Exploring the Experiences of Queer Women of Color in Culturally Based Sororities

Exploring the Experiences of Queer Women of Color in Culturally Based Sororities

Dr. Crystal Garcia and Antonio Duran

ACPA’s Commission for Student Involvement is excited to preview one of our 2018 research grant winners’ project: Dr. Crystal Garcia and Antonio Duran’s project entitled Exploring the Experiences of Queer Women of Color in Culturally Based Sororities. You can look forward to seeing the results of this research in a future ACPA presentation and through other outlets but, in the meantime, we encourage you to read a summary of the project below.  Dr. Crystal Garcia can be reached at [email protected] and Antonio Duran can be reached at [email protected].     

Despite the proliferation of studies on queer students in higher education, a dearth of research exists that focuses on the experiences of collegians who identify both as queer and People of Color (Duran, 2018; Renn, 2010). For this reason, research is needed to understand the ways that queer Students of Color engage in spaces on college campuses that only center one part of their identity. As one example of such a community, culturally based fraternities and sororities have been shown to play a positive role in the experiences of Students of Color, particularly by affirming their racial/ethnic identity and providing a space to belong (e.g., Garcia, 2017; Guardia & Evans, 2008; Harper, 2007; McCoy, 2011; Orta, Murguia, & Cruz, 2019).

Culturally based fraternities and sororities emerged in response to discriminatory practices within fraternal organizations during the early 1900s (Torbenson, 2012). These organizations include fraternities and sororities within the National APIDA Panhellenic Association (NAPA), National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, Inc. (NALFO), National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC) fraternities and sororities, and the National Pan- Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) in addition to others that are not part of national umbrella organizations.

Although culturally based fraternities and sororities serve students in meaningful ways, it is also important to consider how these siloed identity spaces may confirm racial/ethnic aspects of students’ identities while neglecting others such as sexual identity and gender performance (Duran, 2017; Kumashiro, 2001; Misawa, 2010). For instance, findings from studies focused on fraternity men have pointed to ways culturally based fraternities cultivate and enact healthy constructions of masculinity and gender performance and toxic forms (DeSantis & Coleman, 2008; Jenkins, 2012; McClure, 2006). However, research centering perspectives from queer Women of Color within these spaces (and in the scholarship on queer Students of Color; see Duran, 2018) is limited. This study fills this gap by exploring the experiences of queer Women of Color in culturally based sororities, paying particular attention to ways these spaces affect students’ conceptualizations of their gender, sexuality, and race. The guiding research question for the study is: In what ways does membership in culturally based sororities affect how queer Women of Color construct ideas and behaviors in relation to their gender, sexual, and racial identities?

To understand how queer Women of Color construct their perspectives and behaviors in these spaces, we will adopt a qualitative approach guided by constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014). Aligning with grounded theory recommendations (see Creswell & Poth, 2017), we will seek up to 25 participants who self-identify as a Woman of Color, as under the queer umbrella, and as a member of a culturally based sorority to engage in this research study.

References

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

DeSantis, A., & Coleman, M. (2008). Not on my line: Homosexuality in black fraternities. In G. S. Parks (Ed.), Black Greek-letter organizations in the 21st century: Our fight has just begun (pp. 291-312). Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press.

Duran, A. (2018). Queer and of color: A systematic literature review on queer students of color in higher education scholarship. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/dhe0000084

Duran, A. (2017). “Outsiders in a niche group”: Using intersectionality to examine resiliency and siloed identity groups for queer Students of Color. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX.

Garcia, C. E. (2017). Latinx college student sense of belonging: The role of campus subcultures (Dissertation). University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Guardia, J. R., & Evans, N. J. (2008). Factors influencing the ethnic identity development of Latino fraternity members at a Hispanic serving institutions. Journal of College Student Development, 49(3), 163-181.

Harper, S. R. (2007). The effects of sorority and fraternity membership on class participation and     African American student engagement in predominantly White classroom environments. The College Student Affairs Journal, 27(1), 94-115.

Jenkins, R. D. (2012). Black fraternal organizations: Understanding the development of hegemonic masculinity and sexuality. Journal of African American Studies, 16(2), 226- 235.

Kumashiro, K. (Ed.). (2001). Troubling intersections of race and sexuality: Queer students of color and anti-oppressive education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

McClure, S. M. (2006). Improvising masculinity: African American fraternity membership in the construction of a Black masculinity. Journal of African American Studies, 10(1), 57-73.

McCoy, D. L. (2011). Black men, fraternities, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In R. T. Palmer & J. L. Wood (Eds.), Black men in college (pp. 138-147). New York, NY: Routledge.

Misawa, M. (2010). Queer pedagogy for educators in higher education: Dealing with power dynamics and positionality of LGBTQ students of color. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(1), 26-35.

Orta, D., Murguia, E., & Cruz, C. (2019). From struggle to success via Latina sororities: Culture     shock, marginalization, embracing ethnicity, and educational persistence through academic capital. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 18(1), 41-48.

Renn, K. A. (2010). LGBT and queer research in higher education: The state and status of the field. Educational Researcher, 39(2), 132-141.

Torbenson, C. L. (2012). The origin and evolution of college fraternities and sororities. In T. L. Brown, G. S. Parks, & C. M. Phillips (Eds.), African American fraternities and sororities: The legacy and the vision (2nd ed., pp. 33–61). Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky.