¡Si se pudo! Exploring Mexican American college student persistence stories during COVID-19

The primary purpose of this dissertation is to explore how Mexican American students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) persisted in Higher Education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive qualitative study collected oral history interviews to serve as primary resources for the Student Life and Culture Archives at Illinois preserving what it was like to complete high school and succeed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the pandemic. Particular attention is spent on the sources of persistence, the protective factors, that ultimately allowed these specific students to persist despite a large-scale emergency. The findings demonstrate that these students persisted by tapping into their existing cultural wealth assets, using individual agency, and connecting to specific Illinois resources, such as need based financial aid and identity specific spaces, groups, or resources, to mitigate the negative impacts of their experience. These stories may also be critical in understanding Mexican American student retention during not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but other personal or large-scale crisis or emergencies that may acutely impact this population due to existing social inequities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Holterman, Arianna Agramonte

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hood, Denice W
• Delaney, Jennifer
• Baber, Lorenzo D
• Lee, Sharon
• Moton, Theopolies

• Higher Education
• Mexican American
• COVID-19 pandemic
• persistence
• assets
• agency
• financial aid
• identity-specific support

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Arianna Agramonte Holterman

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129270

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129270