Making Room for Fat Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School March 2021 Making Room for Fat Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education Wesley Heath Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Heath, Wesley, "Making Room for Fat Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education" (2021). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 5478. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/5478 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. MAKING ROOM FOR FAT STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS IN HIGHER EDUCATION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The College of Human Sciences and Education by Wesley Heath B.A. Manchester University, 2014 M.A. Ball State University, 2016 March 2021 I dedicate my dissertation to my grandmother, Charlene “Susie” Holsinger (June 18, 1941–July 15, 2020). Grandma Sue spent much of her life in education; she worked for decades as a custodian at Anderson Community Schools, and after she retired, she began working as a teacher’s aide for special needs students at East Side Middle School. Grandma Sue loved helping others, and she understood that education requires a lot of helping hands; from teachers and administrators to custodians, every job matters. She supported me as a first-generation college student, and she made it a point to tell me every time we spoke how proud she was of me, my work, and my education. She passed away two weeks before my proposal defense at the age of 79, and I think about her every day. I love you Grandma Sue, and this dissertation is dedicated to you. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are so many people that were a part of my doctoral journey. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped me earn this Ph.D. I would like to thank my amazing committee members for their time and dedication to helping me through this process: Drs. Ashley Clayton, Joy Blanchard, Laura Choate, and Emily Elliot. Dr. Blanchard’s Contemporary Issues in Higher Education course served as the catalyst for my dissertation topic, and her thoughtful and detailed reflections during that course gave me confidence in my ability to pursue fat studies scholarship, and I am grateful for her leadership. I want to thank Dr. Choate for adding her expertise in counseling, as well as her genuine interest in sizeism research, to this committee. Dr. Choate’s guidance has been extremely helpful. Finally, I want to thank Dr. Elliot for joining this committee as my Dean’s Representative. I appreciate her time, feedback, and knowledge. I am grateful to have had such a dedicated team of scholars helping me through this journey. I would like to offer a special thanks to Dr. Clayton for serving as my advisor and dissertation chair. Dr. Clayton has been a friend, confidant, advisor, and mentor throughout this strenuous process. Her dedication guided me through my comprehensive exam, proposal, and now, my dissertation. She saw something special in me early on, and even invited me to be an instructional assistant for her Finance in Higher Education course. Dr. Clayton agreed to serve as my advisor despite limited knowledge of critical weight scholarship and has learned about the field alongside me in order to better support me and my ambitious doctoral timeline. Dr. Clayton’s advisership truly inspires me; she has supported me in ways that go above and beyond the role of dissertation chair. It is evident that Dr. Clayton values her advisees’ lives and careers, iii and I am honored and privileged to continue working with her. I can honestly say I would not be where I am without her. I would like to thank my LSU team. Future Dr. Evante Topp, my colleague and friend, joined the Higher Education Administration program at the same time as me, and we have often relied on each other for motivation. Doctoral work is not easy, but having a trusted friend going through the process with you makes it manageable. And I want to thank my current supervisor and friend, Michelle Carter, for giving me support and motivation as I cross the finish line. You have believed in me from the moment you stepped into this role, and I greatly appreciate you. I am lucky to have such a supportive team to help me through; thank you to my LSU teammates, past and present: Dr. Dereck Rovaris, Summer Steib, Emmy Hicks, Dr. Micah Glenn, Andrea Quezada, and future Dr. Franklin Soares. I want to acknowledge the many, many hours I have spent writing, all of which were made easier with my dedicated writing partners, future Drs. Delia Madrid-Nothdurft and Bill Mattera. Delia, thank you for helping me through the difficult times and for helping me celebrate the accomplishments. You have been a phenomenal confidant in work, life, and academia. You taught me how to advocate for myself and that my comfort matters. You are a true inspiration. Bill, thank you for helping me in the final few months when writing seemed to be most challenging. Your eagerness to write with me truly helped me be more productive and to meet my ambitious deadlines. Thank you both! You got next. I want to send a very special thank you to Dr. Amanda Martin and Taylor Armer, who supported me throughout the dissertation process. Dr. Martin was a phenomenal mentor, always eager to hear my updates, offer insights to my writing, and talk me through their experiences iv with the dissertation process. And as far as editors go, you cannot do better than Taylor. I owe you both; thank you for your unwavering support. I hope to pay it forward someday. I want to thank the personal cheerleaders in my life. To my partner, Donnie Ray Watkins, Jr, thank you for sticking with me through everything (especially the tough days). I cannot wait to experience life with you post-graduation. I am so grateful for you. To my mom, Teresa Heath, thank you for all of the life lessons. Thank you for dedicating your life to make your children’s lives easier. Whether it was a middle-school field trip or a Ph.D. application, you never underestimated the value of education, and you never underestimated me. To my life-long friend, Sarah Coppock, thank you for always being there, and for always checking-in on me and making sure that I was taking care of myself. I also want to thank the amazing educators in my life who paved the way to get me here: Karen DeLaVergne (1951—2018), my high school French teacher, friend, and fellow world-traveler; and Dr. Robert Pettit, my undergraduate advisor, sociology professor, and mentor. Your words of encouragement always meant the world to me. And finally, I want to thank my friends and family who helped me celebrate all of the milestones (in alphabetical order): Alicia Murphy, Anna Guerra, Brandon Heath, Heather Berrios, Jeff Colvin, Joni Broughton, Jordyn Warren, Mackenzie Gammans, Stephanie James, Summer Steib, and Taylor Armer. I also have sincere gratitude for my cohort and peers who helped encourage me along the way; thank you! I want to give a special shout-out to Dr. Roland Mitchell for encouraging me to apply to the Higher Education Administration Program. Thank you for seeing my potential. You all inspire me. Thank you! v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Keywords and Definitions ...................................................................................................6 Introduction to Conceptual Framework ...............................................................................9 Major Issues .......................................................................................................................11 Statement of Research Problem .........................................................................................16 Purpose of Study ................................................................................................................17 Research Questions ............................................................................................................17 Significance of Study .........................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................................20 Introduction ........................................................................................................................20 Defining Fatness ................................................................................................................20 Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................28 Stereotypes