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Data from interviews with 131 undergraduate chapter members at a Midwestern predominantly White university inform an explanatory model: underrepresentation, voluntary race representation, and collective responsibility support active participation, while forced representation reduces it. Faculty teaching styles are also linked to engagement outcomes. The study reframes prior hazing-focused debates by examining academic classroom behaviors and the limited evidence in student affairs literature.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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is the central relationship examined in this study?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The study examines how Black Greek-letter organization membership is associated with African American student engagement and class participation in predominantly White classroom environments.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What factors influence active participation according to the explanatory model?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Underrepresentation, voluntary race representation, and collective responsibility positively affect active participation, while forced representation has a negative effect.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the study build on or differ from prior BGLO research?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Rather than centering on hazing, it focuses on classroom behaviors and academic engagement tendencies, addressing the scarcity of research on in-class behaviors of African American sorority and fraternity 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Predominantly White Classroom Environments  \nShaun R. Harper  \nThe relationship between Black Greek-letter organization membership  \nand African American student engagement in almost exclusively White  \ncollege classrooms was explored in this study. Data were collected  \nthrough interviews with 131 members from seven undergraduate chapters  \nat a large, predominantly White university in the Midwest. This study  \nresulted in an explanatory model that shows how underrepresentation,  \nvoluntary race representation, and collective responsibility positively affect  \nactive participation, while Forced Representation has a negative effect.  \nFindings also reveal that faculty teaching styles both positively and  \nnegatively affect engagement among African American sorority and  \nfraternity members in their classes. The implications of these findings are  \ndiscussed at the end ofthe article.  \nThe title of Kimbrough‘s (2005) article, ―Should Black Fraternities and Sororities Abolish Undergraduate Chapters?‖ captures the essence of an ongoing debate among students, various stakeholders on college and university campuses across the country, and leaders of the nine national Black Greekletter organizations (BGLOs) . Instead of offering a balanced description of risks and educational benefits associated with membership, Kimbrough instead chose to focus almost exclusively on the persistent problem of physical and psychological hazing within undergraduate chapters. Despite being outlawed by the nine national organizations in 1990, hazing continues to occur in BGLOs on many campuses and has resulted in lawsuits, student deaths, and blatant contradictions to espoused purposes and ideals (DeSousa, Gordon, & Kimbrough, 2004; Harper & Harris, 2006; Kimbrough, 1997, 2003) . In response to his own question, Kimbrough (2005) suggests that undergraduate  \nShaun R. Harper is an assistant professor of higher education management in the graduate school of education and a faculty affiliate in the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Correspondence concerning this article should be sent [to Sharper1@gse.upenn.edu](to Sharper1@gse.upenn.edu).  \nBGLO chapters should be eliminated unless the national organizations collectively rethink new member intake processes and initiate bold approaches to hold undergraduates fully accountable for adhering to hazing policies.  \nDespite the known presence of hazing, students on the more than 60 campuses Kimbrough visited offered several justifications for why undergraduate chapters should continue to exist – none of which pertained to the role of BGLOs in advancing the academic missions of the institutions or enhancing academic outcomes among members. Similarly, the academic contributions and limitations accrued through BGLO membership have been understudied and limited academic-related evidence has been furnished in the student affairs literature. Put another way, most explorations of the BGLO experience have focused on matters other than academics.―Although all Black fraternities [and sororities] identify academic excellence as a core value, claims that membership improves academic performance may be overstated‖(Harper & Harris, 2006, p. 146) . Consequently, those who attempt to justify the continued existence of undergraduate BGLO chapters must rely on anecdotal accounts and literature that focuses primarily on non-academic outcomes and experiences.  \nAs an alternative to the popular and defensible focus on hazing in previous literature, a different behavioral manifestation of BGLO membership was explored in the present study. Specifically, while several researchers have examined hazing as a behavioral by-product of membership (e.g., DeSousa et al., 2004; Kimbrough, 1997, 2003, 2005; Jones, 2004; Sutton, Letzring, Terrell,& Poats, 2000; Williams, 1992), emphasis in the present stu","cbCaimv3rXcoRMxS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimv3rXcoRMxS","pdf",340574,22,"English","# Literature Review\n## Class Participation and Engagement","[{\"question\":\"What is the central relationship examined in this study?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines how Black Greek-letter organization membership is associated with African American student engagement and class participation in predominantly White classroom environments.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors influence active participation according to the explanatory model?\",\"answer\":\"Underrepresentation, voluntary race representation, and collective responsibility positively affect active participation, while forced representation has a negative effect.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study build on or differ from prior BGLO research?\",\"answer\":\"Rather than centering on hazing, it focuses on classroom behaviors and academic engagement tendencies, addressing the scarcity of research on in-class behaviors of African American sorority and fraternity members.\"}]","The Effects of Sorority and Fraternity Membership on Class Participation and African American Student Engagement in Predominantly White Classroom Environments | PDF",1792088977,55]