"Developing an Intersectional Consciousness and Praxis: Moving Toward Antiracist Efforts in Higher Education," co-edited by Jonathan McElderry and Stephanie Hernandez Rivera, provides actionable insights for educators aiming to create more antiracist environments for students of color.
Stephanie Hernandez Rivera, assistant professor in the Master of Higher Education Program and the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education Emerging Professor, and Jonathan A. McElderry, dean of student inclusive excellence and assistant professor, recently co-edited their first book, “Developing an Intersectional Consciousness and Praxis: Moving Toward Antiracist Efforts in Higher Education.” This book is a comprehensive guide for higher education practitioners, offering strategies and best practices to create equitable and inclusive environments for students of color with other marginalized identities. Released on Oct. 23, the book is a part of the larger Identity and Practice in Higher Education-Student Affairs series led by editors Pietro Sasso and Shelley Price-Williams.
Setting itself apart within higher education literature, this book uniquely addresses antiracism through the lens of intersectional praxis. While existing literature on antiracism often includes discussions on intersectionality related to research, theory, and methodology, few texts dive into the practical application of antiracism from an intersectional perspective to support students of color. This book fills that gap, offering educators and practitioners actionable insights on fostering truly inclusive and equitable environments.
Organized into five sections, the book is grounded in core competencies from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), such as the “Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators,” This text covers topics in student affairs, equity and inclusion, health and wellness, teaching, advising, research and institutional leadership. The NASPA/ACPA competencies were used to identify these topics and to explore how those in higher education across all roles, define the essential skills, knowledge and action spanning across professional practice areas.
“In relation to equity, inclusion, and antiracism, higher education is at a crossroads. We must decide upon the ways we are going to act and move towards antiracism,” Hernandez Rivera said. “We hope that this text will allow staff, faculty, practitioners and even students to consider how we commit and act on this work from an intersectional lens and praxis.”
Hernandez Rivera and McElderry aren’t strangers to collaborating and contributing to the inclusive excellence conversation. Both worked alongside each other in identity centers at the University of Missouri, where they earned their doctorate degrees. Since, they have co-published several articles together, including “The Role of Identity Centers on College Campuses (2023),” “Supporting Our Students, Protecting Our Energy: Black & Boricua Practitioners Reflections on Identities Informing Leadership (2021),” “How Should Institutions Support Students with Marginalized Identities? What Practices Are Essential for the Establishment of Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments?: What is Equitable? Engaging the Four I’s of Oppression to Support Students of Color (2018)” and “Your Agenda Item, Our Experience”: Two Administrators’ Insights on Campus Unrest at Mizzou (2017).
Their next book, “Shaking the Table: Centering the Voices of Identity Center Practitioners, Volume One: Surviving & Healing,” will focus on the experiences of identity center practitioners.
“The increasing resistance to equity and inclusion work nationally, and the multiple demands placed on the staff in these spaces necessitates centering and uplifting these voices that are often relegated to the margins,” said McElderry, who also currently serves as president-elect for ACPA – College Student Educators International. “This book seeks to accomplish this through providing perspectives and narratives of practitioners working or who have worked in identity centers, underscoring the complexities, challenges, joy and the resistance practitioners engage in while working in these spaces.”
Hernandez Rivera and McElderry intentionally advance this work through their leadership, practice, mentorship and teaching. They hope this text can serve as a guiding light for others seeking to engage in this work.
“Developing an Intersectional Consciousness and Praxis: Moving Toward Antiracist Efforts in Higher Education” is available for order online.