2025 Theses Bachelor's

Harder Than Getting Into Columbia Itself: The Paradox Of Ethnic-Racial Student Club Admissions At An Elite Institution

Hog, Alison

This study examines how undergraduate students of color at Columbia University perceive and experience exclusion from application-based ethnic-racial organizations on campus. Through 18 in-depth interviews with members and rejected non-members of two East Asian student groups, this research hoped to reveal the implications of having entry barriers to identity-based spaces in predominantly white institutions. Findings showed that though rejected students found alternative ways of connecting socially and culturally after being denied access to the mechanisms through which members obtained benefits, the way they engaged with their ethnicracial communities was impacted. The distance created between them and their respective communities led to a lack of on-campus, peer-to-peer opportunities to strengthen their ethnicracial identities (ERIs). Nonetheless, despite recognition of the negative repercussions of applications on rejected students, participants believed they were needed to ensure commitment. Thus, this study raises important questions about exclusivity in identity-based organizations, calling for further research that compares experiences across different ethnic-racial groups and institutional contexts.

Keywords: ethnic-racial student organizations, ethnic-racial identity, higher education, sociology, predominantly white institutions, student belonging, social closure, campus culture, exclusion