Understanding the Impact of a Race-Based Ethnic Studies Course on First-Year, Chicanx/Latinx Undergraduates: A Case Study of the Diversity Scholars Program at Intermountain University

This study explores the impact of the Diversity Scholars Program (DSP) on 1st-- year Chicanx/Latinx undergraduate students' development of social consciousness. DSP is a yearlong course grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and offered to historically underrepresented U.S. Students of Color at Intermountain University (IMU). This case study finds that participants developed a greater sense of a Chicanx/Latinx identity as a result of participating in the intensive, race--conscious set of learning experiences that the DSP offered. The study includes a set of policy, theory, and practice-based recommendations that may help other colleges and universities design courses and other learning experiences similar to DSP. The study also finds evidence that enhancing Latinx/Chicanx students' social consciousness and identity improves the likelihood that they will graduate with greater self-awareness and personal agency in advancing social justice for their communities.