Running Head: Multicultural Environments

Multicultural Environments: Student Affairs and best Practices

Jacinta Luster
Georgia Southern University
COUN 7132
Dr. Fayth Parks

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Students who seek higher education are not only looking for academics, theyre looking for a fit.
Todays student is not your typical Caucasian male seeking Ivy League status, majority of
students will identify themselves as first generation, adult learner, minority or other. Students
graduating from high school and seeking education beyond K-12 are drawn to diversity and a
place they will fill comfortable; an institution they can call home without feeling as an outsider.
These feeling can stem from spending years in high school as an outcast or even for students that
grew in a small town and it time to breakout of their normal routine of everyone they know. No
matter what they are truly seeking, higher education administrators, specifically student affairs
administrators must identity or predict what the needs are for this unique and diverse student
body attending their institutions in this generation.
Multicultural Education can be defined as any form of education or
teaching that incorporates the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and
perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Multicultural education evolved out of the Civil Rights Movement
in the United States. Although it began with the African-American
community, the movement soon expanded to include other cultural
groups

who

were

subject

to

discrimination

(education

reform,2014)
With this working definition in mind we will evaluate how institutions in the U.S. focus on
making sure Multicultural education works at their institution and how student affairs supports
these student and make them feel included.
The University of Tennessee is a land grant institution located in Knoxville Tennessee
and is home to over 27,000 students. They have campuses in Chattanooga, Martin and Memphis

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housing the Medical School. University of Tennessee is the Flagship and largest entity of the UT
system. Founded as Blount College in 1794 and going through many changes and challenges of
closing three time, it reopened their doors in 1899 as University of Tennessee (UT,2015). This
Flagship school has given students many opportunities to discover their unmet or hidden
potential with 11 colleges and 300 degree programs but outside of academics they want to help
students transition. One area that is important to student affairs is an office that is dedicated to
Diversity and Inclusion.
UT promotes diversity amongst their students and the one area is LGBT and Ally
resource center. Students have access Monday through Friday, and the office offers students a
safe and welcoming environment for the LGBT community. For all students, whether
heterosexual or gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, the developmental process of becoming
comfortable with ones sexuality can be an exhausting and overwhelming experience (Kadison&
Digronimo,2005). What has UT done to make student feel included on campus?
The LGBT and Ally Resource Center works to provide a safe and
welcoming environment for UTs diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual communities.
As a physical symbol of UTs commitment to diversity, OUTreach
provides support, resources, and a community space for UTs
LGBTQQIA and ally students, faculty, and staff, as well as anyone
who seeks to learn about sexual orientation or gender identity.
OUTreach achieves this by sponsoring programs and events that
raise awareness, that increase visibility, and that engage in
advocacy regarding LGBTQQIA issues(UT,2015).

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Also during the year, UT host annual event from Open House during the Welcome
Week of Fall, discussion groups, dinner dialogues and a special graduation
ceremonies for students in this community.

Institution should create a culture that is empathetic to the LGBT community. To create a sense
of inclusion, institutions can begin this process during the admission stage; an institution in
Chicago, IL gave students the opportunity to self-identify themselves as Gay or Lesbian. When
institutions are open to students needs it helps the school to identify issues or prejudices and
make necessary changes to their communication and departments to be inclusive. DAugelli
believes that there should be the development of a lesbian-gay-bisexual social Identity; you can
do this by creating a network of support for this group of students.
How can we foster a climate inclusion on campus for the LGBT community? Here are a few
suggestions from UNC-Chapel Hill (2015), to make sure campus climate works. Students are
feeling more comfortable expressing their sexual preferences, but student affairs still may not
know how to respond or accommodate them. For faculty and Staff on your campus that are a part
of the LGBT community, make sure you give full benefits for their partners. Also, support
faculty and staff by valuing their perspective and opinions. The value of their opinions can be
helpful in cultivating curriculums, organizations and more on campus to be a welcoming
institution. A big part of a students experience is living on campus, residence halls should
accommodate by offer the option of mixed-gender rooms and gender neutral bathrooms (Tingley,
2012). New students orientation programs should address LGBT issues and make students
understand that LGBT are a welcomed part of the campus life.
First Generation students can come from families with low income or from middle-orhigher income families without College-going tradition (Collegeboard,2015).With more open
access opportunities for high school students after graduation more students are venturing toward

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higher education and pursing their dreams. Due to the growing cost of higher education, first
generation students want to know how I will pay for my education. First-generation students are
unique because large majority students are a part of the lower income families. Students that are
first generation may feel overwhelmed and not know how to reach out to the different
departments on campus about their college career. Parents may have a small idea of how the
college process works but may be unaware of the right questions, opportunities that are available
to them and their students; its up to the administrators to make the transition easy.
The College Access and Persistence Services (CAPS) Outreach Center at the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville, provides outreach services designed to support, increase, and strengthen
college-bound low-income and first-generation individuals. Within this population, CAPS places
special emphasis on underrepresented minorities who symbolize the least advantaged segments
of the population (UT, 2015). They offer pre-college programs for upward bound and preveterinary College. The Upward bound programs helps with test preparatory courses, the
opportunities to start college level courses before obtaining access to college level courses before
they have graduated high school.
What can student affairs offices do to accommodate first generation student before and after they
get to campuses? Financial Aid nights are essential, during these nights you will want to speak
on how to fill out the FAFSA, scholarship opportunities on and off campus, and what deadline
are approaching. The earlier the admission and financial office offer these sessions the better;
this gives parents time to plan accordingly. Also, offer test prep help and partner with local
schools or communities around the area to have SAT or ACT preparatory classes. A large
majority of graduating seniors student struggle to enter a four year institution because of low test
scores.

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According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, first-generation students average
score on the college entrance examination was 858 points, compared with 899 points for students
with parents who had some college and 1011 points for students whose parents had completed
college. Mentorship programs are great first start one students are on campus. Staff and faculty
can tell student what they should expect and feel as a first generation student on campus, but
very few of these members have experience being a first generation student and have gone
through these feelings. Offering a mentorship program where upper classmen can be a guide to
these students can help with adjusting to a new way of life.
Students entering and progressing through college will transition through many emotional
trails and crisis. Administrators hopes are they provide the best academic program, financial aid
and organizations as possible to get students to the other side of graduation. Institutions are not
only dealing with academic issues but also mental health issues. It is important to make sure
employees are well-trained and equipped to handle these situations on their campus effectively
and efficiently.

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References
Collegeboard. (2015). First Generation College Students. Retrieved from
http://professionals.collegeboar.com/guidance/prepare/first-generation
Kadison,Richard &Digronimo, Theresa F.(2005). College of the Overwhelmed; The Campus Mental
Health Crisis and What To Do About It. San Francisco,CA:Josseybass
Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved
from http://edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum
U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.(2001). Bridging the Gap:
Academic Preparation and Postsecondary Success of First-Generation Students. Washington, DC
Tingley,Jon. (2012).Methods for improving campus climate for LGBT students. Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu/5652591/Methods_for_Improving_Campus_Climate_for_LGBT_Students
University of Tennessee.(2015). The University of Tennessee Knoxville. Retrieved from http://utk.edu