Dissertation Defense Announcement Ed.D. Program: Clifford D. Frazier, III “I Know You See Us! Black Men at a Diverse Institution and the Impact on their Sense of Belonging”

This phenomenological qualitative study examines the sense of belonging of twelve Black male students at a diverse institution (DI) of higher education and investigates which institutional resources promote or inhibit Black male undergraduate students’ sense of belonging on campus. Strayhorn’s Sense of Belonging Theoretical Model (Strayhorn, 2008, 2012, 2019) was used to analyze the participants experiences. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews (Seidman, 2013), photo artifacts (Rose, 2023) and focus groups (Kruger & Casey, 2014). Four themes emerged: (1) Navigating Belonging and Identity as Black Male Students is Complicated; (2) The Power of Affirming and Empowering Environments; (3) The Impact of Marginalization and Exclusion and (4) Leveraging Campus Resources for Student Empowerment. The findings suggest that a significant gap between the university’s diversity claims and the reality for Black male students, who reported feeling alienated, tokenized, and invisible in both classrooms and the broader campus community. These experiences of marginalization consistently undermined the sense of belonging and psychological safety of Black male undergraduate students. Consequently, Black male students demonstrated remarkable resilience by actively seeking out and establishing their own vital support systems and counter-spaces through cultural centers and identity-based, student-led organizations. Ultimately, the study interprets the necessity for Black male students to self-cultivate a sense of belonging as a direct criticism of the failure of the institution to create an unconditionally welcoming and equitable environment. This research contributes to DI administrators and stakeholders by providing opportunities for dialogue and self-reflection to understand how unspoken biases and microaggressions by the university community can lead to negative experiences for Black male undergraduate students, impacting persistence, retention, and success rates. Additionally, this research can lead to identifying areas of practice to improve the experiences of Black male undergraduate students through the creation of programs and professional development opportunities for staff, faculty, and administrators. It is important for administrators and stakeholders to acknowledge that although minority students can find success at a DI, making assumptions that all minority and marginalized students feel seen, heard and are successful at a diverse institution is not the majority, especially during a time where there is a direct attack on diversity, equity and inclusion practices.