Talking Stick - January/February 2019 - 36

hat does it
mean to be a
campus housing
professional? On
its surface, this
sounds like a basic
question answered many times over
through educational coursework or
on-the-job experiences. This single
story of professionalism, however, is
not as universal as it seems, and the
influence of its definition, as many
examples show, disproportionately
affects campus housing professionals
of color. A growing body of research,
data, conference presentations, and
discussion addresses the work of
professionals of color and their efforts
to educate students on how identity
affects daily interactions with others
outside and inside the classroom.
The result generates even more
challenging questions to consider:
What role do housing professionals
have in recognizing how they show up
with each other when they knowingly
or unknowingly collude with a
system that centers its definition of
professionalism on white cis-males?
What is the effect of these definitions
on the experiences of people of color
in housing? Is it possible to lean into
empowering, educating, and role
modeling for students if professionals
are not doing the work themselves?
The concept of a single story of
professionalism may not always be
readily apparent, but it is pervasive
for professionals of color in housing
at all levels of their career, entry
through senior level, at the peer
and hierarchy levels. It is reinforced
through a number of factors such
as microaggressions, relationship
expectations, and tokenization that
must be addressed by improved
practices as well as the proactive steps
of white colleagues and allies, educated
supervisors, and professionals of
color. Professional competencies and
association commitments support
the need to address issues of equity,

36

TALKING STICK

diversity, inclusion, and social justice.
Many campus housing departments
support these ideas in their missions,
visions, and values as they work to
create spaces conducive for students
to expand their worldviews outside
of the classroom and continue to
explore the role of identity in their
daily interactions. As professionals
encourage students to examine their
role in interacting across difference,
however, how many of them make a
conscious effort to do the same on a
consistent basis?
A professional of color who works
at a predominately white institution
questioned the cultural competence
of colleagues. "Sometimes it seems
people think I don't belong there,
and it's clear that my colleagues are
not culturally competent. The larger
issue for me is that they don't have
to be competent from the institution
perspective. These people continue
to get promotions and are regarded
as leaders but have no idea how to
function in this environment." Such
observations emphasize how white
housing professionals must take
a critical approach to recognizing,
understanding, and addressing their
role in reinforcing and reinventing
systems of oppression. As George
Lipsitz wrote in a 1995 article, "those
of us who are 'white' can only become
part of the solution if we recognize the

degree to which we are already part
of the problem, not because of our
race, but because of our possessive
investment in it."

MICROAGGRESSIONS
Microaggressions are the "everyday
verbal, nonverbal, and environmental
slights, snubs, or insults, whether
intentional or unintentional, which
communicate hostile, derogatory,
or negative messages to target
persons based solely upon their
marginalized group membership,"
according to psychology professor
and author Derald Wing Sue in a
2010 article. In an earlier article, he
classified them in three categories:
microinsults (often unconscious,
insensitive remarks which "demean a
person's racial heritage or identity"),
microinvalidations (often unconscious
actions that exclude or negate the
lived experience and reality of another
person), and microassaults (often
conscious, purposeful discriminatory
acts). Although microassaults may be
rare in campus housing, which values
diversity, equity and inclusion, this
does not take away from their negative
impact. As one professional shared, "I
feel like this [microagresssions] is an
everyday occurrence I have to deal with
that I just view it as second nature. It
is something expected and anticipated.

STAFF OF COLOR EXPERIENCE
MICROINVALIDATIONS BY BEING MISTAKEN
FOR COLLEAGUES WHO SHARE THE SAME
RACE AND GENDER AND BY
BEING POSITIONED AS A
"THREATENING PERSON" WHEN
PROVIDING "DIRECT FEEDBACK."
Talking Stick - January/February 2019

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