Finding an African sense of self, culture and community on a predominantly white campus: a case study of student experiences through Purdue University's Black Cultural Center

Abstract

This study focused on how Purdue University’s Black Cultural Center (BCC) provides programming to build a sense of belonging and social and cultural cohesion to participating students. Qualitative interviews commenced to obtain, interpret, and compare the participants’ experiences to the historical rationale, intent, and purpose of BCCs in higher education. Similarly, a content analysis commenced of the BCC’s April newsletters from 2015 through 2020, as the April newsletters include quotes from graduating seniors about their experiences at the BCC while enrolled at Purdue University. Finally, local newspaper coverage of the BCC in the Lafayette Journal & Courier from 1968 to 2020 underwent review for BCC history, student experiences, and campus culture to develop a historical timeline. The performance ensembles at the BCC are products of the Black Arts Movement (BAM) of the late 1960s, which was the cultural arm of the Black Power Movement (1960-70s). BCCs at predominantly white institutions (PWI), are a product of the Black Student Movement. This study sought to understand how the BCC created a sense of belonging in Black students at Purdue University. It examined how students who participated in the BCC’s performing arts ensembles experienced cultural validation and intellectual affirmation as students; how the BCC produced social cohesion among students, and how did the BCC produce cultural support among students. Eight themes emerged and provided a glimpse into the factors and lived experiences of how Black students found an African sense of self, culture, and community at the PWI of Purdue University through the BCC. The participants provided rich and valuable phenomenological data about their lived experiences during their time on Purdue University’s campus. The study showed that current students, alumni, and staff members perceived and experienced Purdue University as a PWI. However, they overcame, excelled, and succeeded via the BCC and its programming despite the dominant culture at the university. The BCC programming was contextualized in this study as a community of practice and filled a personal and cultural void for the members of a student population who identified on the spectrum Blackness. Programming consisted of cocurricular scholarly activities complementary to students’ programs of study. This study sought to address the current gap in scholarship that does not presently contextualize BCCs as a type of learning community, which achieves many of the student success and student retention outcomes often researched and discussed in student affairs literature.