"Enriching the Africana Soul": Black College Students' Lived Experiences With Affinity Housing at a Predominately White Institution

Black students attending predominantly White institutions face racism in residence halls. Although research suggests that Black students create communities that help them thrive on campus despite this racism, little work has examined students' experiences with affinity housing as one such Black-centered residential counter space. Therefore, we investigated the lived experiences of Black college students in a Black affinity house at a predominantly White institution. In this study, semistructured interviews were used to capture the experiences of 13 Black student and alumni residents. We utilized conventional content analysis in a qualitative descriptive design to summarize participants' experiences with Black-centered affinity housing. Categories of experiences that support affinity housing as a counter space included the following: home and family, diversity of the Black experience and intersectionality, and collective empowerment and campus involvement. Students also noted concerns about institutional commitment to and maintenance of the affinity house. Black-centered affinity housing may be one valuable counter space for institutions to offer. Such a space may bolster the thriving of Black college students on campus.