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Information sharing, general discussion, and feedback takes place here. Subscribers use the listserv to ask questions and receive support. If you have a success story, frustrating experience or question, sharing your thoughts with other professionals is crucial to the success of both you and the MRKC.

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The MultiRacial Knowledge Community (MRKC) is NASPA's 25th and newest Knowledge Community. This page is currently under construction and will be updated Spring 2011. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the KC's mission, goals, and related information below. All NASPA members will soon have the opportunity join this dynamic group.

Vision:
The MultiRacial Knowledge Community (MRKC) endeavors to be a dynamic and supportive organization that brings multiracial and mixed-heritage issues and related research to the forefront of higher education.

Mission:
The mission of the MRKC is to advocate on behalf of multiracial and mixed-heritage (hereafter referred to as multiracial) individuals, support those who work with/educate multiracial students, and gain a presence within NASPA. We seek to raise awareness of multiracial issues and provide a support network for NASPA members who identify with more than one race.

Through the development of educational initiatives, engaging in critical dialogues, and cultivating scholarly research, we seek to offer practical knowledge for administrators working with multiracial students and colleagues. We invite those interested in learning more about multiracial professionals and/or students on our campuses, those researching and/or teaching about multiracial people, and our advocates and allies, to participate with us as we learn together and enhance multiracial consciousness in our communities and institutions of higher education.

Finally, we seek to offer support to transracial adoptees who might self-identify differently than multiracial individuals but share similar experiences related to identity, cultural affiliation, and affinity groups.

Overview & Working Definitions:
As multiracial and transracial adoptee populations grow, the need for higher education professionals to understand specific issues surrounding identity is imperative. Multiracial is defined as those identifying as having more than one race (mixed, hapa, etc.) or exploring an identity that includes more than one race. In Census 2000, the population of the United States was shown to be 281.4 million. “Of the total, 6.8 million people, or 2.4 percent reported more than one race. Census 2000 asked separate questions on race and Hispanic and Latino origin. Hispanics who reported more than one race are included in the two or more races population” (Census 2000 brief, 2001). For purposes of this knowledge community, transracial adoptee describes an adoptee of color who was adopted and raised by White parents in the United States.

Commitment:
Members will communicate at local, regional, and national NASPA meetings and at other related conferences, institutes, and meetings (NASPA Multicultural Institute, NCORE, etc.) as time allows. Technology will also be utilized to connect members and provide opportunities to share information.

Goals:

  1. Provide education on the complexities of developing a healthy multiracial identity
  2. Build advocates committed to meeting the needs and serving the interests of multiracial students
  3. Create opportunities for NASPA members to engage issues related to the multiracial population
  4. Encourage research and supply resources to strengthen best practices for promoting the success of the multiracial population within higher education
  5. Promote and model collaborative relationships with other KCs and organizations that compliment the MRKC mission

Hot Topics:
•Physical campus spaces for multiracial students, faculty and staff (inclusion in Multicultural Centers, affinity staff and faculty groups etc.)

• Enhancing curriculum and campus “speak” to include multiracial students.

• The Department of Education has mandated that colleges and universities change how they collect racial data on students by Fall 2010, allowing students to check more than one box.

• Specific issues relating to advising multiracial students (acceptance, uniqueness of many multiracial family units, physical appearance, etc). “Given the importance in student development and racial identity development theory of having a group of like-others with whom to affiliate, the inability of most multiracial students to find such a group is cause for concern” (Renn, 2000). The third mixed generation (first during civil rights movement, second during repeal of antimiscegenation) was born after 1980 and is now going through the school system. “There is reason to believe that another generation recently born, from the mid-1990s to the present, will experience being multiracial even differently than did the generation just coming of age.” (Root, 2003)

• Limited research exists in relation to identity developmental theory and potential adult challenges associated with transracial adoptees (Andujo, 1988; Friedlander, 1999; Lee, 2003; Mohanty & Newhill, 2008). Due to this limitation, one can reasonably conclude that institutions of higher education are not adequately equipped to support this population of students in their total development. This knowledge community serves as a space to discuss such issues and support new research.

• Issues related to loss, grief, and healing are not recognized in research related to monoracial and multiracial populations, but they emerge in research associated with adoptees and transracial adoptees (Brodzinsky, Singer, & Braff, 1992; Grotevant, Dunbar, Kohler, K, & Esau, 2000; Lifton, 1994; Russell, 2000; Stein & Hoopes, 1985; Verrier, 1997). Matters related to loss, grief, and healing are core issues in adoption and play a significant role in the broader identity development of transracial adoptees.

Values:
Inclusivity, Support, Education, Advocacy

Tagline:
It’s about …

  • The palette of cultural diversity;
  • Declaring our identity;
  • Changing perceptions;
  • A common experience;
  • Having a choice;
  • Claiming a place.