If love were to guide us: the story of Fred Hampton High School’s quest for building bridges of belonging for Black students

This action research study investigates how Black students experience and make sense of belonging at Fred Hampton High School, a suburban Illinois school known for its racial equity initiatives. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and using Safir and Dugan’s (2021) street data framework, the study centers the voices of Black students through focus group interviews to understand the systemic, interpersonal, and cultural barriers they face. Key themes include racial microaggressions, symbolic leadership, inequitable disciplinary practices, and lack of authentic representation. Despite the school’s reputation for diversity and strong racial equity work, the findings demonstrate the factors that explain why Black students report the lowest sense of belonging among all racial groups at Fred Hampton High School. Contributing factors include performative equity practices and administrative inaction. This study highlights students’ critiques of Hampton’s school culture and offers practical, student-informed recommendations for fostering an inclusive racial climate. By using storytelling as both a methodological and theoretical tool, this research aims to disrupt deficit narratives, promote student agency, and reimagine what is possible when school transformation is guided by love.

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

• Randolph, Dillin E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Roegman, Rachel
• Herrmann, Mary Beth
• Pak, Yoon
• Rodriguez, Gabriel

• Black Student Belonging
• School Leadership And Race
• Student Voice
• Critical Race Theory In Education
• Equity
• Racial Equity
• High School
• Love Were To Guide Us
• Fred Hampton
• Fred Hampton High School
• Belonging
• Black Students

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Dillin Randolph

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129941

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129941