“Let Love Lead”: An Ethnographic Investigation of Relationships and Love-Centered Practices in a Black Women-Led Student Affairs Program at a PWI

Since the majority of Black women in college attend predominantly white institutions (PWIs), how do they connect with other Black women who work on campus? Due to Black women’s non-majority status, there are rich opportunities for Black women student affairs practitioners who work at PWIs to create strong bonds with marginalized students, especially Black women collegians. So, what can these student–practitioner relationships look like between Black women practitioners and Black women undergraduate students within student affairs programming? To explore this line of inquiry, this ethnographic study utilized Black feminist thought and bell hooksian notions of love and relationships to investigate how Black women student affairs practitioners describe their praxis and relationships with Black women students who attend a PWI. Findings suggest that it is essential that student affairs programming for Black women collegians has love at its center, which at times can go beyond job requirements and job titles. This study’s findings nuanced traditional understandings of college success among Black women collegians to include the influence of love and affect/emotion in student outcomes, and it demonstrated the importance of student affairs practitioners’ relationships with students as it pertains to college student success more broadly.