View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarWorks @ UVM University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2013 Campus Climate Perceptions of Queer College Students of Color: Disidentifying the Rainbow Khristian Kemp-DeLisser La'Mount Kemp-DeLisser University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Recommended Citation Kemp-DeLisser, Khristian Kemp-DeLisser La'Mount, "Campus Climate Perceptions of Queer College Students of Color: Disidentifying the Rainbow" (2013). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1134. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1134 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CAMPUS CLIMATE PERCEPTIONS OF QUEER COLLEGE STUDENTS OF COLOR: DISIDENTIFYING THE RAINBOW A Dissertation Presented by Khristian Kemp-DeLisser to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Specializing in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies May 2013 Accepted by the Faculty of the Graduate College, the University of Vermont, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education, specializing in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertation Examination Committee: ________________________________________________ Advisor Jill Tarule, Ed.D. ________________________________________________ Robert J. Nash, Ed.D. ________________________________________________ Sherwood Smith, Ed.D. ________________________________________________ Chairperson Wanda Heading-Grant, Ed.D. ________________________________________________ Dean, Graduate College Domenico Grasso, Ph.D. March 25, 2013 ABSTRACT This dissertation explored the experience lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer students of color. Influenced by the Queer of Color theoretical framework, this dissertation employed multiple methodological traditions (namely qualitative and Scholarly Personal Narrative), to deepen the exploration and unlock multiple dimensions of experience of queer college stu- dents of color. Analysis of the student interviews produced 29 themes. The results are, framed by four categories of campus climate (behavioral, socio-historical, psychological, and structural or compositional (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1998).), and offer a glimpse into the interlocking dynamics of racism and homophobia that the queer students of color navigate in their efforts to make meaning of their identities as queer people of color. Reviewing the results of this study college faculty, staff, and administrators can begin to understand the unique experiences of queer college students of color. This dissertation also may contribute to theory and practice around appropriate and accurate ways to deal with complexity when measuring the campus climate for diversity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to first acknowledge my students; all of them from University of Vermont to the ones I worked with at the University of Illinois, where I first began my doctoral journey. To the ones who graciously gave the time to participate in my study, I am sorry that you can not all receive doctorates with me. To all of the students I have worked with in my career, I am ashamed that my words are inadequate to capture how much you educate and impress and inspire me. You literally expand my own ability to comprehend the world. I am a better man because of the students have served. My dissertation committee is amazing. I loved Dr. Jill Tarule before I even met her when she first planted the idea in my mind that there can actually be multiple ways of know- ing the world. They are no less valid even if the apparent rest of the world misunderstands or underestimates them. She will always be the intellectual and academic guide I follow as a sailor lost at sea relies on the north star to help him find his way. Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant is the very model of the professional I want to be. She is a beacon of our campus community and the off-campus community as well. And to her family, I am sure she is so much, so much more. Would that one day I am able to balance all that I love and believe in as adeptly as she. She reminded me in words and by her example to find the path I want to follow and stick with it, no matter how powerful the temptation to veer. Long ago, Dr. Sherwood Smith pulled me aside and offered gentle encouragement and it was literally years before I fully comprehended the wisdom of his words. I am sure years from now my mental capacities will catch up with his brilliance. I will forever be grate- ful for his kind patience and mentorship. i Dr. Robert Nash is a gentle fire master. I have seen many individuals that hold mar- ginalized identities, dim and nearly extinguished by uncaring and vicious oppression. I have seen him gather up their tender branches and patiently blow air onto dying embers to reignite the flames. Those flames burn on without him but I can not begin to imagine how much light and warmth is in the world due in part to his careful tutelage. I want to thank my supervisor who allowed me to complete this degree while holding a full time job. To my supervisor and friend, Bev Colston: A great writer once said: “kill your darlings.” In the context of writing, I interpret the advice to mean an author can’t be so in love with just one part of their writing. If there’s just one powerful turn of phrase or sen- tence on which the entire text hangs, then it’s a sign your writing is not as strong as it could be overall. So either delete that darling sentence in which you have invested all your affec- tion or work to tighten up the language around it until every word measures up. Bev, you are that glorious sentence that shows by example what every other sentence around her can be. If the great writer in the sky hasn’t erased you yet, there’s still hope for us all. I believe one can be judged by the company he keeps. I deliberately keep people in my life who feed my spirit. I want to acknowledge and name some of those queer people of color who at various times have allowed me to be myself and find the kind of acceptance I wish every person finds if just temporarily. The space I have here is limited but know that even if only your name is here it is because you made all other words on these pages possi- ble. Thank you Shanda Lazare, John Mejia, Breonna Young, Danielle Aguilar, Salomón Rodezno, Domonic Rollins, and TJ Jourian for offering invaluable support and advisement during my research. ii Finally, I am grateful for the doctoral cohort of 2009. I owe a particularly great deal to Jeff Bukowski, Adrienne Capone, Talia Glesner, Colby Kervick and Kimberlee Monteaux. iii DEDICATION I am because we are; my accomplishments are the product of a collective effort. I do not know how long it will take me to feel as though I have earned the honorific “Doctor” but I suspect it will not be soon. At what point does a man become a doctor? It doesn’t just hap- pen overnight, but can one locate that first moment when his fate is locked into place? Did it begin the moment a chubby Boy Scout sat down in the middle woods and opened a book when he was supposed to be collecting firewood? Did it begin when a single Black mother from an inner city housing project called Charter Oak handed over the first and last month payment on a two-bedroom apartment in the suburbs? When a worker from a bottling factory in Hartford, Connecticut named Esther held hands with a fetching soldier named Charlie, could they see the trajectory of their family’s lives that would lead to this esteemed place? I am not the doctor; I am the ultimate fruition of generations of endurance, resilience and hard work. I am the culmination of an evolution of family, acceptance, pride and love that cascades down through my lineage and permeates any community I enter. If there is any new respect or esteem, any credibility or honor that accompanies this degree, let it go to Car- ol and Esther and Charlie and the Harrisons and the Kemps and countless of others whose names and histories have gone unspoken and acknowledged in this journey that has brought me here. Today we are all doctors. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................... iv SPN: Chalk Centers, Shadowy Margins ............................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8 Research Statement .................................................................................................................................. 9 Kind of study ...........................................................................................................................................