People, Place, and Connections: Black Cultural Center Staff as Facilitators of Social Capital

Black cultural centers (BCCs) have served students on college campuses across the country for over 50 years, but empirical research about the benefits they offer Black students, beyond examples referenced in the conceptual and historical literature, remains limited. As the relevance of BCCs has come...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of black studies 2020-01, Vol.51 (1), p.37-59
Main Author: Hypolite, Liane I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Black people
College students
Cultural capital
Cultural centers
Cultural identity
Ethnography
Higher education
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Race
Social capital
Social development
Student Diversity
Undergraduate students
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Summary:Black cultural centers (BCCs) have served students on college campuses across the country for over 50 years, but empirical research about the benefits they offer Black students, beyond examples referenced in the conceptual and historical literature, remains limited. As the relevance of BCCs has come into question given financial constraints, more diverse student bodies, and a shift to discontinuing race-specific cultural centers in favor of multicultural centers, rigorous studies about their contributions are needed. Through an ethnographic approach, this investigation explores how a BCC site and its staff act as institutional, cultural, and entrepreneurial agents by facilitating the development of social capital among Black undergraduate students. They do this by (a) serving as conduits for campus services that struggle to reach Black undergraduate students, (b) strategically coordinating resources and relationships among Black organizations to meet the needs of the Black community, and (c) collaborating with peer cultural/identity centers to streamline efforts.
ISSN:0021-9347
1552-4566
DOI:10.1177/0021934719892238