"I Am Not Latino Enough": Latinx Ethnic Identity and Participation at La Casa

Abstract

Abstract: While more Latinx students are enrolling in higher education, underrepresentation in four-year degree attainment persists. Connecting Latinx students with culture centers on college campuses has been a promising intervention. Such centers have been shown to play a critical role in student integration, learning, and, thus, retention of Students of Color. However, we know little about how ethnic identity impacts participation at culture centers and why racially/ethnically minoritized students do not access these resources. Using a LatCrit theoretical framework, this mixed method study explored the role that Latinx ethnic identity played in participation at a Latinx cultural center and identified the reasons for participation (or lack thereof). Results showed that for many Latinx students, the culture center on campus was a place that felt "like home," as other research corroborates. For others, such as multiracial Latinx students, it was a place where ethnic identities were questioned because they failed to fit essentialist notions of Latinx identity. Recommendations point to the increased need for campus programming that disrupts monolithic conceptualizations of Latinx ethnic identity and fills the needs of an increasingly diverse Latinx student population on college and university campuses.