Reminisce, reconcile, & reclaim: A qualitative study centering Black alumni and their engagement with their undergraduate predominantly White institutions

As colleges and universities influence perspectives, affiliations, and status, the responsibility and accountability required to equip constituents to work within a global society are essential in shaping alumni's experience for engagement. This descriptive qualitative study utilizes Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1974; Turner & Oakes, 1986) and Self-Categorization Theory (Hogg & Terry, 2000; Tajfel, 1974) frameworks, in addition to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Alumni Engagement Task Force Metrics, volunteer, experiential, philanthropic, communication (2018), and “the rule of the 5T’s, a definition of women’s philanthropy”, time, talent, treasure, ties, and testimony (Loehr, 2025) conceptual frameworks to analyze data through interviews. Realizing how predominantly White institutions’ culture and priorities situate themselves to engage Black/African American alumni provides an opportunity to explore how experiences with faculty, staff, administrators, community members, and their peers affect their level of engagement. Through thoughtful inquiry into the history of philanthropy’s effect on higher education and illustrations of how Black/African American community members engage, centering their narratives is crucial to illuminating the themes revealed in the study: connection, corrective action, education, engagement, generosity, and restructuring systems. Additionally, the categories participants cited reflect their racial identity connections, involvement with students, faculty, staff, and administrators, and their overall experiences as undergraduate students and alumni. Furthermore, it is important to recognize how the sub-themes are influenced by the impact of positive and negative experiences around institutional classroom and campus experiences, practices, and the values and commitment participants uphold for the Black/African American community. Conclusively, it is essential that institutions intentionally define an ethos that affirms and moves to embed practices for culturally responsive engagement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.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

• Brewster, Courtney E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lee, Sharon S
• Pak, Yoon
• Commodore, Felecia
• Justice, Patricia

• Administrators
• African American
• Alumni
• Black
• Colleges
• Diversity
• Engagement
• Equity
• Faculty
• Generosity
• Higher Education
• Identity
• Inclusion
• Philanthropy
• Predominantly White Institution
• PWI
• Race
• Staff
• Students
• Undergraduate
• Universities

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Courtney Brewster

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129399

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129399