Talking Stick - March/April 2019 - 52

ONLYNESS: Leadership in the Context

I

n a 2011 manuscript in the Journal of College Student Development, a team of authors led by Shaun
Harper examined the experiences of black male RAs at predominantly white universities. Harper, then
a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania and now at the University of Southern California,
explained how "recent research has shown a nexus between active out-of-class engagement and the
accrual of unique race/gender-specific educational outcomes among Black male undergraduates. Yet,
rarely explored are the racialized experiences of those who become actively engaged and assume leadership positions
on campuses where racial diversity is low . . ."
	 He and his team conducted focus group interviews with 52 black male RAs and heard their reports of the challenges
they faced, which were often connected to their "onlyness" within the RA ranks. They also identified the importance of
this subject. "The expenditure of institutional energies on recruiting Black men for RA positions and other leadership
roles is unlikely to yield a robust set of educational outcomes if the environment in which these students do their work is
replete with racist stereotypes and unjustified perceptions of incompetence, excessive expectations for racial representation, and the racially inconsistent enforcement of standards and consequences. Because of its complexity, the RA position
could be one of the most valuable campus leadership experiences to equip students with competencies that are useful
in other settings beyond college. And, if experienced positively, the position might also compel these student leaders to
consider careers in higher education and student affairs, specifically residence life. Conversely, if experienced negatively,
many will not be retained in their positions and even fewer will convey to their Black male peers the beneficial outcomes
associated with serving as an RA." The following is an excerpt of that article, reprinted with permission.

"If I need confidential assistance from a staff member,
I have to go to someone of a different ethnicity; we don't
have anything in common and I don't know if this person
has my best interest at heart, but what choice do I have?"
Across all the focus groups, Black male RAs described
challenges associated with being one of few student
leaders of color in the position and not having enough
racial/ethnic minority staff supporters in residence life
departments on their campuses. Feelings the participants
disclosed might be best characterized as "onlyness"-
the psychoemotional burden of having to strategically
navigate a racially politicized space occupied by few
peers, role models, and guardians from one's same racial
or ethnic group. "I get tired of being the only [Black male,
Black person, and/or person of color] on my staff," was
expressed numerous times by participants across the focus groups. It was not uncommon for one to be the only
Black RA on his floor or in his entire building.
	 The most frequently cited explanatory factor for the
underrepresentation and attrition of Black males in the
RA position was the insufficient number of staff members of color serving in full-time roles (hall directors,

52

TALKING STICK

area coordinators, central office administrators, etc.) in
residence life departments. "The problem is that res life
says it wants more minorities, but it has no minorities
higher up. So how can they expect to attract more of us
and make us feel like we belong?" A related reflection
was offered in another interview: "I don't see anybody
like me in these upper-level positions. So that kind of
makes me feel like I don't fit in here." Other participants
also believed the shortage of same-race role models
accounted for much of the turnover among Black men
in the position. On one campus, the RAs we interviewed
talked about three full-time staff persons of color (all
area coordinators) who left the university at the end of
the previous school term -"this next year, there was
not only a drop in the number of Black RAs, but a lot of
returners quit because we didn't have that mentorship
and advocacy. I almost quit too." Another confessed that
he too contemplated quitting mid-year and would have
done so were it not for the encouragement received from
his graduate student supervisor, who was also Black.
	 Those who had staff supervisors of color highlighted
several corresponding benefits. Chief among them was
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