based paths,”
this DCC member stated the following:
Let our children play with fire engines instead of a basketball. We have to
train a child in the direction we want it to go, and if the child shows potential
in football, for example, then give him a football and a fire truck. That way,
he not only has one option but two. So, when he reaches an age of maturity,
he has different opportunities and choices that he can make up his own mind,
versus being forced to go in only one direction.

129
Theme: Self-Destructive Behaviors
It was frequently noted by DCC faculty members that in many cases the
limited success of African American males within the academy is very much the
result of self-destructive behaviors:
If we want better, we have to demand better. For example, White people
don’t live in the ghetto with us. We live in the ghetto with ourselves. We
have to take that “blightedness” out of ourselves and say, “I demand better.”

A DCC faculty member also recognized the challenges that Black men face
in derailing negative media-based images and stereotypes:
I believe that on this campus and many other college campuses across
America, there is many, many, highly intelligent Black men on campus, and
depending upon how they want to pursue their goal in life, it’s challenged by
the media in saying that I have to be a certain way. If I go against that
perception, then it says I’m negative because I want to be a thug, but I can’t
blend in because wearing the suit.

One DCC administrator reflected upon the media-based aspirations witnessed
by his wife, who is also an educational professional:
My wife is a high school counselor. While subbing, she asked the students
what would they like to be. Well, they wanted to be rap singers, rock stars,
football, basketball and baseball players, and that was their idea of what was
successful, and that’s a good goal if you have the talent and the skills, but not
everybody can be, and even when you do that you have to work hard and
that’s hard work, and to be able to demonstrate such talent that someone is
willing to give you a contract. So, you’ve got to be willing to work.

130
Theme: Gender and Race-Based Communication Barriers
One DCC faculty member identified communication barriers within the
context of gender that may be applicable to the hinderance of the African American
male academic experience:
There may be a reluctance on the part of many young men to make contact
with somebody that is different and outside of their comfort range. And, if
you don’t know that someone’s not going to snap your head off, or if you’ve
had one bad experience with one teacher, you may not be very willing to
come talk with them again.

From a faculty perspective, I may not have the appropriate ways to connect
with younger people in a way that I feel comfortable, so sometimes it doesn’t
work, and sometimes you’re just too different.

I think the young African American men are especially reluctant to approach
female faculty, and I mean there also may be some lingering apprehension
about bad experiences.

It was just that he had a few things that he had to work out, but I think that is
typical of boys in general and is not directly attributed to race. Certainly
there are challenges. One of the things that is definitely a challenge — and
this is more typical of the K-12 environment — is if you have a large group
of people that come from a single parent household, and especially if the
single parent is female — I don’t care what background that you are coming
from — and the child is male, they are more likely to have problems with
female persons of authority and, face it, the K-6 elementary schools are
mostly women. Men have no guys to deal with in their lives, and it is setting
them up for no place in which they can be boys.

And so, again, 75% to 90% of the teachers in K-6 are women, and that does a
real disservice to young men, that don’t have gender models, and just some
kind of models in which males have their place.

131
Theme: Community Colleges Are Not Real Colleges
A DCC faculty member identified key groups of African American male
students that populate the campus, and some erroneous perceptions that some of
these students have with regard to the significance of their academic experiences:
There are two categories of Black male students on our campus: young Black
males and older Black males. Young Black males have the same perception
of the community college as other ethnic groups, in terms of it being an
extension of high school, not knowing what they want to be, what they want
to do. They come there right out of high school and make the same mistakes,
but being Black it is more costly.

Those mistakes are: taking too many classes, not attending class on a regular
basis, not seeking out tutoring or advice from advisors or faculty members,
changing majors two or three times — which is the norm for all other college
students, who change their majors at least twice.

But then when you add the Black factor, a number of them have not received
high school counseling that would be appropriate. High school counselors
have about a 600-to-1 student ratio. They deal with college prep students,
and all of the students are tracked.

So, the students come to the community college with the misconception first
of all that the institution is not legitimate in terms of college level courses,
and that the faculty don’t have a clue as to what is going on.

Black males across the board are not very successful at a community college,
the Cal States, and the UC.

The older Black males average about 29 years of age, and most tend to be
much older than that. They have been out in the real world longer, usually
for twelve years or more, are usually parents, whether they are married or
not. They are very serious students, whether they come with college
experience or college preparation backgrounds, or a high school drop out.
They learn from experience that getting ahead you need some paper, whether
it’s just a certificate at a community college [you get both degrees and
vocational at a CC, and you can get your high school diploma and AA].

132
I have had elderly Black men break down and cry when they earn their high
school diploma. The young Black males, not exposed to the inculcations, the
sociology and psychology that older Blacks have in terms of the work ethics
of academic success, and it’s very reflective, that generation that has it,
they’re like the last of the Mohicans.

Young Black men are disrespectful in the classroom, loud, disruptive,
disrespectful to themselves, especially to women: “They’re bitches and ho’s.”
I’ve had a number of guys who have been gang-bangers. There is a
difference in Black males by age and their success in college.

Theme: Campus and Societal Racism
Some DCC faculty acknowledge the role of race as a barrier to academic
persistence. One of the college members stated:
It starts out as a systemic problem of White supremacy and racism from the
very beginning. So, getting to a community college, that’s a major step if
they get there. So, that’s why the community college open door policy is so
critical.

We have to recognize the truth and we need people who will say the truth.
We are so afraid of antagonizing White America. When I say ‘we,’ I mean
Black males in particular, from speaking publicly. Black people, Black
males in particular, have to tell White people the truth. White people can
handle it. We know that. White females and Black females, fifty years ago
were portrayed as little girls growing up to be nurses. Today, we’ve got
astronauts, lawyers, doctors, that are women.

We’ve institutionalized these images, that women can do anything.

Students have come to me on many occasions and talked about faculty
members who have made racist statements in the classroom. They’re
comfortable in challenging students who challenge them on issues dealing
with race relations in terms of grades.

My recommendations to students over the years has been: do not write any
Black or about Black folks in anything, in any class, that you feel
uncomfortable with the faculty member, and even those that you are not

133
uncomfortable with, I recommend that you don’t do it, because you’re likely
to get a lower grade, simply because many of them [the faculty] are insecure.

Some DCC faculty members do attempt to actively engage and mentor
African American male students. The comments presented below were made by a
DCC faculty member, who acknowledged the perception of the Black male in
college experiencing upward mobility as an “endangered species”:
I have a young Black man who comes to me every single morning before
class, and I’m here really early, sometimes at 4am, and I have the whole
college to myself, sometimes only the security and a few maintenance people
are the only ones that are here. Nobody bothers me, we all know each other.
They watch my car, they help me in if I have heavy stuff.

This young man, I think he’s an art student. He’s very talented. He’s not an
athlete, but he’s a delightful young man and we talk and I ask him, “What are
you interested in? What have you been doing? Tell me about your classes.”
And we talk for maybe ten minutes every day, that’s our tradition. Nobody
knows about this except he and I, and every morning just before he leaves,
we shake hands and I give him a hug, and I know this is a bit “schmaltzy,” or
too emotional, but these people are so needy, and for some of these folks
there’s nobody in their life who cares about them, even at home. I’m
astounded that people say, “My mother works three jobs and my dad’s never
home.” “We have seven children in the family. My sister’s pregnant and not
married. Nobody listens to me, or pays attention to me, nobody gives a
damn.”

Another DCC faculty member reflected upon the poor quality of high school
education.
We had a program in which we held focus group discussions with some of
the local high school students to determine what their perceptions of our
school were, and they referred to the college as “tumbleweed tech,” and also
that we’re a dangerous place to be. That what we do here is not valued, and
many people tell the high schools students, don’t go to DCC. Try to get right
into the state universities or the militaries, don’t come here. As far as this
being a dangerous place, it’s just not true. I feel safer here than at home.

134
We know that there’s a lot of stuff wrong in the high schools with all of the
students. We know that they don’t emphasize basic skills, and there are so
many social problems that teaching becomes secondary, and some behavioral
issues.

A lot of this we don’t see here, because they either drop out of high school or,
if they finish, they’re not coming to college. And we have an outreach office,
they do an incredible job with recruiting. And I often take a look at who’s
coming to these colleges.

Another DCC faculty member discussed the advantage that community
colleges have in addressing the needs of academically-underserved populations, such
as African American males:
I think community colleges — they always say — are the best kept secret in
town, but I know that they tend to get a bad rap because, quite frankly, we
open the doors to everybody, and I think in our society that that is very
important. I don’t think that we can afford to be elitist, and I don’t think that
we can be narrowly focused, where we limit that access, because who knows
where that one gem may come up with the cure for cancer, or conceive of
some new kind of material, or become a wonderful sociologist that will work
well and make society better, and who is to judge or say where that person
will come from?

I am a firm believer that people should be given opportunity and access, and I
think community colleges really achieve this.

Theme: The Student-Athlete
One student interviewee experienced in athletics provided this comment
regarding possible faculty perceptions of student-athletes:
You can have a professor that does not think that African Americans should
be in a higher position. They can run the hell out of a football, or they are the
fastest thing on the track, but that same person will sit there and cheer them
on, but probably wouldn’t shake the athlete’s hand at the same time.

135
Many DCC faculty members provided interesting perceptions of the role and status
of the collegiate student-athlete. When asked about the benefits of college sports
participation, one DCC administrator had this to say:
I think it is definitely a benefit for young people to participate in sports,
whether it is high school or in college. I think it keeps them more disciplined
and more focused in what they are doing, whether it is academic or athletic.
It teaches them how to work with others, which is a very critical life skill. I
think it teaches them how to communicate and work well with others, and to
sacrifice.

Additionally, a DCC faculty member identified the challenges faced by a
community college athlete seeking academic, social or athletic improvement:
In high school you rely more on the parental level, with some monitoring by
coaches, but it doesn’t matter what level, there is that “star status,” if you
want to call it that. Some have it more than others, but at the same time
people don’t see the side of it that maybe you see and I see, when that high
school All-American has to go to a community college. He had to come to a
community college because he is deficient academically or socially or both.
So now he is in a situation where he has to work on it, and it’s not easy to be
a stud in the papers or on the court and in the classroom, where “Joe General
Student” can pass that biology test, but he [the athlete] doesn’t even
understand the terms, much less be able to pass the test, and so people don’t
see that side of the athlete that other educators that work with student-athletes
see.

A lot of things that I deal or have dealt with through the course of the years
that I’ve worked in education, was that problem, and it is a real problem.
They miss class. They’re great kids — “yes sir, no sir” — they don’t get in
trouble, but they don’t go to class. And everybody says, “Ah, they’re just a
bad kid, they don’t go to class.”

No, they don’t go to class, because they’re embarrassed. And people don’t
know, and they don’t understand. When you have that “star status,” and you
can’t answer a question in class, then it’s embarrassing, so instead of fighting
it sometimes, they just withdraw, and they don’t go, and that’s a part of it that
I see all of the time.

136
I think perhaps because of the pro sports — and so much has been made of
the young African American male making it out of the ghetto because he was
a great basketball player — I think even the kids that come in socially and
economically advanced they see the same thing. The get rich quick deal.
And only half of a percent of D-1 players even make it to play NBA
basketball, much less are stars. It’s a sad trend, but I don’t know how you
stop it.

When asked to describe the differences between the African American male
student-athlete and non-student athlete, one DCC faculty member had this to say:
I think there’s a difference. Okay, it may be a difference between African
American [male] student-athletes and non-student athletes, and the same
thing for Caucasian males. African American male student-athletes are a bit
more contained and self disciplined, and I think that comes with being
involved in the athletic program. I think that we all try to emulate somebody,
something or some value, and I think that the student population maybe
emulates the culture that we see on television or in the music industry or in
the sports industry, a little more so than the African American student-athlete.
I think the student-athlete is a little more reserved and doesn’t try to meet that
image in dress or maybe actions. But when they are not around us, I don’t
know. I think that is the way that all races behave.

A former DCC athletic coach provided insight into the ways in which he
socializes with his student-athletes, and integrates them into society and the
collegiate environment:
I’ve always tried to lead by example. I remember my high school coach
saying to me, “Show me a sermon, don’t preach me one.” It’s easy to stand
up on a pulpit, but when you don’t do it yourself, and so I’ve always tried to
lead by example and impress upon them such things as dressing for success
wherever you go, surround yourself with successful people, in terms of the
people that they hung out with. Academically, I’ve always tried to place
them in a situation in which they would be successful.

Well, I took an interest in the classes that they took, and one of the things that
I always tried to do is I tried to get to practices early, and when they came
into the gym and they were tying their shoes up, or whatever, I would ask
them how school is going. And just things like that.

137
This campus is very friendly, and I get calls almost daily about the athletes
and, whether it is good or bad, and made sure that they knew.

It has always been my philosophy to expose the athletes to different things
socially, like taking them to dinner. To grow these young people as athletes
into successful human beings, so that they can contribute to society, to give
them a different side of the world and see how the other half works.

I will have the student-athletes sometimes with their parents over. I’ve
always tried to put them in different settings away from the college, away
from the gym or field, just to see them learn how to accept things and behave.
For example, last year I went to the state softball tournament, and Sunday
morning I had breakfast arranged for the players, so that the players would
feel that their efforts to be appreciated, and in return I expect them to be
appreciative, and they were.

Some members of the DCC staff acknowledge that student-athletes do
receive special treatment that is not available to the general student population:
That’s a very complex answer. I think one of the things that happens, and it
happens very early in their high school career, they’re great athletes, they
grow up with this perception that because they’re great athletes, and the guys
before them got grades given to them, they didn’t have to go to class — the
teachers took care of them. I don’t think that is reality in all cases, but I think
it is a perception. So, I think it starts very young, especially the good ones
and the great ones. I think that parents, coaches, start taking care of them and
maybe doing things for them that they don’t maybe do for others, so that they
will be successful and participate in sports. They talk to teachers, like, “Can
Johnny do a little extra work, because he didn’t pass that test?”

When they get to college, that may not be the case. In high school, at least
they’re on campus, but in college, they’re not here every hour. So, when they
go to their professors for help and the professors may say that they are
willing to help, but the student-athlete has not been to class. Whereas in high
school, Johnny was there, he just didn’t do the work. And so now we have a
whole different issue when they get to college. And I know of one incident
with a high school player [who happened to be Caucasian], his parents went
and raised hell at the school. So the player that used to be ineligible, became
eligible.

I know of stories where coaches were trying to talk with teachers, and I don’t
think that they intended to put pressure on the teachers, but the teachers

138
perceived them in that way, and so the coaches got in trouble with the
administrators.

So, it’s a real thing to deal with, and because they are so successful in the
high schools, and they get away with things in the high schools, when they
get to college it becomes a real problem, and sometimes the end results are
not real pretty for the student-athlete.

When asked about the barriers that African American male athletes face, one
DCC faculty member provided the following commentary about the pursuit of the
“athletic star dream”:
Student-athletes have much higher graduation rates than the general student
body. I think one of the reasons for that is the discipline and focus that they
are involved with during their season of competition. During the season of
competition, that semester, most student-athletes have higher GPAs, and
more units are passed than the semester that they are out of season. If you
really look at it, and again that’s because of the concentration and focus that’s
put on during their season, and the disciplined time schedule that they are
involved in.

On the other hand, there is a disadvantage. Because of the involvement of
student-athletes in their sports, sometimes they don’t have time for a part-
time job, so money becomes a problem, and socially too, things can be a
problem. Students [that are not athletes] can probably have a lot more time to
study than the student-athlete. At the D-1 level a student on an athletic
scholarship cannot have a job, whereas anybody else on a scholarship
[academic, band, arts], they can have a full-time job and work. So, there’s a
problem with that, and so there are some disadvantages to being a student-
athlete.

Let me say this. I think it goes back to something I said earlier. Socially,
what young African American men grow up thinking about, is the NBA.
And the culture of sports, if that is a good phrase, the culture kind of gives
that image that, hey, they can do it, and you can do it. I think that it’s a trap
that a lot of young African American males fall into, and I think that maybe
the lack of parental guidance and the lack of guidance at the high school
level, before they even get to college — and I’m not blaming the high schools
— but somewhere this has to be addressed, and unfortunately at the college
level where there’s nothing there, and they have nothing there, they can’t
play in the NBA, they can’t play in college, and so that’s a tough one.

139
However, some DCC faculty members identified the specialized treatments,
and the coaches’ demands, as being more of a barrier to student-athlete success as
students. This belief is rooted in the idea that the special treatment of the athletes is
more about maintaining eligibility and coaching privileges. One DCC faculty
member had this to say:
The NCAA does not regulate us. Because we are regulated by the
Commission of Athletics [CIA] in California, most of our athletes aspire to
transfer to those [DI-DIII] schools, and so we need to know those rules so
that we can assist them in the transfer process. Any error here can drastically
impact an opportunity for an athlete who is trying to transfer and get an
athletic scholarship at a four-year institution. So, I think the stressors —
when I first started the profession I did internalize the stress, and I thought it
was me. The burden of responsibility needs to be placed on the student. In
this regard, you do feel, and as you get seasoned I would say in the
profession, you start to realize that it’s not your duty. It is actually the burden
belongs on the shoulders of the student-athlete, and not you as the
professional counselor.

But the coaches, you know, they see it as your responsibility, and sometimes
you feel like, technically I have one boss on paper, but I have like twenty,
because I have twenty different coaches that I need to please. And that’s how
you operate, and for certain kids and for certain programs — let’s say in the
major ones, football, men’s basketball — it’s a different thing than if you are
working with the coaches on the golf team or the swim team or something.
It’s just a total different dynamic than what goes on, and then it depends upon
your philosophy. What’s your guiding philosophy as a professional, as a
counselor, as opposed to what the coaches’ experience has been in their
personal experiences?

So, you have coaches who came up in a system in which everything was done
for them. They expect you as a counselor to do the same, not realizing, as a
counselor, in our profession, we have different operating guidelines, that we
want to teach our students to be self-reliant. And so you get, it becomes an
issue of philosophy, and where do you draw the line? These issues have been
present at all levels that I have counseled.

140
Another DCC faculty member remarked:
My first professional experience was from a four-year perspective, and I was
kind of shocked at the lack of academic preparation of community college
students in general, and in particular student-athletes. So, from that
perspective, it’s a difference. I used to never believe that there was a
difference between a freshman at a community college and a freshman at a
four-year college. It’s totally a difference. The student-athletes at
community college are not as prepared as the student-athletes at four-year
institutions, as I’ve seen in the nine years of counseling at the community
college level, and it’s progressively getting worse.

The athletes that are coming to the community college are less prepared than
their counterparts were ten years ago. The difference from counseling is not
so much how you counsel them, but that extra caveat is that you [the
counselor] need to understand how the rules impact them. For example, if I
have a student that I am going to tell to repeat a course — they got a D and I
need them to repeat it, because I want them to get a better grade, they need a
C or better. For the athlete, you have to watch that, because it is a repeatable
course, and the units count a certain way towards their eligibility. Whereas
for a general student, it wouldn’t have any repercussions. Athletes, when
we’re trying to count twenty-four units — when they repeat a course — that
student already earned three units for the D, and if he takes it again and gets
an A, so you’ll count it for units, and you’ll think this kid has twenty-four
units and they have twenty-one. So, in that situation, that’s why you need to
know. So, I don’t think it’s different per se. It’s just that you need to be
aware that there’s implications with rules that affect this person [the student-
athlete] differently versus a general student, where you [the counselor] don’t
have to worry about that so much.

A third DCC faculty member talked about student-athlete integration:
There is greater social and academic integration of student-athletes at two-
year schools versus the general student at a two-year school. With my
experience at the four-year, I don’t think I saw much integration of the
student-athletes versus the general campus, because they don’t have the time.
They’ve got their commitment where they have to go to weightlifting, start
with 6 or 7 in the morning with weights, and then they have classes all during
the day, and then they have to go to practice, and then they may practice until
7 or 8 in the evening, and then they may have study hall responsibilities, so in
general they don’t have that much time to integrate. Maybe they do, but only
a little bit, but not to a significant degree.

141
But the athletes, again, get to bond [socially] with their team and the other
athletes on campus. So, I think there is, even though they may not be active
ASO or Black Student Government Association or something like that,
they’re active with their counterparts. So you may see a little bit of social
integration.

And then, coaches don’t want the challenge, because you see at certain
institutions — for example, I remember a Black male football player at Ohio,
and that was a pre-med student, and he went against the grain and was
labeled as a rebel or maverick. So, when you do have the Black males that
stand up and fight, they may lose their opportunity to be an athlete. So, they
can’t fight the system, even though they know they need to be doing
something else. If they go against it, they’re punished.

So, if you don’t agree with your coach, you’re off the team, and that’s the
reality. So, they’re taught to toe the line and to do what the coach wants.

Coaches have a revolving door philosophy. They know that they can “just
get another one.” At the professional level that’s okay, but I don’t think that
should be the policy at the high school and college levels.

At the D-1 level, it is a business. It’s totally a business, and if you don’t do
what they want you to do, the perception is that you [the athlete] don’t care.
So, I call it emotional blackmail. That’s what coaches do to our athletes.
They use this level of emotional blackmail, such as “you need to be in the
gym, you need to do this, this and this, and if you don’t, it shows me that you
don’t care.”

You know, because with that Ohio kid player, he wanted to stay awake, to
work on his studies, and he was punished for that.

Finally, a DCC faculty member commented on the practice of keeping
athletes eligible, even when that requires academic sacrifice:
At times they’re difficult. It’s really interesting, when we go to professional
conferences and we hear a complaint, we can pick out which coach it is. You
don’t have to tell us what sport they are in, we’re like, that’s a football coach,
or we’re like, that’s a basketball coach. I guess that sense of entitlement also
goes along with the coaches. So depending upon the football or basketball,
there seems like there’s more balance with the other sports. The coach sees
that this is an opportunity for the student to get their scholarship, and also to
get their education. I am just trying to think how can I put this in adjectives.

142
That they’re difficult, they’re demanding, they want it done now. And it’s
like, there is a sense of entitlement that the athlete has, they’re giving it to
me, directly from their coaches also.

They see — even with one or two coaches at this college, they think that any
college experience is better than no college experience, even if it’s not
successful, and so they still think that they are doing the student a service.

I’ll go back to my D-1 experience. We have rules in place to ensure that
student-athletes make satisfactory progress. Well, at that institution it didn’t
matter what major they were making it in. So, to me, it was more about them
becoming successful as an athlete, but not successful in life. So, if we had an
athlete that was struggling, just performing poorly academically, we [the
counselors] would shop around for a certain major that allowed us to have
more electives in that major, so that they would meet their satisfactory
progress goals, as opposed to saying, Johnny wants to be a business major,
therefore he should be in that degree. We would say, he doesn’t have the
skills, we need to put him over here in home economics, and I used to think
about that, “What is this Black male going to do when he goes home with a
degree in home economics?” It’s a degree in making you eligible.

Comparing Student Interviews with College Member Interviews
Many of the DCC faculty members identified barriers that correspond with
those identified by students. This is the premise for the fourth and final research
question, “How much agreement is there between college members’ perceptions of
the barriers impacting African American male students, and the perceptions of the
students themselves?”
Themes that presented agreement with regard to barrier perceptions of both
students and college members included: self-destructive behaviors, negative
stereotypes and media representation, lack of help-seeking behavior, campus and
societal racism, and the challenges of maintaining the dual role of student-athlete.

143
Summary
The Voices of Desert Community College
Often within institutions of higher education, students do not have the
opportunity to offer input on the practices, programs, and policies that would best
facilitate their success. This issue is of particular concern, given the fact that the data
presented in this study points to the diminished or non-existent levels of campus
engagement specific to the African American men of Desert Community College.
The use of phenomenology and ethnography served as the methodological
foundation of this study, and resulted in interview data emphasizing the need for
African American male community college student voices to be heard and integrated
within the fabric of institutional practices. The unique and fascinating group of men
interviewed in this study shared their stories and perceptions about both barriers to
and facilitators of Black male academic persistence. Further, they were eager to
offer ideas about what can be done to enhance the academic success of African
American men at Desert Community College, and within the vast realm of higher
education generally. Beyond the need for evidence presented by topical literature
reviews relative to Black male achievement and postsecondary institutions, the men
interviewed in this study served as “real world” practicing experts, and offered
strategies for improving the academic services provided by DCC specific to the
postsecondary experience for Black male students.

144
The Students
This section provides comments and recommendations by Desert Community
College African American male student interviewees, concerning ways that the
college can enhance their academic and campus-based experiences. Ideally, these
recommendations would support African American male student academic
persistence towards degree completion or their transfer goals. The question posed to
the group was, “What characteristics would the best college for Black men have?”
Unlike the previous sections of this chapter, the following responses are not
presented as individual student interviews. Rather, the recommendations serve as the
collective voice of the African American male students enrolled at Desert
Community College.
Though the descriptive term “best” is ultimately subjective, when asked to
describe the elements or characteristics of an ideal college for Black men, an African
American male student interviewed for this study asserted that the college’s
curriculum should “have a couple of classes about capitalism, because that is how
this society is structured, and probably a couple of religious classes, because the faith
is not really there.”
Interestingly, DCC does offer introductory courses in both economics and
religion, through the Liberal Arts Department. However, the student that provided
this response was a student-athlete at DCC, and might have been unaware of these
specific course offerings. He might have been tracked into classes that did not
interfere with his athletic schedule, since Desert Community College student-athletes

145
are assigned to courses by the counselors within the school’s Athletic Department.
Another student interviewee called for much-needed, campus-based “school spirit,”
and a further student expressed concern about faculty-student interaction:
I think professors here come off like they don’t care. They don’t know your
name. They don’t want to have a personal relationship with you, maybe to
avoid bias.

Indeed, this student’s perception of DCC faculty seeking a distant, unbiased
approach to faculty-student interaction may be accurate. However, his sense of
isolation may be indicative of the need for a mentor specific to his academic needs
and experiences at the College.
Concerns related to pedagogical practices were also expressed by several
student interviewees. The topic of lecture presentation and format was notably
present in the interview data:
I’m taking Geography now. The teacher moves too fast, I can’t finish writing
notes. I feel like she isn’t teaching us, but that she’s just explaining. I feel
like the instructors can be more clear, and if they want us to know something,
then they should emphasize that.

Another DCC student expressed frustration with his experiences in both instruction
and counseling practices at the College:
I took Math 102, and the teacher, he would teach us and tell us what we
needed to know for the test, and when we got the test it seemed to be on
totally different material. And the counselors, some of them, they don’t
know what they are doing. Because, I thought I was almost finished, and
then I go to the counselor and they told me that I needed to take more math
classes and a science class. But the counselor before told me something
different.

146
While suggesting improvements to faculty instructional and testing practices
requires skilled and astute negotiating practices, with no subsequent guarantee of
change, the issue of counseling services is a significant one. Fortunately, when this
concern was presented to veteran DCC counseling staff, they were quite gracious,
and were willing to consider ways to improve academic counseling services for the
students. Additional suggestions offered by student interviewees included the need
for a campus-based orientation program (as opposed to the current web-based
format), culturally-sensitive psychological counseling for Black men, and the need
for Black male mentors and role models among the administrative, faculty and
coaching ranks. This point was surmised with poignant clarity by a student
interviewee, who remarked that “having minority faculty helps me think that if you
[the teacher] can make it, then so can I.”
DCC college members also contributed insight into the ways that the
institution may better serve African American male students. Additional
recommendations for institutional best practices specific to Black male students
emerged from the College member interviews of this study.

The College Members
This section provides comments and recommendations by Desert Community
College members, concerning institutional policies or practices that might be
improved and/or implemented to increase African American male academic
persistence in the collegiate setting. Several of the College members interviewed

147
expressed the need for an increased representation of African Americans on the
faculty:
African American faculty are role models and confidantes. They are
inspirational, and it just makes a Black student feel good to see Black faculty
in the classroom — not administrators, but in the classroom. When I talk to a
large number of Black faculty, they say the students tell them, “We’re happy
to see you. We appreciate it.” They ask you for letters of recommendation
because they feel comfortable in coming to you. It gets to the point where
they seek you out.

Additionally, some College members posited that more oversight is needed with
regard to Campus administration:
On this campus, I think we need more accountability outside of the Athletic
Department. I think we need our Presidents or our VPs or whoever’s going
to oversee it to start saying, this is not acceptable. We’re losing these kids
the first year, in this program. You know, we just have this revolving door.

Several of the faculty emphasized the positive elements of the Athletic Department’s
student retention and development initiatives, as described by a DCC academic
counselor:
One thing that we [the athletic program] introduce, one thing that we do here
that I like, is that we strongly encourage or force the students to take our HD
101 class, which is the College and Life Management Class, which teaches
you to be a better student and how to navigate college, and how to prepare for
transfer. In that course we expose them to our support services, and there’s a
mandatory study hall.

Further, a DCC college member described the importance of specialized student
service programs that promote advocacy and encourage student persistence:
Even the education literature shows that in special programs, advocacy
works. EOP&S is one, and athletics is another one. They [the athletes] do
have advocates. From a positive perspective from an athletics standpoint,
we’re an excellent model to implement on the campus for the general student
population, because we’re there to intercede early. So prevention is a good

148
key, proactive — we can see things, like with the progress reports that we do
for special populations, like student-athletes, we get to interact with the
students on an academic level way sooner than you may get to for a general
student. And so I think that is an advantage from an athletic perspective.

In terms of counseling, being an advocate and addressing all three issues,
their academic, their career, and their personal life, we have more interaction
with the students. We build a relationship with them because we see them
[the athletes] a lot more than a general student. And then that athlete has
teammates, they have their coaches, they have their athletic trainers, they
have their athletic counselor, and if you’re in a big program they have their
strength trainers and their sports psychologists. If they are learning disabled
we have testing that we do for them. So, they [the athletes] get as much help
as they need. So, it’s [athletic student support services] very positive, and we
couldn’t provide all of that for the general student.

Several DCC faculty pointed out that, though enhanced student services, advocacy,
and intervention programs are desirable, the resources must be in place to support
these endeavors:
I was on the committee that did an in-depth study of diversity on this campus,
and it addressed many of these issues. I think that the only way that it can
change — obviously it’s going to take resources to do it, and I honestly see
this campus as trying to change things. But, you know, no one ever has
enough financial or physical resources.

It is both admirable and important to recognize the goal of Desert
Community College members to provide a quality student experience for all, but
especially African American male students. The issue of resource acquisition and
allocation is a challenge for all educational institutions at any level. The opportunity
for honest dialogue, while maintaining an interest in both student and faculty input
(as represented in this study), may lead to an exemplary community college program
and system that adequately facilitates and promotes the academic persistence and
success of all students, including Black male students.

149
In conclusion, in this study, DCC Black male students and college members
alike offered keen insight into ways that the collegiate academic experience of
minority students can be improved. Though barriers to persistence have been
identified by both students and college member interviewees, the cohort of African
American male students interviewed in this study persisted in higher education,
despite the odds. This phenomenon raises the question: What is the source or
sources of motivation that enabled these men to persist towards academic success in
the higher education realm? Indeed, the student interviewees were asked that very
question, with many of them identifying family responsibilities, and a desire to
contribute to society, as primary sources of motivation. Ultimately, I believe that
student interviewee Bill provided a representative quote of the importance of
persistence among African American men within the academy:
Persistence depends upon you and your desire to keep going. To understand
that, this is my goal and my dream. I am not in school for someone else.
This is my career, and essentially this is my livelihood on the line. The only
person that can stop you from achieving your goal is you. If you look at
Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, they kept going and they
went through a lot worse. They were going to see their goals all the way to
the end, and it was for the greater good. My dream is bigger than
circumstances. Anything that they do will not deter me from my goal. I
never give in to what people think about me.

150
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
This chapter discusses the conclusions of this study, with the results from
Chapter Four as the primary emphasis, and outlines recommendations from the
study. The intention of this research was to examine the effect of life experiences
upon the academic persistence of African American men enrolled in a Southern
California community college, Desert Community College (DCC). The academic
and social integration of these students was considered, along with their perception
of barriers that hinder their academic persistence. Also considered were the
perceptions of DCC faculty and staff of the academic facilitators and barriers of the
students interviewed. This chapter also presents reasonable conclusions that may
ultimately assist with the development of future policy and practice for community
college faculty and student development professionals. This chapter concludes with
recommendations for future research applicable to scholars and stakeholders
committed to providing a supportive and meaningful academic experience of the
highest quality for African American male students enrolled in the higher education
system.

Summary of Research Findings
Fourteen students and nine college members at a southern California
community college were interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended
questioning method. Qualitative research methods guided the analysis of the

151
collected responses, which were presented in Chapter Four. The data collected from
these interviews resulted in 187 pages of typed textual transcripts. Themes identified
by the student interviewees related to barriers hindering their persistence included:
low self-efficacy, limited financial resources, family and professional
responsibilities, military obligations, a lack of orientation to the collegiate setting,
African American male “cool pose” or embracing of thug culture while de-
emphasizing academic pursuits, an inhospitable college environment perpetuated by
campus security, inaccessibility to male role models of African American descent,
and athletic participation or pursuit of the athletic dream. Desert Community
College members identified many of these same barriers (aside from the campus
security issue), and even suggested ways in which the successful elements of student
athletic participation and peer support networks could be implemented within the
general college student population for the non-student-athletes. Identified traits
(themes) relevant to facilitating persistence among this study population included:
established personal maturity, familial and peer support of academic pursuits,
enhanced academic skills or self-efficacy prior to college entry, caring faculty and
staff, and use of college support and academic intervention services.

Discussion of Research Findings and the Academic Literature
This section describes what was learned from this study, and how the data
compared to findings presented in the educational literature related to African
American college students and academic persistence. Though the findings for this

152
study concerned African American male students at a specific Southern California
community college, it can reasonably be inferred that the findings and their
implications are applicable to other community college settings.
For more than a century, community colleges have modeled the democratic
premise of education for all, by offering unrestricted access to the post-secondary
academic experience to all Americans. African American men in particular have
greatly benefited from the opportunity to attend community colleges; this is
especially evident within the state of California, where 72% of all African American
men enrolled in college attend a community college (Bush, 2004). Assisting the
African American male college student effectively requires the academy to strive
toward enhanced awareness, sensitivity and understanding of the culture and life
experiences of the student population. A challenge for the implementation of this
goal has been the consistently shortsighted agenda of many education scholars, in
presenting the Black male life as mired in a pathological prism of deviant behaviors,
with little hope of a recovered or successful path. Further, Black men are
collectively viewed as homogenous beings, restricted to a non-existent, intra-group
diversity. Though they have experienced setbacks in life (as is the case with most
human beings), the African American men presented in this study clearly continue to
pursue their personal and academic goals with unrelenting determination and
infectious enthusiasm. All of them expressed an appreciation for the caring Desert
Community College faculty members that they encountered.

153
The data also implies that African American males are not engaged
(integrated) in their collegiate experiences. This idea represents a challenge to
higher education institutions: this group of students, which is most in need of
services and college intervention, is less likely to access these services because of its
perceptions. The effect of this negative perception of institutional practices is that
these African American males — at least those who participated in this study —
have limited interaction with DCC faculty and other college members.
Desert Community College members must understand that African American
men reported perceptions of an unsupportive environment, especially concerning
campus security. Further, many of these students do not seek engagement with
faculty inside or outside the classroom setting, and faculty do not tend to initiate this
type of beneficial interaction, which might improve African American male students’
academic performance. Finally, positive African American male contact with
faculty might improve their transfer and persistence rates. Just as important, as
reported in the literature, is the role of peer interaction, and the significance of the
success of African American men in the establishment of academic and institutional
culture.
Some student participants in this study described interactions with other
African American men as being negative, with limited impact on their ability to
succeed academically. Student participants believed that other African American
men on campus had limited or no academic interests, and were on campus for more
social than academic endeavors. All participants in this study (both students and

154
college members) seemed to posit that African American male students did not have
any real connection or engagement to Desert Community College. Many of the
student participants also concluded that DCC as an institution needed to create
vehicles by which African American men could have positive interactions with one
another, and with other African American students in general. Recommendations
included adopting campus programs, clubs, mentorship and support groups that are
culturally and politically relevant to the unique challenges and issues faced by
African Americans, especially men. It could be inferred from the results of this
study that institutional neglect in this area may have resulted in a counter-academic
culture among DCC African American students, regardless of gender.
The findings of this study lend further support to the emerging research that
institutional factors play a prominent role in the academic success of African
American males (Bonner, 2007; Brown, 2007; Harper, 2007; Cuyjet, 1997; Dawson-
Threat, 1997; Person, 1997; Jones, 2001; DeSousa, 2001). The implications of this
study suggest that if community colleges want to impact significantly the success
rates of their African American male population, they must create and foster an
institutional environment that is conducive to the success of African American
males. This study does not seek to refute literature and research which concludes
that individual characteristics and pre-college indicators are factors that contribute to
the success of African American students; these variables have surely been
demonstrated to have an impact on the success of this and other college student
groups. However, the findings of this study present the notion that institutions of

155
higher education are empowered to positively or negatively influence African
American male student achievement and success. The results of this study clearly
reflect the significant role institutional factors play in predicting the achievement
outcomes of African American male college students.

Student Faculty Involvement and The Mentor’s Role
Many of the interviewees talked about the importance of having mentors, or
their desire to see more Black faculty, administrators and coaching staff on the
Desert Community College (DCC) campus having a mentoring role. These
perceptions seem to be valid, in that mentoring is often regarded as an effective
retention strategy for undergraduate and community college-based education (Jacobi,
1991; Hagedorn, 2000). Further, the role of mentoring programs in nurturing and
building the self-esteem of African American college students is well documented
(Shultz, 2001; Abramsom, 2006; Lasser & Snelsire, 1996; LaVant, 1997; Sutton,
2007). Aside from both formal and informal mentoring, culture-specific
interventions and peer support groups have also been identified as ways to facilitate
the academic and social integration of African American students (Elligan & Utsey,
1999; Harper, 2006; Liddle, 2006). Research involving African American student
athletes has also demonstrated the support for mentoring and enhanced academic
outcomes within higher education (Harrison, 2002). It is not suggested that cross-
race and cross-gender relationships cannot exist in the active mentoring of African
American male college students (Jacobi, 1991), however culturally-relevant African

156
American teachers have been identified in the education literature as facilitating and
maintaining African American student moral, intellectual and spiritual development
(Lynn, 2000).

Campus Climate, Racism and Stereotype Threat
Campus climate has been linked to the successful academic and social
integration of African American college students (Davis, 1995; Pascarella, 1980;
Cabrera, 1999; Augelli, 1993). Many of the Black men interviewed in this study
expressed negative perceptions with regard to their observations of and interactions
with Desert Community College (DCC) campus security. A possible explanation for
the implied over-zealous nature of DCC campus police may be the presence of
stereotype threat on the DCC campus. African American men on the DCC campus
feel ‘singled-out,’ and ‘racially profiled’ by campus security and, in some cases,
faculty members. However, though the awareness of these racially-based
stereotypes can potentially threaten or harm the academic performance of African
American college students (Steele & Aronson, 1995), it does not seem to hinder the
academic persistence of the African American male students on the DCC campus.
This reduction of stereotype threat has been demonstrated among other collegiate
student populations (Aronson, 2001), and even among African American student-
athlete populations that actively embraced their student identity (Martin, 2005;
Yopyk & Prentice, 2005).

157
The African American College Student and Development
A remarkable variation existed in the academic achievement of the Black
men in this study, according to their ages. While the older men were more
successful academically, the student-athletes seemed to possess a different degree of
personal focus towards both their academic and professional goals. This
characteristic among African American male student-athletes has been identified in
the education literature (Singer, 2002; Berson, 1996). The fact that personal maturity
and student-athletic commitments may enhance Black male student development
may be viewed within the context of culturally-relevant student development
theories, because traditional student development theories (Chickering, 1969;
Erikson, 1959) were developed and researched with predominantly White
participants (Hamilton, 1997; Johnson, 2003). The Cross Nigrescence Theory or
Paradigm (1995) is derived from a sense of being Black, with five defined stages:
pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, internalization, and internalization-
commitment. The pre-encounter stage would be a student operating from a color-
blind perspective, unaware of the impact of race upon their life experience. The
encounter stage is a race-based experience (a heightened awareness of blackness)
that results in a significant and emotionally-charged change in life course. The
immersion-emersion stage is a commitment to personal change and the rejection of
Eurocentric paradigms. The internalization stage is the acceptance of a healthy
Africentric identity. Finally, the internalization-commitment stage is a personalized
commitment to a specific life-plan or action, rooted in a strong Africentric identity

158
(Howard-Hamilton, 1997). It is likely that the more mature African American men
in this study, along with the academically successful student-athletes, exist in the
internalization-commitment stage. Life experiences, commitments to family and
athletic goals, and accomplishment irrespective of adversity, serve as a heightened
internalized sense of Africentric pride and self-efficacy. Further, the traditional
success of the African American male within the athletic domains of football and
basketball could also serve as a pride-enhancing reference point, facilitating this
stage of development among the study participants. It can be inferred that some of
the less mature study participants, especially those in pursuit of the athletic dream, or
those who are not particularly focused academically, are fluctuating between the pre-
encounter and encounter stages. These individuals exhibit a heightened sense of
self-centeredness, and lack the “big picture” perspective in either their current or
recent past development stages. For example, a student-athlete participant that was
interviewed for this study posited that “I only deal with people who can do
something for me.”
Cross’s Theory is not the only developmental theory that can be applied to
this group. The Social Learning Model (Bandura, 1977) recognizes the role of
modeling in learning behavior. For example, many of the participants interviewed in
this study consistently accessed available campus resources, like the Learning
Center, to facilitate the accomplishment of their academic goals. Although many of
the more mature interview participants used these student services currently, they did
not exhibit this resourceful behavior during their prior academic endeavors. Thus, it

159
can be inferred that with time and increased academic experiences, the older men in
this study observed the modeled behavior of a focused and successful student’s study
habits. They, in turn, exhibit that behavior in their own current academic pursuits.

Recommendations
It is my most sincere hope that this project and others like it will serve as a
catalyst for college stakeholders at DCC and similar institutions to initiate discourse
regarding the disproportionate underachievement of African American males in their
institutions of higher education.
Through the process of reading literature, talking to African American men
on the DCC college campus, as well as DCC college members, conducting research,
experiencing life as an African American college graduate, and working as a Black
female college professor in higher education, I developed a list of proposed
recommendations for community college policy and decision makers for practices
that would lead to greater success of African American men. They are presented as
follows.
Firstly, programs that directly target African American male students should
be implemented, such as the Desert Community College “VICTORY” pilot project
currently under development. The VICTORY program is intended to assist in the
efforts being made statewide to retain a target population of African American
students. It was created to plan, develop, and implement a student retention program
based upon current successful models across the state of California.

160
The VICTORY program is a comprehensive and holistic program supporting
all aspects of a student’s life. It will seek to increase the success (grades of ‘credit’,
or ‘C’ or better), retention (completion of courses in a semester) and persistence
(continuing sequences of courses to complete academic goals) rates, making the
student more marketable to both four-year institutions and the workforce. Students
participating in VICTORY will be required to: (1) take prescribed courses in cohort
groups with other members of the VICTORY group; (2) be assessed by an academic
learning specialist; (3) attend and participate in additional counseling; (4) attend and
participate in tutoring; (5) attend and participate in the mentorship program; (6)
attend and participate in campus life activities and community service projects; (7)
attend and participate in academic success workshops.
Additionally, Desert Community College should also implement the
following strategies:
(1) Establish a formal mentorship program between faculty members and
African American males on the DCC campus. This is also part of the
VICTORY program.
(2) Develop an orientation program at DCC which is designed to target
the needs and concerns of African American males, and eliminate the
rarely-used and ineffective online program.
(3) Hire more African American faculty, counselors, and staff, or others
who are interested in the success of African American male students.

161
(4) Establish African American male learning communities and cohorts
on the DCC campus.
(5) Encourage faculty members to include in their coursework the
significant contributions made by Africans and African Americans to
their respective disciplines.
(6) Create campus activities and organizations that engage African
American males in the social aspect of the school’s culture.
(7) Institutionalize a peer program pairing African American male
second-year students with incoming first-time freshmen.

Recommendations for future study
Based upon this study, I recommend the following areas for future research
projects:
(1) The replication of this same study among African American female
college students.
(2) Further, a study of the transfer process/experience of community
college athletes to Division I institutions may also be useful.
(3) Research studies about the academic and job training experiences of
African American men in the military. Consideration of a possible
“cooling out” effect of being in the military is warranted.

162
(4) Finally, the development of an instrument measuring degrees (levels)
of academic and social integration could also account for institutional
and student body change.

A Perspective on Feminism, the Black Female Educator and Higher Education
Historically, African American women have consistently served as activists
in the struggle for academic achievement and excellence within the Black
community, in both national and international domains (Henry, 1995). The goal has
always been to create and maintain schools that best serve the interests of Black
students. Feminist scholars of African descent have described the trend that, in many
cases, a Black woman’s educational decisions and career choices reflect a need to
uplift and empower our community. While exploring issues of African American
self-esteem in her writings entitled Rock My Soul, feminist and media/cultural
scholar bell hooks (2003) refers to a prolific speech given by Black female leader
Mary Church Terrell on the topic of African American female leadership and the
education mission:
We have to do more than other women. Those of us fortunate enough to
have education must share it with the less fortunate of our race. We must go
into our communities and improve them; we must go out into the nation and
change it. Above all, we must organize ourselves as Negro women and work
together. (p. 4)

As an African American female college professor, I have always felt a strong
sense of accountability to all of my students, but especially those that are
representative members of the African Diaspora. Upon joining the faculty of Desert

163
Community College, I was alarmed at the low enrollment and high attrition rates of
African American students in the biological sciences. One of the primary reasons for
this reaction was that I obtained my first post-secondary degree from a historically
Black college in the South, and was quite familiar with the demonstrated academic
excellence and notable scientific aptitude of African American college students.
Further, during my undergraduate years I was a member of the Minority Access to
Research Careers (MARC) program, a federally-sponsored scholarship program for
high-achieving African American college students in the biological sciences. Upon
graduation, many of my classmates, armed with their baccalaureate degrees
(regardless of their participation in the MARC program), entered doctoral programs
in the biological sciences, mathematics, chemistry and physics, in Ivy League
universities. The valedictorian of my graduating class was an accomplished football
player, with a 3.8 grade point average. He was on his way to medical school with a
full academic scholarship in place. With these personal experiences as a reference
point, I was quite surprised during my formative years as college professor to
encounter African American student academic underachievement. The struggles
were especially pronounced among my African American male, student-athlete
population, in large part due to their enhanced campus and classroom visibility. I
knew better than to view my students from the deficit approach, a perspective that
remains destructively rampant within the confines of the education research
literature. Instead, I wanted to explore this issue further as a doctoral student. The
question for me became: Why am I seeing talented Black men, in college, with

164
obvious athletic ability and confidence, losing those admirable and hard-earned
characteristics in the classroom setting? Further, upon repeated observation of the
classroom setting, this trend seemed to be applicable to most of the African
American male students taking the general education college biology courses. The
qualitative, ethnographic design of this study enabled me to explore this concern in
more depth than an empirically-based study would have allowed.
The core of my research is firmly rooted in the constructs of both race and
gender within the higher education realm. As a female researcher, I have attempted
to understand, analyze and generate knowledge based upon the lived experiences of
African American male participants within a specific higher education setting (the
two-year college). In general, knowledge, its relative claims and applications toward
specific groups of people, is a valued resource in higher education.
Those responsible for furthering public discourse on the knowledge and
priorities of women have asserted the importance of the lived experiences of women.
As feminists, we believe that our topical concerns are significant, and we want our
voices represented correctly and equitably within the milieu of topics discussed in
academic and general public interest circles. This point is especially well made by
feminist scholar Barbara Christian (1985), who states that “If Black women do not
say who they are, other people will say it badly, for them.” It could be argued that a
feminist may not be the most suitable person to “sound the alarm,” or even
contribute to discussions about the academic struggles of men, notably Black men,
especially when this discourse is applied to the unique subculture, and profoundly

165
masculine world of intercollegiate athletics. Typically, Black women, even those
with established academic credentials, remain on the fringes of scholarly discussions,
no matter that the topic under consideration may be directly or indirectly applicable
to them. However, in her discussion of race and higher education in the United
States, feminist scholar Jennifer Sampson (2003), while acknowledging the work of
scholar Angela P. Harris, provides an alternative perspective on the role of Black
female academicians and feminist based discourse in the academy:
Black women often know what it means to live with multiple selves, to want
a place in institutions that have historically excluded them. To understand
and analyze their own lives, African American women have had to construct
theories that can hold ‘selves that contain the oppressor as well as the
oppressed.’ As Harris says, this encourages an abandonment of innocence,
and draws attention to women’s agency. This willingness to let go of the idea
of a unitary self leads to a second step in movement away from gender
essentialism: the recognition that difference and identity are relational.
Harris argues that feminist theories about women must ‘be strategic and
contingent, focusing on relationships, not essences.’ In this framework, men
can be allies and ‘women will be able to acknowledge their differences
without threatening feminism itself.’ Another contribution that black women
can make in challenging essentialism is a focus on women as agents rather
than as victims. (p. 102)

Indeed, without question Black women as academic scholars, educators,
community activists and change agents can forge ‘alliances’ with men (and women)
interested in elevating the academic status of African American men, athletic or not,
within the realm of higher education. Further, feminists can and do have valuable
perspectives about men and sports (Messner and Sabo, 1990). The purpose of this
study is not to generate feminist theory in the traditional sense (as attributed to the
lives and experiences of women). Instead, the aim of this study’s discussion is to

166
relate the feminist perspective, as that of the ‘other,’ to the experience of African
American male college students. As both a woman and an individual of African
American descent, I was able to directly relate to the experiences of oppression and
racism that the men in this study described, and grappled with on a daily basis.
Admittedly, the severity of the racism experienced by these men is something that I
as a Black woman could not attest to experientially and from a generalist standpoint.
However, the experience of lived racism served as a bonding force between myself
and the men that I interviewed. The prevalent theme in this study, of the pursuit of
the athletic dream, was relatable to me in two ways. Firstly, as a self-described
“weekend athletic warrior,” because in the recent past I actively trained and
participated in marathon and half-marathon events. Additionally, during my
adolescent years I was a member of a competitive high school cheerleading squad
that maintained a legacy of earned state championships. Though early on I clearly
understood that my athletic abilities were (and remain) limited and recreational at
best, while listening to the life stories of the Black men in this study I could fully
appreciate and identify with the dedication, sacrifice and group camaraderie that they
embraced as part of their athletic endeavors. In a sense, their pursuit of the athletic
dream was very similar to my life’s pursuit of the academic dream — because even
in my formative, adolescent years, my identity was firmly rooted in the academic
perspective. I have an extensive history of educators in my family background, and
was mentored (as early as junior high) by academicians, scientific scholars and
career development programs within the field of the biological sciences. I always

167
dreamed, and subsequently have always known, that the career path of teaching and
conducting research in a higher education setting was paramount to my personal and
professional success.
Also, along with the majority of the men interviewed in this study, I have had
to “work my way” through school, and could relate (as both a formal graduate
student and practicing educator) to many of the frustrations that they experienced in
navigating the bureaucratic structures and, in some cases, barriers in place within the
higher education system. However, though I was able to immerse myself in the
culture of the Black men interviewed in this study, and actively sought to draw
parallels between my own life experiences and theirs, for the enhancement of my
own personal understanding as a researcher, I did realize that in many ways my
analyses were limited to a certain extent because the nearly-immeasurable injustices
that African American men face in their daily lives is a unique and deeply personal
experience. Further, though the opportunity for college students to participate in
sports is arguably a viable path for their personal and, in very few cases, professional
advancement, clearly the evolution of Big-Time college sports as a now-behemoth,
capitalistic entity has created a hazy mirage in the desolate wasteland of the
unfocused and at times cast-off, wayward Black male athlete, whose pursuit of the
athletic dream, with the complete and full backing of unrealistic family members, a
manipulative media empire, enterprising coaches, cash-strapped institutions of
higher education, and fickle fans, has resulted in the creation of the destructive “dirty
game,” and the indentured servitude described by many of the African American

168
male participants in this study. I argue that the student-athlete moniker is a myth
(Byers, 1995; Zimblast, 1999; French, 2004; Duderstadt, 2003; Sperber, 1990, 2000;
Ross et al., 2004; Thelin, 1994; Rohden, 2006) created by an opportunistic collegiate
sports industrial complex, with decisions made by many (but not all) college
coaches, athletic directors, and NCAA officials and administrators, to maintain the
status quo of white male power and supremacy within the sports world. Can my
position be subjected to harsh, passionate debate among education scholars and
intercollegiate athletic officials? The answer, of course, is a resounding yes.
However, in representation of the ‘other,’ from the feminist viewpoint, I possess the
freedom as the ‘other’ to say at times, in the most direct and assertive way, what
other persons may believe but are not in a position to say. In his infamous speech in
the Audubon Ballroom, civil rights leader Malcom X made the emphatic declaration
that “You don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is be an
intelligent human being. And automatically, your intelligence makes you want
freedom so badly you’ll do anything, by any means necessary, to get freedom.” This
statement by Malcolm X has often been misconstrued and used as a way to challenge
oppressive tactics, and even to intimidate the dominant culture and its respective
values, by members of the African American community. My intention as a feminist
is to personalize and redefine that statement within the context of this discussion. In
reference to the statement “by any means necessary,” I as an educational activist
would like to see African American men excel in their life course. I believe that
what is ‘necessary’ for this to happen is a cultural revolution within the Black

169
community and the dominant culture at large. A deconstruction of our (Black)
current identity is warranted. While we (as a community) should embrace all of the
gifts, athletic and otherwise, that manifest among our Black men, we as a
community, and as female activists occupying traditional female roles, must push for
the principle of choice, and encourage African American boys, adolescents and men
to stretch beyond the limited representations and perceptions of African American
male masculinity imposed upon them. As one Desert Community College
administrator pointed out during his interview, we need to put a football in one hand
of our young men, and a book in the other. A point well said, because this action
would be an early exemplification of how one should “never put all of one’s eggs in
one basket.” As one door closes, another will open, and the only way that African
American men can take advantage of the opened door (however slight) is to be
flexible, versatile and well educated. This position is further supported by the study
results reported by scholar C. Andre Mizell (1999), in which adult achievement in
the areas of educational attainment and earnings proved to be a significant
determinant of a personal sense of mastery in Black men. In this study, mastery was
operationalized as a self-concept measure designed to capture an individual’s
perception of their ability to control their environment. Additionally, I support the
premise that intercollegiate athletics, especially at the profitable Division I level,
should operate as a separate, private organization, affiliated with the applicable
collegiate setting. College student-athletes should be formally compensated as
employees of the university, with all of the respective benefits. A former University

170
of Michigan President, James Duderstadt (2003), discusses the dire need for
academic reform within the intercollegiate athletic system, along with consideration
of the privatization of the revenue-generating sports:
It is time for universities to reassert control over intercollegiate athletics and
to realign them with the academic priorities of higher education. Key in this
effort will be the difficult but essential task of resisting the pressure —
whether from the media or politicians, trustees or alumni, fans or the public at
large, or even some of our coaches, athletic directors, and university
presidents — to transform college sports into an entertainment industry. This
will certainly require us to de-emphasize many of our varsity sports
programs. It may even require us to spin off those programs that moved too
far down the road as commercial enterprises — football and basketball —
allowing them to become truly independent and professional activities.
(p. xii)
If colleges and universities privatize the activities of the primary revenue-
generating football and basketball programs within the intercollegiate athletic
structure, highly-recruited Black male athletes can have the option (choice) of
pursuing the athletic or academic routes as alternative viable paths in their higher
education experience. This opportunity for choice will then lend credence to the
premise of putting the best interests of the student first (by giving them a choice),
rather than supporting the agenda of the coach and the university accounting
department. Subsequently, these African American male students will not have the
nearly-impossible, forced mission of trying to juggle a dual identity. Further, they
will not be subjected to the “emotional blackmail” described by interviewees familiar
with the structure of the collegiate athletic setting and the underlying mission of
profit generation.

171
Intercollegiate athletics was not the only organized entity purported to hinder
the critical mass and upward mobility of Black men pursuing higher education in this
study. The other culprit in this area — similar to the collegiate athletic industrial
complex — is the military industrial complex. A large majority of the men
interviewed in this study were either active duty military personnel, or had been
enlisted and served in the military in the past. Though many interviewees cited the
military as a way to obtain gainful employment, along with the opportunity to attend
college on the G.I. Bill, most evident in this study was the interruption of academic
pursuits by active military enlistment. Like the student-athletes, enmeshed in single-
year contracts controlled by the coaches’ discretion, or in some cases indiscretion
(and who in terms of their student-athlete responsibilities were really athlete-
students), the Black men in this study enlisted in active duty military service were
subjected to interruptions of their academic studies by the same military
organizations that offered them the promised benefit of obtaining a college education
through the G.I. Bill. In fact, it has been suggested that, post-World War II,
implementation of the G.I. Bill benefitted White male veterans more than Black male
veterans (Herbold, 1994). This inequity was due in large part to racism within
higher education, overcrowding in historically Black colleges, and the inadequate
preparation of Black men for college-level work.
Despite the significant struggles of African American men in higher
education, a positive and progressive disposition is acknowledged in the spirit of
determination among those men who persist in spite of insurmountable odds. As is

172
the case with the men interviewed, the “will to win” in the pursuit of an education,
whether for the purposes of professional advancement, family, personal
responsibility, or even the pursuit of the athletic dream, embodies a collective drive
of almost legendary proportions. What comes to mind is the John Henry myth, the
‘steel driving’ folk hero who represents the marginalized working class and their
fight against the machine, or, as the legend implies, technological displacement of
skilled laborers. In this case, within the higher education setting, African American
men hammer away at the constant assault upon their psyches in the form of racism,
media-produced stereotypes and stereotype threat, poverty, limited academic
preparation and the exhaustive time commitments of families, jobs, athletic and even
military responsibilities. Yet these men continue their intrinsically-driven push
toward self-actualization, because, as described by study participant Bill, their
“dream is bigger than their life circumstances.” Interestingly, a construct defined as
“John Henryism” is recognized in the psychosocial, culture-based health literature as
a strong behavioral predisposition to confront social and economic adversity with
determined, high-effort coping (James & Thomas, 2000). The John Henryism
construct has been recognized within the educational literature as well. In a study
conducted among high-achieving Black high school students, resiliency, combined
with a form of John Henryism demonstrated among the study population, resulted in
a steadfast commitment to succeed at defined educational goals, and a desire to
attend college (Griffin & Allen, 2006).

173
It is this resilience and drive among my students, especially the African
American male students presented in this study, that encourages me to continue to
promote the activist, educator’s agenda. Though I teach college students, I believe
that embedded within the writing of feminist scholar Annette Henry (1995) is a
narrative expression that adeptly contextualizes the sentiments of an African
American feminist, educator and activist (Ese) as she describes her feelings about
teaching Black students:
I love and enjoy teaching. I think if I didn’t…I wouldn’t be here because it’s
hard work. It’s not easy. Especially for a black teacher. It’s hard work.
Especially if you’re committed to the cause, so to speak, and seeing — and
wanting to help your people, wanting to give something back. God was good
enough to sort of give you a little bit of brains, you know. Put you where you
are. I feel as though I have to give something back — especially to my
people. To my kids. You know. So, I love teaching. I love seeing when a
kid, a student, it clicks, the jigsaw puzzle fits into place. It gives me a
high…you see them soar on you know? That’s my high!…Sort of keeps me
going for another year. (p. 291)

Like Ese, I am an African American female educator and feminist activist.
My teaching responsibilities exist within the realm of higher education at the
community college level. My students come from all walks of life and I admire their
tenacity and diligence in the pursuit of their academic goals. For the purposes of this
research study, I limited my analyses and topical discussion to the educational
experiences of African American men. African American men must overcome the
barriers of racism, societal misrepresentation, and limited academic and financial
resources, while pursuing social mobility through the self-actualizing path of higher
education. As a faculty member at Desert Community College, I applaud the active

174
research approach that my institution is engaging upon to address issues of student
equity and minority student retention. Further, I am extremely proud of the African
American men who shared their life experiences and perspectives with me during
this study. Ultimately, my interview discussions with them resulted in me being a
student of a fascinating and unique subculture: Black male masculinity. Because of
this experience, I am a better educator, woman and feminist activist. Similar to Ese’s
declaration of passion for teaching and seeing her students soar, I too get a high
when all of my students succeed in their academic and professional endeavors. I am
unapologetic in the heightened joy that I feel when African American men succeed
both academically and professionally. This joy (though somewhat subdued) is also
present even within the context of their athletic accomplishments. For when a Black
man succeeds, whether in my classroom or that of another higher education
institution, or even within the athletic arena (ideally with a complimentary
educational background), he elevates himself, his family, his community and his
ancestors. As he soars in his accomplishments, as an educator and Black woman so
do I, and that gives me the strength to continue to battle for and give back to my
community, yet another day.

175
REFERENCES
Abramson, B., Foger, C., Neese, S. & Watts, D. (2006). University mentors:
integrating former and current student-athletes into communities. University
of Nebraska, Lincoln. This paper is posted at DigitalCommons@University
of Nebraska Lincoln.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/pocpwi1st/18.

Adler P.A., & Adler, P. (1990). Blackboards and blackboards: college athletes and
role engulfment. Columbia University Press. New York.

Aitken, N.D. (1982). College student performance, satisfaction and retention:
specification and estimation of a structural model. The Journal of Higher
Education, 53 (1),32-50.

American Psychological Association (2001). Publications Manual. Fifth Edition.
Washington, D.C.

Aronson, J., Fried, C.B. & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype
threat on African American college students by shaping theories of
intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 113-125.

Auerbach, C.F. & Silverstein, L.B. (2003). Qualitative data: an introduction to
coding and analysis. New York University Press. New York.

Bailey, T. & Morest, V.S. (2006). (eds.). Defending the community college equity
agenda. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, M.D.

Bean, J.P. & Metzner, B.S. (1985). A conceptual model of nontraditional
undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research Winter, 55
(4), 485-540.

Bean, J.P. (1985). Interaction effects based on class level in an explanatory model
of college student dropout syndrome. American Educational Research
Journal Spring, 22 (1), 35-64.

Bennett, B. (1986). Scholars or slaves: the story of athletic scholarships. The
Journal of Popular Culture, Winter, 20 (3), 167-178.

Benson, K.F. (2000). Constructing academic inadequacy: African-American
athletes’ stories of schooling. The Journal of Higher Education, 71 (2), 224-
246.

176
Berson, J.S. (1996, March). Student perceptions of the intercollegiate athletic
program at a community college. Paper presented at the Annual Convention
of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Atlanta,
GA.

Blum, D.E. & Lederman, D. (2003). NCAA plans new way to keep score.
USATODAY.com. Retrieved October 8, 2004.

Bonner, F.A. & Bailey, K.W. (2006). Enhancing the academic climate for African
American men. In M.J. Cuyjet (ed), African American men in college (pp.
24-46). John Wiley & Sons. San Francisco, CA.

Boyatzis, R.E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and
code development. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, C.A.

Brown, C. (2006). The impact of campus activities on African American college
men. In M.J. Cuyjet (ed), African American men in college (pp. 47-67).
John Wiley & Sons. San Francisco, CA.

Bush, E.C. (2004). Dying on the vine: a look at African American student
achievement in California community colleges. Dissertation Abstracts
International (UMI No. 3115606).

Byers, W. (1995). Unsportsmanlike conduct: exploiting college athletes. The
University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, M.I.

Cabrera, A.F., Nora, A. & Castaneda, M.B. (1993). College persistence: structural
equations modeling test of an integrated model of student retention. The
Journal of Higher Education, 64 (2), 123-139.

Cabrera, A.F., Nora, A., Terenzini, P.T., Pascarella, E. & Hagedorn, S.L. (1999).
Campus based racial climate and the adjustment of students to college: a
comparison between White students and African-American students. The
Journal of Higher Education, 70 (2), 134-160.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2005, March). Are they going:
university enrollment and eligibility for African Americans and Latinos.
Retrieved February 12, 2006, from http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2005, March). University
eligibility as a percentage of all high school students. Retrieved February 12,
2006, from http://cpec.ca.gov.

177
California Postsecondary Education Commission (2006, June). The gender gap in
California Higher Education. Retrieved February12, 2006, from
http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (December, 2006). Factors
affecting college-going rates in California: a study prospectus. Retrieved
February 12, 2006, from http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2007). Bachelor Degrees
Awarded for Blacks, 1996-2005 [Data File]. Available from the California
Postsecondary Education Commission Web site, http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2007). Undergraduate
Enrollment for Blacks, 1996-2005 [Data File]. Available from the California
Postsecondary Education Commission Web site, http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2007). Associate Degrees
Awarded for Blacks, 1996-2005 [Data File]. Available from the California
Postsecondary Education Commission Web site, http://cpec.ca.gov.

California Postsecondary Education Commission (2007). Statewide Population for
Blacks, 1998-2007 [Data File]. Available from the California Postsecondary
Education Commission Web site, http://cpec.ca.gov.

Chickering, A.W. (1969). Education and identity. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco,
CA.

Chickering, A.W. & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity. Jossey-Bass. San
Francisco, CA.

Christian, Barbara. (1985). Black Feminist Criticism. New York. Pergamon Press.

Creswell, J.W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among
five traditions. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Creswell, J.W. (2003). (2
nd
ed.) Research design qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed method approaches. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Cross, T. & Slater, R.B. (2000). The alarming decline in the academic performance
of African American men. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Spring, 27, 82-87.

178
Cuyjet, M.J. (1997). African American men on college campuses: their needs and
their perceptions. New Direction for Student Services, Winter, 80, 5-15.

D’Augelli, A.R. & Hershberger, S.L. (1993). African American undergraduates on
a predominantly White campus: academic factors, social networks, and
campus climate. Journal of Negro Education, 62 (1), 67-81.

Davis, J.E. (1995). College in black and white: campus environment and academic
achievement of African American males. Journal of Negro Education, 63
(4), 620-632.

Dawson-Threat, J. (1997). Enhancing in-class academic experiences for African
American men (Cuyjet, M.J., ed.). New Directions for Student Services:
Helping African American Men Succeed in College, 80, 31-41.

DeCuir, J.T. & Dixson, A.D. (2004). “So when it comes out, they aren’t that
surprised that it is there”: using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of
race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 26-31.

DeSousa, J. (2001). Re-examining the educational pipeline for African-American
students. In. Jones, L. (ed.), Retaining African Americans in higher
education: challenging paradigms for retaining students, faculty, &
administrators (pp. 21-44). Stylus Publishing, LLC. Sterling, VA.

Donner, J.K. (2005). Towards an interest-convergence in the education of African-
American football student athletes in major college sports. Race, Ethnicity
and Education, 8 (1), 45-67.

Duderstadt, J.J. (2003). Intercollegiate athletics and the American university: a
university president’s perspective. The University of Michigan Press. Ann
Arbor, M.I.

Edwards, H. (1979). Sport with the veil: the triumphs, tragedies and challenges of
afro-american involvement. Annals of the American Academy of Political
and Social Science, 445, 116-127.

Elligan, D. & Utsey, S. (1999). Utility of an African-American men confronting
societal racism and oppression. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority
Psychology, 5 (2), 156-165.

Ellis, P. (2004). Addressing the shame of higher education: programs that support
college enrollment and retention of African-American males. Level Playing
Field Institute, San Francisco, CA.

179
Engstrom, M. E. & Sedlacek, W.E. (1991). A study of prejudice toward university
student-athletes. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70 (1), 189-193.

Entine, J. (2000). Why black athletes dominate sports and why we are afraid to talk
about it. Public Affairs. New York.

Erickson, E. (1959). Identity and the life cycle [Monograph]. Psychosocial Issues,
1 (1), 1-171.

Flowers, L.A. (2006). Effects of attending a 2-year institution on African American
males’ academic and social integration in the first year of college. Teachers
College Record, 108 (2), 267-286.

Fordham, S. & Ogbu, J.U. (1986). Black students’ school success: coping with the
“burden of ‘acting white.’” The Urban Review, 18 (3), 176-206.

French, P.A. (2004). Ethics and college sports: ethics, sports, and the university.
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham, MD.

Gaytson-Gayles, J.L. (2004). Examining academic and athletic motivation among
student athletes at a division I university. Journal of College Student
Development, 45 (1), 75-83.

Gohl, S.E. (2004). A lesson in english and gender: Title IX and the male student-
athlete. www.law.duke.edu. Retrieved November 22, 2004.

Gordon E.T., Gordon, E.W. & Nembhard, J.G.G. (1994). Social science literature
concerning African American men. The Journal of Negro Education
Autumn, 508-531.

Goudas, M. (1998). Motivational climate and intrinsic motivation of young
basketball players. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1998, 86, 323-327.

Griffin, K. & Allen, W.A. (2006). Mo’ money, mo’ problems? High achieving
black student high school students’ experiences with resources, racial
climate, and resilience. The journal of Negro education Summer, 75 (3), 478-
494.

Hagedorn, L.S., Maxwell, W., Rodriguez, P., Hocevar, D. & Filpot, J. (2000). Peer
and student-faculty relations in community colleges. Community College
Journal of Research, 587-598.

180
Hagedorn, L.S., Maxwell, W. & Hampton, P. (2001). Correlates of Retention for
African American males in community colleges. Journal of College Student
Retention, 3 (3), 243-263.

Harper, S.R. (2006). Peer support for African American male college achievement:
beyond internalized racism and the burden of “acting white.” Journal of
Men’s Studies, 14 (3), 337-358.

Harper, S.R. (2006). Enhancing African American male student outcomes through
leadership and active involvement. In M.J. Cuyjet (ed.), African American
men in college (pp. 68-94). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco, CA.

Harper, S.R. & Wolley, M.A. (2002). Becoming an “involving college” for African
American undergraduate men: strategies for increasing African American
male participation in campus activities. The Bulletin, May, 16-24.

Harrison, C.K., Comeaux, E. & Plecha, M. (2006). Faculty and male football and
basketball players on university campuses: an empirical investigation of the
“intellectual” as mentor to the student athlete. Research Quarterly for
Exercise and Sport, 77 (2), 277-284.

Henry, A. (1995). Growing up black, female, and working class: a teacher’s
narrative. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 26 (3), 279-305.

Herbold, Hilary. (1995). Never a playing field: blacks and the GI Bill. The Journal
of Blacks in Higher Education Winter, 6,104-108.

Hooks, B. (2003). Rock my soul: black people and self esteem. Washington Square
Press. New York.

Howard-Hamilton, M.F. (1997). Theory to practice: applying developmental
theories relevant to African American men (Cuyjet, M.J., ed.). New
Direction for Student Services: Helping African American Men Succeed in
College, Winter, 80, 17-29.

Hu, S. & St. John, E.P. (2001). Student persistence in a public higher education
system: understanding racial and ethnic differences. The Journal of Higher
Education, 72 (3), 265-285.

Hyatt, R. (2003). Barriers to persistence among African American intercollegiate
athletes: a literature review of non-cognitive variables. College Student
Journal, 37 (2), 260-275.

181
Jacobi, Maryann. (1991). Mentoring and undergraduate academic success: a
literature review. Review of Educational Research Winter, 61 (4), 505-532.

James, S.A. & Thomas, P.E. (2000). John Henryism and blood pressure in black
populations: a review of the evidence. Journal of African American
Research Perspectives, 1-10.

Johnson, V.D. (2003). A comparison of European and African-based psychologies
and their implications for African American college student development.
Journal of Black Studies, 33 (6), 817-829.

Jones, L. (2001). Creating an affirming culture to retain African American students
during the postaffirmative action era in higher education. In. Jones, L. (ed.),
Retaining African Americans in higher education: challenging paradigms for
retaining students, faculty, & administrators (pp. 3-20). Stylus Publishing,
LLC. Sterling, VA.

Jordan, W.J. & Cooper, R. (2001). Racial and cultural issues related to
comprehensive school reform: the case of African American males.
Presented at the Symposium on African American Male Achievement,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Kezar, A. (2002). Transformational elite interviews: principles and problems.
Qualitative Inquiry, 8 (4), 1-21.

Kohen, A.I., Nestel, G. & Karmas, C. (1978). Factors affecting individual
persistence rates in undergraduate college programs. American Educational
Research Journal Spring, 15 (2), 233-252.

Ladsen-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a
nice field like education? Qualitative Studies in Education, 1988, 11(1), 7-
24.

Lasser, S.J.S. & Snelshire, R.W. (1996). The case for proactive mentoring for
minorities in engineering. FIE ’96 Proceedings, 767-769.

Latiker, T. (2003). A Qualitative Study of African American Student Persistence in
a Private Black College. Presented at the American Educational Research
Association Annual Meeting. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
ED346082).

182
LaVant, B.D., Anderson, J.L. & Tiggs, J.W. (1997). Retaining African American
men through mentoring initiatives (Cuyjet, M.J. ed.). New Directions for
Student Services: Helping African American Men Succeed in College, 80, 43-
53.

Leach, E.J. (1995). The dual role of student and athlete: an exploration of the
survival strategies of student-athletes in a community college. (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts
International, 56, 10A.

Levin, M.E. & Levin, J.R. (1991). A Critical Examination of Academic Retention
Programs for At-Risk Minority College Students. Journal of College Student
Development, 32, 323-334.

Liddle, H.A., Jackson-Gilfort, A.J. & Marvel, F.A. (2006). An empirically
supported and culturally specific engagement and intervention strategy for
African American adolescent males. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,
75 (2), 215-225.

Littleton, R.A. (2001). African American Student Persistence at Small Colleges in
Appalachia: A Qualitative Study. Presented at Association for the Study of
Higher Education Annual Conference in Richmond, VA. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED 457815).

Lynn, M. & Haasan, K.H. (1999). Raising the critical consciousness of African
American students in Baldwin Hills: a portrait of an exemplary African
American male teacher. Journal of Negro Education, Winter, 68 (1), 42-52.

Maloney, M.T. & McCormick, R.E. (1993). An examination of the role that
intercollegiate athletic participation plays in academic achievement: athletes’
feats in the classroom. The Journal of Human Resources, Summer, 28 (3),
555-570.

Malveaux, J. (2004). Speaking of education: the real deal of black unemployment,
Black issues in higher education, 21 (13), p. 33.

Martin, B.E. A phenomenological study of academically driven African American
male student-athletes at highly selective universities. (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Southern California, 2005). Dissertation Abstracts
International, 66, 11A.

183
Martin, B.E. & Harris, F. (2006). Examining productive conceptions of
masculinities: lessons learned from academically driven African American
male student-athletes. Journal of Men’s Studies, Fall, 14 (3), 359-378.

Marie, G.A. (1994). Psychosocial factors influencing the academic persistence of
chicano/a undergraduates. Arizona State University, UMI No. 9410966.

Mason, H.P. (1998). A persistence model for African American male urban
community college students. Community College Journal of Research and
Practice, 22, 751-760.

McElroy S.W. & Andrews, L.T. (2000). The black male and the U.S. economy.
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 569, 160-
175.

Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in
education. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA.

Messner, M.A. & Sabo, D.F. (eds.). (1990). Sport, men, and the gender order:
critical feminist perspectives. Human Kinetics Books. Champaign, IL.

Miller, P.S. & Kerr, G. (2002). The athletic, academic and social experiences of
intercollegiate student-athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25 (4), 346-367.

Munoz, D.G. (1986). Identifying areas of stress for Chicano undergraduates. In
M.A. Olivas (Ed.), Latino College Students, 131-156. New York: Teachers
College Press.

National Center for Education Statistics (2007). Retrieved on September 13, 2007.
http://nces.ed.gov.

The NCAA News (2003). Athlete graduation rates continue climb: First class to
matriculate under Prop 16 shows marked improvement. NCAA.org/news.
Retrieved October 8, 2004.

NiiLampti, N. (2005). An examination of African American college students on
non-cognitive factors of persistence across institution type and athletic
status. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University.

Noguera, P.A. (1996). Responding to the crisis confronting California’s black male
youth: providing support without furthering marginalization. The Journal of
Negro Education Spring, 65 (2), 219-236,

184
Numbers Associated with the (NCAA’s) APR. www.collegeathleticclips.com.
Retrieved April 27, 2005, and USA Today (1995).

Nyx, J. & Gaye, M. (1971). What’s Happening Brother [recorded by Marvin Gaye].
On What’s Going On [album]. Detroit, Michigan: Motown.

Parmer, T. (1994). The athletic dream and the black male student: primary
prevention implications for counselors. The School Counselor. 41:333-337.

Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P.T. (1977). Patterns of student-faculty informal
interaction beyond the classroom and voluntary freshman attrition. The
Journal of Higher Education, 48 (5), 540-552.

Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P.T. (1979). Interaction effects in Spady’s and Tinto’s
conceptual models of college dropout. Sociology of Education, 52, 197-210.

Pascarella, E.T. (1980). Student-faculty informal contact and college outcomes.
Review of Educational Research, Winter, 50 (4), 545-595.

Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P.T. (1980). Predicting freshman persistence and
voluntary dropout decisions from a theoretical model. Journal of Higher
Education, 51 (1), 60-75.

Pascarella, E.T., Duby, P.B. & Iverson, B.K. (1983). A test and reconceptualization
of a theoretical model of college withdrawal in a commuter setting.
Sociology of Education, April, 56, 88-100.

Pascarella, E.T., Terenzini, P.T. & Wolfe, L.M. (1986). Orientation to college and
freshman year persistence withdrawal. The Journal of Higher Education, 57
(2), 155-175.

Pascarella, E.T., Truckenmiller, R., Nora, A., Terenzini, P.T., Edison, M. &
Hagedorn, L.S. (1999). Cognitive impacts of intercollegiate athletic
participation: some further evidence. The Journal of Higher Education, 70
(1), 1-26.

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & evaluation methods (3
rd
ed). Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Peng, S.S. & Fetters, W.B. (1978). Variables involved in withdrawal during the first
two years of college: preliminary findings from the national longitudinal
study of the high school class of 1972. American Educational Research
Journal, 15 (3), 361-372.

185
Person, D.R. & LeNoir, K.M. (1997). Retention issues and models for African
American male athletes. New Directions for Student Services, Winter, 80,
79-91.

Pettit, B. & Western, B. (2004). Mass imprisonment and the life course: race and
class inequality in U.S. incarceration. Journal of Sociological Review, April,
69 (2), 151-169.

Pintrich, P.R. & Schunk, D.H. (2002). Motivation in Education: theory, research,
and applications. Second Edition. Merrill Prentice Hall. New Jersey.

Polkinghorne, D.E. (2005). Language and meaning: data collection in qualitative
research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52 (2), 137-145.

Procidano, M.E. & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from
friends and from family: three validation studies. American Journal of
Community Psychology, 11 (1), 1-23.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the Adolescent Self Image. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press.

Rubin, H.J. & Rubin, I.S. (2005). Qualitative Interviewing: the art of hearing data
(2
nd
ed.). Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Sampson, J.S. (2003). I Have Been Waiting: Race and U.S. Higher Education.
University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

Sampson, R.J. & Lamb J.H. (1996). Socioeconomic achievement in the life course
of disadvantaged men: military service as a turning point, circa 1940-1965.
American Sociological Review, 61 (3), 347-367.

Schultz, E.L., Colton, G.M. & Colton, C. (2001). The adventor program:
advisement and mentoring for students of color in higher education. Journal
of Humanistic Counseling, Education, and Development, Fall, 40 (2), 208-
218.

Schwartz, R.A. & Washington, C.M. (2002). Predicting academic performance and
retention among African American freshmen men. NASPA Journal, 39 (4),
354-370.

Sedlacek, W.E. & Adams-Gaston, Javaune. (1992). Predicting the academic success
of student-athlete using SAT and noncognitive variables. Counseling and
Development, 70 (6), 724-727.

186
Sellers, R.M. (1992). Racial differences in the predictors for academic achievement
of student-athletes in division I revenue producing sports. Sociology of Sport
Journal. 9, 48-59.

Siegel, J. (2004). Athletics vs. academics. www.washingtontimes.com. Retrieved
November 22, 2004.

Simons, H.D., Rheenan D.V. & Covington, M.V. (1999). Academic motivation and
the student athlete. Journal of College Student Development, 40 (2), 151-
162.

Singer, N.J. (2002). Let us make man: the development of black male student-
athletes in a big-time college sport program. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, The Ohio State University.

Smith, E. (2004). The African American student-athlete. In C.K. Ross (ed.), Race
and sport: the struggle for equality on and off the field (pp.121-145).
University Press of Mississippi.

Snyder, P.L. (1996). Comparative levels of expressed academic motivation among
anglo and african-american university student-athletes. Journal of Black
Studies, 26 (6), 651-667.

Spady, W.G. (1970). Dropouts from higher education: an interdisciplinary review
and synthesis. Interchange, 1 (1), 67-85.

Spady, W.G. (1971). Dropouts from higher education: toward an empirical model.
Interchange, 2 (3), 38-62.

Spivey D. & Jones, T.A. (1975). Intercollegiate athletic servitude: A case study of
the black illini student-athletes, 1931-1967. Social Science Quarterly, 55,
939-947.

Sperber, M. (1990). College sports Inc.: The athletic department vs. the university.
Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Canada.

Sperber, M. (2000). Beer and circus: how big-time college sports is crippling
undergraduate education. Henry Holt and Company. New York.

Spradley, J.P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
Belmont, CA.

187
Steele, C.M. & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test
performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 69, 797-811.

Stringer, E.T. (1999). Action Research (2
nd
ed.). Sage Publications. Thousand
Oaks, CA.

Sutton, M.E. (2006). Developmental mentoring of African American college men.
In M.J. Cuyjet (ed.), African American men in college (pp.95-111). John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco, CA.

Terenzini, P.T. & Pascarella, E.T. (1977). Voluntary freshman attrition and patterns
of social and academic integration in a university: a test of a conceptual
model. Research in Higher Education, 6, 25-43.

Thelin, J.R. (1994). Games colleges play: scandal and reform in intercollegiate
athletics. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, MD.

Tierney, W.G. (1992). An anthropological analysis of student participation in
college. Journal of Higher Education November-December, 63 (6), 603-618.

Tierney, W.G. (1992). Official Encouragement, Institutional Discouragement:
Minorities in Academe — The Native American Experience. Ablex
Publishing Corporation. Norwood, New Jersey.

Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: a theoretical synthesis of recent
research. Review of Educational Research, 45 (1), 89-125.

Tinto, V. (1987 & 1993). Leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of
student attrition (2
nd
edition). The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL.

Tracey, T.J. & Sedlacek, W.E. (1985). The relationship of noncognitive variables to
academic success: a longitudinal comparison by race. Journal of College
Student Personnel, 405-410.

Uhlenberg, J. & Brown, K.M. (2002). Racial gaps in teachers’ perceptions of the
achievement gap. Education and Urban Society, 34 (4) 493-530.

United States Census Bureau. (2003). Poverty Rates of African Americans.
Retrieved on September 13, 2007, from http://www.census.gov.

188
University of Central Florida/Lapchick Study (2006). Academic progress/graduation
rate study of Division I NCAA men’s basketball tournament teams reveals
marked improvement in overall graduation rates but large continuing
disparities of the success of white and african-american student-athletes.
Retrieved April, 2006.

Weber, J.M. (1993). Immersed in an educational crisis: alternative programs for
African American males. Stanford Law Review April, 45 (4), 1099-1131.

Weis, L. (1985). Between Two Worlds: Black Students In An Urban Community
College. Routledge and Kegan Paul. Boston, London, Melbourne and
Henley.

Yin, R.K. (2003). Case study research (3
rd
ed.). Sage Publications. Thousand
Oaks, CA.

Yin, R.K. (2003). Applications of case study research (2
nd
ed.). Sage Publications.
Thousand Oaks, CA.

Yin, R.K. (Ed.). (2004). The case study anthology. Sage Publications. Thousand
Oaks, CA.

Yopyk, D.J.A. & Prentice, D.A. (2005). Am I an athlete or a student? Identity
salience and stereotype threat in student-athletes. Basic and Applied Social
Psychology, 27 (4), 329-336.

Young, B.D. & Sowa, C.J. (1992). Predictors of academic success for black student
athletes. Journal of College Student Development, 33, 319-324.

Zand, D.H. & Thomson, N.R. (2005). Academic achievement among African
American Adolescents: direct and indirect effects of demographic, individual,
and contextual variables. Journal of Black Psychology, 31 (4), 352-368.

Zimblast, A. (1999). Unpaid professionals: commercialism and conflict in big-time
college sports. Princeton University Press. Princeton, N.J.

Zimblast, A. (2006). The bottom line: observations and arguments on the sports
business. Temple University Press. Philadelphia, PA.

189
APPENDIX A
RESEARCH QUESTIONS, CATEGORIES AND THEMES
Research Question 1. What policies, resources, and/or practices do African
American male students perceive as positively contributing to their decision to
continue enrolling in a California community college?

Categories Themes
Policies Open admissions
Practices
Good instruction, caring, committed, respectful, professors, a
positive and conducive classroom environment, clear setting of
boundaries, clear communication
Resources
LRC (Learning Resource Center), financial aid availability,
Good counseling, tutors
Academic
Integration
Study groups, working with faculty, help-seeking behavior
Social
Integration
School involvement, peer interactions, faculty interactions
Family
Responsibility
Children and spouses, want to be good role models for kids
Life
Experiences
Increased personal maturity, job or military experiences,
recognized need for education for promotional advancement,
experiences with unemployment, observations of negative life
choices by others, prior failures
Athletic
Participation
Ability to transfer to a 4-year college or university and
continue sports career possibly to the professional level

190
Research Question 2. What do African American male students identify as barriers
to their persistence in a California community college?

Categories Themes
Barriers Thug life mentality, self-destructive behaviors and practices,
Racial discrimination, campus security, unfriendly or hostile
campus environment,
Not enough financial aid resources (especially due to athletic
commitments)
Family/home responsibilities
Poor high school preparation, poor counseling services
Media stereotypes and representations
Pride — so won’t ask for help or don’t know where to go for help
Home environment, athletic responsibility

Research Question 3. What do college members (faculty, staff, and administrators)
perceive as barriers to persistence among African American male students?

Categories Themes
Barriers Self-destructive behavior, thug life mentality, media
representation – thugs, athletes, or rappers, home environment
Not knowing how to ask for help, mothers overly protective

Athletic
Status
Coaches – emotional blackmail
Coaches – coddling behavior for their own self interests
Assumptions of privilege
Not self-sufficient or independent

191
Research Question 4. How much agreement is there between college members
perceptions of the barriers impacting African American male students and the
perceptions of the students themselves?

Categories Themes identified by both faculty and students
Barriers Self-destructive Behavior, thug life mentality, media representation
– thugs, athletes, or rappers, home environment
Not knowing how to ask for help
Racism
Coaches

192
APPENDIX B
RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL FOR STUDENTS

Interview Sessions (2) or more

Part A. Academic Integration

1. Do you attend study groups outside of your classes? How often? Why or why
not?
2. Have you ever discussed your academic concerns with DCC faculty? What
was that experience like?
3. Describe the number and extent of any informal social contacts that you have
had with DCC staff, faculty or coaches outside of their classroom or offices.
4. How often do you talk with your coaches about your academic or future
career plans?
5. How often do you talk with faculty (non-athletic) about your academic or
future career plans outside of sports?
6. How often do you meet with your academic advisor/counselor about your
future career goals?

Part B. Social Integration

1. Are you involved with any other school clubs or extracurricular activities
aside from sports?
2. Describe your level of commitment to these other activities aside from sports.
3. Do you have consistently share your personal time with other students who
are not athletes?
4. Describe your experiences and interactions with other Black men on the DCC
campus (consider faculty and staff).

Part C. Measures of Climate and Race

1. Have you been discriminated against on the DCC campus because of your
race or athletic status?
2. Describe these experiences if applicable and how you dealt with them.

193
Part D.
1. Describe your academic experiences throughout your life.
2. Describe the characteristics of a good student.
3. Do you believe you meet those characteristics? Why or why not?
4. Why did you go to college?
5. What college sport are you involved in?
6. Why do you play sports?
7. Why do you study?
8. In what subject areas are you the most confident? Why?
9. In what subject areas are you the least confident? Why?
10. How did you choose your college major?
11. What is your favorite subject in school? Why?
12. What does sports participation do for you? How has being an athlete and a
team member made a difference in your life?
13. When do you feel the most powerful or in control when you are involved in
your sport (personal reasons, team reasons, athletic reasons)?
14. Describe how specific aspects of being an athlete have affected your progress
in school?
15. In reflecting on your experience of being on the team, what would you
consider to be the best or worst aspect?
16. What are your coaches’ strengths and weaknesses?
17. If you had the power to change anything about your experience as a student-
athlete within an athletic program, what would that change be?

PERSISTENCE MEASURES-obtain permission to collect student GPA

18. What does the word persistence mean to you? Apply it to sports and
academics.
19. What are some of the reasons peers (teammates, roommates, classmates)
remain in college?
20. What are some of the factors that have helped peers (teammates, roommates,
classmates) remain in college?
21. What are some of the greatest challenges you have observed from others
during their college experience?
22. How do you think the campus environment affects your experience in
school?
23. How do you think the classroom environment affects your experience in
school?
24. How did you make your choice to attend this college?
25. How do you think race plays into your experience as a student?
26. How do you think race plays into your experience as an athlete?
27. To what extent do you feel that, as a student, you are prepared to meet the
educational and athletic demands of this school?

194
28. What kind of support has provided the greatest impact on your college
experience here?
29. In your opinion, what are some of the things that could be done at the college
to help you and your peers navigate the education system and graduate with a
degree?
30. What do you plan to do after your athletic career is over?
31. Are you comfortable with and how do you use computers (personally and
academically)?

Concluding Remarks: I’ve asked you a lot of questions, but there may be some
aspects I missed that would help me to better understand your life as a student-
athlete in college sports and how this influences academic success. Is there anything
you would like to add that we did not cover?

Thank you for your time. Your help with this study is appreciated.

195
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL FOR
COACHES, COLLEGE STAFF, FACULTY AND COUNSELORS

Participant’s Pseudonym___________________________
Participant’s Gender_______________________________
Participant’s Ethnicity______________________________
Participant’s position/appointment in the
college__________________________________

1. What is your perception of African American (AA) males in the community
college environment? (probe: why, what personal experiences have shaped
these perceptions)
2. How important if at all, are students ethnicities in your communications with
them?
3. How much time do you spend with African American students in terms of
providing academic support, tutoring, counseling, office hours, attending
college sponsored sporting or social events?
4. How well or how much do you know about the African American student
population at this college?
5. Based upon your experiences in this college, what do you think are
major/minor obstacles that impede African-American student’s academic
progress?
6. Based upon your experiences at this college, what do you think are
major/minor obstacles that impede African-American educational goal
attainments?
7. What is your perception of African American male student-athletes in the
community college? Do you see African American males and student-athletes
as individuals?
8. What is your perception of AA male and student-athletes’ academic/
classroom skills?
9. What is your perception of AA male social skills on this campus?
10. Do you perceive a value or do you think AA males should go to college?
What about student-athletes
11. Do you encourage AA males and or athletes to take online courses? Do you
think this course format would help athletes juggle their athletic and
academic responsibilities better? Do you think this format would seem less
threatening to AA male college students?
12. Describe some of the major challenges, academically, that AA males have in
juggling their athletic and/or academic and/or social pursuits.

196
APPENDIX C
PARTICIPANT PROFILE FORM
Participant’s Selected Pseudonym
Name_______________________________________ Age______________
Street Address___________________________________________________
City______________________ State____________ Zip________________
Home Phone ( )__________________ Cellular Phone ( )_____________
E-Mail Address_______________________________
Hometown________________________________ State __________________
Academic Information
How many semesters have you been enrolled at AVC?__________________
Year in School (please circle) Freshman Sophomore
College Major____________________________
Final High School GPA__________/4.0 scale
Current Undergraduate GPA_________/4.0 Scale (please do not estimate)
Do you plan to transfer to a four-year college or university? (please answer the
question with a yes or no response)

Ultimate Degree Aspiration: Associate’s Bachelor’s Master’s Ph.D. J.D. M.D.
Other _________________________ Please explain
If you do not plan on transferring to a four-year college or university, what are your
plans after you leave AVC?

High School Demography (please circle) Predominantly African American
Predominantly White
Mixed/Balanced

197
High School Type (please circle) Public Private
Other__________________
Please explain
Marital Status Single Married
Number of Children ___________________
Personal Family Structure (please circle) Two Parents
Guardian (not a parent)
Single Parent (mother)
Single Parent (father)
Other__________________________
Please explain
Current Occupation if Employed _______________________________
If you are involved in athletics at Desert Community College, please answer the
following questions?

Athletic Participation
Sport____________________________
Position_________________________ (Please Circle) Starter Reserve
Athletic Awards, Honors, Achievements Year(s) Received
______________________________________ ______________
______________________________________ ______________
______________________________________ ______________
______________________________________ ______________
Athletic Goals (Fall 2006/Spring 2007)
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

198
Campus Activities
Clubs/Organizations Leadership Positions Held (if any)
___________________________________ ____________________________
___________________________________ ____________________________
___________________________________ ____________________________

Immediate Post-Graduation Plans (Please Circle)
Professional Athletic Career
Full-Time Employment
Military Service
Graduate/Professional School_________________________
Anticipated Major Field
Other____________________________________
Please Explain
Unsure At This Time

199
APPENDIX D
RECRUITMENT FLYER
Attention
Looking for African American Male Students
To participate in a one hour, one time, face-to-face interview on
campus to talk about your experiences as an African American
Male student at a California community college
All interviews will contribute to a doctoral dissertation entitled: AN
EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC MOTIVATION AND PERSISTENCE IN
AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
Little is known about the academic experiences of African American male
community college students. This study will examine the variables that affect
academic persistence and achievement among this population. This examination will
allow researchers and educators to better understand the factors that lead to favorable
academic outcomes for African American male community college students.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Nikki Riley to
schedule an interview time.

Contact information:
Nikki Riley
Desert Community College
Division of Math-Sciences
(555) 444-3333 (ext: 9999)
nriley@desertcommunitycollege.edu

200
APPENDIX E
INFORMED CONSENT FORM
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

******************************************************************
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Study Title: AN EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC MOTIVATION AND
PERSISTENCE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
STUDENTS
You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Nikki Michelle Riley,
an Ed.D candidate from the Rossier School of Education at the University of
Southern California. The results from this study will contribute to a doctoral
dissertation. You were selected as a possible participant in this study, because you
are an African American male enrolled in a California Community College,
specifically Desert Community College. Your participation is voluntary.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect academic achievement
and persistence among African American male community college students. This
study will add to the lack of literature regarding African American male community
college students. This examination will allow researchers and educators to better
identify and understand the personal and institutional factors that lead to improved
academic outcomes for African American male community college students.

201
PROCEDURES
In the Fall 2006 semester and for parts of the Spring 2007 semester, you will be
asked to participate in a one-hour face-to-face interview and one 30-minute follow-
up interview. In the interview, you will be asked a series of questions related to your
academic experiences and if applicable, athletic experiences. These questions will
relate to current or past academic and athletic challenges, campus involvement,
family background, and professional aspirations and goals (i.e., What has been your
source of motivation to succeed academically at AV college?) All interviews will be
conducted at a place that is comfortable for all participants (a private room/office on
campus or other appropriate locations on campus). All interviews will be audio taped
and transcribed for common themes and relevant findings. All relevant findings will
be clarified and confirmed in a 30-minute follow-up interview. A participant profile
form will be completed before each interview. All forms will be stored and locked
in the office of the principal investigator.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
This study does not pose any identifiable potential risk or discomfort to you.
However, if any discomfort or uncertainty occurs, Nikki Riley will be available for
questions or concerns by telephone (661) 722-6300 (ext: 6758) or email at
nriley@avc.edu.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
This study provides a “voice” to the academic experiences of African American male
community college students and African American male community college student-
athletes.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
All student subjects who complete both the one-hour face-to-face interview and the
30- minute follow-up interview will be given twenty dollars at the end of that final
interview. All faculty and staff participants of the study will receive 10 dollars upon
completion of their 30-minute follow-up final interview.

202
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be
identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your
permission or as required by law. After this study is completed, all audio-tapes will
be destroyed. You will have the right to review/edit your interview upon request. All
data and audio-tapes will be stored and locked in the office of principal investigator
(Nikki Riley). All data stored on a computer will be secured by a password. This data
will also be coded to protect your identity. When the results of the dissertation are
discussed, no information will be included that would reveal your identity. Academic
counselors will not know if you decide to participate and there will be no
consequences to you for not participating in this research study.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this
study, you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may
also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the
study. The investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise
which warrant doing so.

IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact
the principal investigator, Nikki Riley, Ed.D. candidate by telephone at 661-722-
6300 (ext: 6758) or email at nriley@avc.edu.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research subject, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research, Grace Ford Salvatori Building, Room 306, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1695,
(213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.

203

SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH SUBJECT, PARENT OR LEGAL
REPRESENTATIVE.

I understand the procedures described above, and I understand fully the rights of a
potential subject in a research study involving people as subjects. My questions have
been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have
been given a copy of this form.

 I agree to be audio-taped
 I do not agree to be audio-taped

Name of Subject

Name of Parent or Legal Representative (if applicable)

204

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR

I have explained the research to the subject or his/her legal representative, and
answered all of his/her questions. I believe that he/she understands the information
described in this document and freely consents to participate.

Name of Investigator
________________________________ _____________________
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same as
subject’s)
SIGNATURE OF WITNESS (If an oral translator is used.)

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The democratic and inclusive community college system has served as an important conduit for the post-secondary educational experiences of Black men. It has been suggested that the diversity of the community college student population creates a campus climate that facilitates African American male academic success. This study focuses on the academic and social integration experiences of fourteen African American male community college students who persisted towards graduation or transfer from a Southern California community college. Prior studies have focused on the persistence of African American students at large, often public universities. These studies tend to discuss African American male college students from a deficit perspective when comparing them to Black female or White college students. Further, African American men are collectively viewed as homogenous, static beings. Few studies have explored the potentially endogenous or emic perspectives of collegiate faculty, relative to the academic experiences of African American men. This study attempted to fill a gap in the literature by focusing on the academic and social integration experiences of African American men enrolled in a Southern California community college. The results of this study are discussed within the context of the Black feminist perspective of the researcher.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

The barriers and facilitators of academic success for Black male students at a community college: a gap analysis

PDF

Exploring the undergraduate Latina/o experience: a case study of academically successful students at a research institution

PDF

The academic experiences and social outcomes of Black males at a predominately White Christian university

PDF

Community college transfer student involvement experiences at a selective, private four-year university

PDF

Community college transfer student involvement experiences at a selective, private four-year university

PDF

Factors influencing admissions counselors’ ability to increase the number of African American males in a private college: a gap analysis

PDF

African-American/Black students’ experience and achievement in asynchronous online learning environments at a community college

PDF

Experiences of African American males accessing the pipeline of higher education through the Neighborhood Academic Initiative

PDF

Authors of our story: Black female students' experience during their first year at a predominantly White institution through a syncretic lens of critical race feminism and Afro-pessimism

PDF

Student engagement experiences of African American males at a California community college

PDF

How religious engagement shapes the college experience of African American Christian males at a predominantly White institution: a phenomenlogical approach

PDF

A study of Pacific Islander scholarship football players and their institutional experience in higher education

PDF

A phenomenological study: the lived experience of former foster youth attending a four-year college in Southern California

PDF

The impact of remedial mathematics on the success of African American and Latino male community college students

PDF

Impact of required parental involvement on African American male students and families: a qualitative study of the USC-NAI program

PDF

Cultural competency for academic counselors in the California community college systems to increase African-American male students' success: a gap analysis

PDF

Black male experience on a community college campus: a study on sense of belonging

PDF

The academic integration and retention of Latino community college transfer students at a highly selective private four-year institution

PDF

The experiences of African American students in a basic skills learning community at a four year public university

PDF

The at-risk student perspective of education in an alternative education program

Asset Metadata

Creator Riley, Nikki Michelle (author)

Core Title "A steady drop will wear a hole in the rock": feminism, the John Henry myth, and the black male experience in higher education

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 09/25/2007

Defense Date 08/09/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag African American men,Athletes,college,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Advisor Sundt, Melora A. (committee chair), Fisher, Jackie S., Sr. (committee member), Jun, Alexander (committee member)

Creator Email nikkiril@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m830

Unique identifier UC166580

Identifier etd-Riley-20070925 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-584054 (legacy record id),usctheses-m830 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Riley-20070925.pdf

Dmrecord 584054

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Riley, Nikki Michelle

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu