Abstract
This study explores the experiences of Black alumni from five different decades who lived in the undergraduate Lawn residential community at the University of Virginia (UVA). The Lawn, designed by Thomas Jefferson and built by enslaved laborers, represents both prestige and contradiction. Its architectural design embodies Enlightenment ideals of democracy, yet its history and administration are marked by racial and gender exclusion. Over time, the residential community has become one of the university’s highest honors, the core of its traditions, and a deeply symbolic reflection of institutional values.
The problem guiding this study is how the Lawn, as both a physical and symbolic space, influences Black students’ sense of belonging, racial identity, and student leadership at a historically white institution. For Black students, occupying this space disrupts traditional institutional narratives and helps reclaim institutional visibility. The study presents a distinctive case of the ongoing challenge many higher education institutions face in reconciling their historical ties to enslaved labor, segregation, and exclusion with current efforts toward diversity and inclusion. While universities increasingly seek opportunities for repair, the lived experiences of Black students within these contested spaces
remain largely unexplored.
Using a qualitative, phenomenological design, this case study focuses on the narratives of Black alumni who lived on the Lawn, highlighting how they interpreted and made meaning of their experiences within the residential community. This study contributes to three scholarly conversations: (1) Black students’ campus experiences and racial identity development within historically white institutions, (2) the ongoing impact of universities’ historical reliance on enslaved labor on campus climate, and (3) the role of racialized spaces in shaping higher education experiences. By connecting these literatures, the research underscores that racial identity and belonging are negotiated not only interpersonally and institutionally but also spatially, through lived engagement with historically charged environments. The following research questions guide the study:
1. How do Black Lawn residents make meaning of their living-learning experience in the Lawn residential community?
2. In what ways do perceptions of their experience influence their racial identity as Black student leaders?
3. In what ways do Black Lawn residents interpret the racialized space of the Lawn in relationship to their identity and college student experience?
Findings from this work will reveal how Black students at UVA and in other contested spaces in higher education resist, reclaim, and reshape the physical and social constructs of space.
