People, Place, and Connections: Black Cultural Center Staff as Facilitators of Social Capital

Abstract

Black cultural centers (BCCs) have served students on college campuses across the country for over 50 years, but empirical research about the benefits they offer Black students, beyond examples referenced in the conceptual and historical literature, remains limited. As the relevance of BCCs has come into question given financial constraints, more diverse student bodies, and a shift to discontinuing race-specific cultural centers in favor of multicultural centers, rigorous studies about their contributions are needed. Through an ethnographic approach, this investigation explores how a BCC site and its staff act as institutional, cultural, and entrepreneurial agents by facilitating the development of social capital among Black undergraduate students. They do this by (a) serving as conduits for campus services that struggle to reach Black undergraduate students, (b) strategically coordinating resources and relationships among Black organizations to meet the needs of the Black community, and (c) collaborating with peer cultural/identity centers to streamline efforts.