Student Organizations as Servingness: Findings from Participatory Action Research

Servingness is a complex, multidimensional way to think about intentionally serving Latine students in Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). It’s more than simply serving students; it’s about the intentional ways we assess and reconstruct college or university structures, adapt to the specific needs of Latine students, and create environments where Latine students feel seen and valued. The servingness framework provides a blueprint for suggested changes to the educational structures, listing 11 specific dimensions to consider including mission and values statements, institutional advancement activities, engagement with the Latinx community, compositional diversity of faculty and administration, culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy, programs and services for minoritized students, leadership and decision-making practices, and incentive structures. While these 11 dimensions provide a solid foundation for assessing servingness and approaching organizational change, there are many missing elements. One blatant exclusion from this list is student organizations.

A group of students. Photo by RDNE Stock project from Pexels.

The irony of omitting student organizations from the servingness framework—a theory I co-conceptualized—is not missed on me, considering my master’s thesis was about the ways Latina Greek organizations support Latina college students. I have believed in the power of student organizations since I was leading student organizations in college and have known the influence of student organizations since studying student development theory in my master’s program. So why aren’t student organizations included in the framework? The honest answer is that the servingness framework was created based on a systematic literature review, and perhaps little has been written about the ways student organizations serve students within HSIs. Or alternatively, student organizations didn’t emerge as a strong theme in our review. Let me be clear—there are many articles about the ways student organizations support Latine students, but in order to be included in our framework the setting or focus of the study must have been HSIs. In some cases, we may have been focused on other phenomena in the article. For example, I have cited Juan Guardia and Nancy Evans’ article about the factors influencing the ethnic identity development of Latino fraternity members at an HSI at least a dozen times, yet my focus has always been on the outcome—ethnic identity development—not the fraternity.

This semester (spring 2025) I had my undergraduate students complete participatory action research (PAR) projects for our higher education policy course. Their charge was to explore the readiness of UC Berkeley to become a multi-designated MSI including an HSI (currently an emerging HSI), an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI; currently eligible and grant-funded), and a Black Serving Institution (BSI; currently aspiring). Two groups focused on each designation for a total of six groups. Throughout the semester we worked on the project, starting with a literature review for each type (the BSI groups were encouraged to review literature about Historically Black Colleges and Universities), and moving into the development of research questions, data collection, and data analysis. Since these were PAR projects, students determined the direction of their research—I served as a guide but did not dictate the forms of data they collected or the inquiries they pursued.

So, what did they find? You guessed it—student organizations are an important source of servingness.

As I reviewed their data sources and interpretations, student organizations was the overwhelming theme across all six groups. One of the three main findings for HSI Group 1 was, “Students feel they belong more within student groups vs. campus/academic departments.” They recommended that the campus dedicate funding and space for student organizations that support Latine students and extend support for the student run outreach and retention programs on campus, including the Latine-focused Raíces Recruitment and Retention Center. HSI Group 2 similarly concluded that there are more student-led organizations and support programs for Latine students than there are university-sponsored programs. Like Group 1, they recommended more financial support for Latine student organizations. Moreover, they recommended that the campus formalize peer ambassador and peer navigator programs, a support that they concluded many of the student organizations were providing without any support from the university. Group 2 also made several recommendations about university-sponsored programs partnering with student organizations to extend their offerings in a more formal way. These findings suggest that Latine students are caring for and serving themselves, which is powerful and important, but is that really servingness?

One AANAPISI group also found that AANHPI students feel most supported by other AANHPI students themselves, calling for more university support for student-led initiatives. They specifically found that students wanted more opportunities for peer-to-peer mentoring. They also said that student organizations needed more visibility as there is not a centralized or well-advertised website for AANHPI student organizations. One group member commented that the only search filter on the student organizations portal was for Black student orgs, excluding other racial-ethnic identifiers.

Similarly, one BSI group noted that Black student community is largely built through student efforts. They reviewed the history of Black students on campus and highlighted that Black Greek organizations have historically provided support for Black students and noted that Black student activists have fought for a majority of the university-sponsored Black student offerings now available.

One recommendation was that the university should annually audit websites and communication outlets to ensure that information about student organizations is available because students often struggle to find information about supports, whether student-led or university-led. One AANAPISI group also said that awareness of the designation is low amongst students, arguing that the university should create more visibility for the AANAPISI work. They said that stories are selectively shared, begging the question about how we are communicating our MSI stories to students.

I know university administrators are going to read this blog post and immediately think of all the ways we formally support and communicate with our Latine, AANHPI, and Black students but let me remind us that these are student interpretations that we cannot discount. We must hear our students and listen with open hearts.

I want to thank the 25 students in my higher education policy course for teaching me about servingness this semester!

*Disclaimer: All UC Berkeley student organizations are open to all students regardless of race or ethnicity.