“There were these racial meanings attached to particular buildings in ways that were seemingly natural and taken for granted to people on that campus,” he said. “You have this highly stratified system of on-campus housing.”
Foste noted that living on campus is often referred to by student affairs administrators and higher education researchers as a beneficial and even essential part of college that helps boost persistence and graduation rates. His initial goal for the study was to analyze interactions between diverse students in residence halls, “knowing that these are supposedly really important places for engagement” and that “institutions hold that up as the value” of living on campus.