Volume 15, Issue 4

Student affairs, as an integral part of universities, has taken on a key position in contributing to social justice as one of the central imperatives of higher education in South Africa. This article sketches the development of this role and outlines some important tasks for contemporary student affairs. Three conceptual models within the social justice framework are utilized: participatory parity, universal design for learning, and student engagement. These models are uniquely useful to strengthen student affairs’s contribution to the development of social justice in South Africa. It is suggested that student affairs leaders articulate a more explicit position on social justice in order to contribute more cogently to students’ awareness of positionality, privilege, and exclusion.

Volunteering is often touted as a method to educate college students about social justice by providing students with an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting. However, many critics have noted that service does not necessarily lead to social justice outcomes and that some forms of service may reinforce students’ negative misconceptions. This analysis estimated the relationship between different service program characteristics and changes in students’ attitudes towards social justice. It found that volunteer programs that were more time-intensive, included reflection, and had a social justice orientation exhibited a stronger relationship with students’ social justice attitudes than other types of volunteer programs. These findings suggest that college students who participate in these types of programs may develop stronger social justice attitudes than students who volunteer through other types of service programs.

This article examines postcollege criminal convictions among students who recorded a substance use-related arrest while attending college from 1996-99. Specifically, this study assesses whether Greek or athletic membership offered protective or elevated odds of a conviction over the next 14-17 years, relative to non-Greeks and non-athletes. The data show that one-third of these 1,075 students were convicted of another crime following college. One-fifth of these former students were convicted of driving under the influence (DUI). Data show that being male, being arrested during the first year, and being arrested for a DUI increased the odds of a postcollege conviction. Athletic membership while in school reduced the odds of a subsequent conviction for all crime, but the three groups did not differ in postcollege substance use-related convictions. The authors suggest some strategies for deterring future criminal involvement through earlier intervention while students are still attending college.

This article reviews how psychology research has defined beliefs, values, and attitudes (BVAs); how they relate to each other; and how they may be influenced, especially in the academic setting. The purpose of this article is to (a) describe the nature of and the interrelationships between BVAs, (b) discuss their relevance to the academic environment, and (c) explore how the knowledge and understanding of the role of BVAs may enhance student learning. One area of influence is the nature of a power differential. The presence of a power differential may influence individuals of a lower stratum to alter their BVAs so that they are more closely aligned to their respected superior. One example of this power differential is the professor-student relationship. Focus will be directed to how the BVAs of undergraduate college students may be influenced by the classroom setting as nurtured by the professor.

In this article, the authors describe the experiences of five cadets and college students serving as camp leaders for the United States Air Force Academy’s (USAFA) Leaders of Character Camp (LoCC). Additionally, they describe the work in which three other universities are engaged to adapt the LoCC model to their own university contexts. In so doing, the authors seek to offer insights into how such camp experiences foster college students’ leadership and character and to highlight some of the efforts to expand the reach of such experiences across the nation.

Food insecurity is a threat to student success on college campuses in the United States. It has the potential to impact academics, wellness, and behavior-all factors that have bearing on student retention and graduation rates. This article reviews the literature on food insecurity among college students, utilizing research on hunger and educational outcomes in K-12 education to demonstrate potential negative outcomes along the educational pipeline from elementary school to college. The author recommends that campus administrators determine the scope of food insecurity on their campuses, developing short- and long-term responses in partnership with nonprofits, governmental agencies, and faculty, to alleviate its negative impact on students.

Author Brené Brown is not only a best-selling popular author, but also a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. This review examines the perspectives and findings she presents in Daring Greatly, summarizes the research method that led her to these findings, and discusses the potential utility of this book in the college student context.