‘It doesn’t bother me...I’m here for a reason’: a qualitative examination of white college athletes’ experiences at a historically black college/university (HBCU)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the academic, athletic, and social experiences of White college athletes at a Division I historically Black college/university (HBCU). Previous research has documented how White college athletes experience positive educational and developmental outcomes at historically White institutions (HWIs). However, there is a dearth of research on White college athletes’ experiences where they are the demographic minority within collegiate institutions like HBCUs. Three focus groups and four individual interviews were conducted and the data from four White college athletes at a HBCU were examined for the current study. Using symbolic interactionism and interpretive interactionism as theoretical lenses, key findings revealed participants largely expressed satisfaction with their academic, athletic, and social experiences. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• White college athletes
• historically Black colleges/universities (HBCUs)
• intercollegiate athletics
• interpretive interactionism
• symbolic interactionism

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the collegiate athlete participants and the HBCU who allowed us to conduct research and share their experiences with scholarly and practitioner communities.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest in regards to the research study.

Notes

1. It is worth noting three out of the six participants in Peterson and Hamrick (2009) study were White college athletics on scholarship, but this study did not exclusively focus on or disaggregate the data based on their unique experiences.

2. In order to preserve the anonymity of the participants, pseudonyms selected by the participants were used throughout the transcripts and this manuscript.

3. In an effort to preserve the anonymity of the institution where the study was conducted, a pseudonym is used throughout the manuscript.