Decriminalizing Academia: Black First-Generation Community College Students in Unsatisfactory Academic Standing

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for Black students. However, current outcomes suggest that Black students are not being properly served in America’s community colleges. Although well-meaning institutional leaders often create policies and programs aimed at improving success rates for students from marginalized backgrounds, too often, the voices of those directly impacted by the policy are not considered. Consequently, little is known about the lived experiences of Black first-generation community college students, especially those in unsatisfactory academic standing. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black first-generation students on academic warning (commonly referred to as academic probation). Data were collected through two one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The participants in the study were nine Black first-generation students enrolled at one suburban community college in the northeastern United States. A review of literature relevant to the inquiry revealed a knowledge gap concerning the lived experiences of Black first-generation students in unsatisfactory academic standing at an institution that has decriminalized its language surroundings its unsatisfactory academic standing policy. Utilizing intersectionality as its theoretical framework, the analysis of the data led to the identification of five themes. The themes are: (a) familial influence is a motivator, (b) underutilization of campus resources, (c) feeling like a failure, (d) academic warning as a second chance, and (e) language matters. The findings from the present study offered institutional leaders and practitioners ways that they can each be proactive in their approach to closing the current equity gap between Black students and their non-Black peers.