Passing the torch: intergenerational capital transmission and the Black legacy experience at a PWI

ABSTRACT

As American colleges and universities become more diverse, expanding our vision and working around what it means to be a legacy, especially at Predominately White Institutions, will be essential. This paper examines Black families’ experiences at Churchill, a small liberal arts PWI in the Northeast. With the aid of Yosso’s community cultural wealth and Bourdieu’s notions of cultural and social capital, it examines how parents’ experiences at Churchill and exposing their child to Churchill shaped and informed their child’s decision to attend their parent’s alma mater and the passing of social and cultural capital between the generations. Findings suggest that while navigational and familial capital passes between generations, Black cultural capital does not pass smoothly and impacts their child’s experience at Churchill.

KEYWORDS:

• Legacy students
• black students
• predominately White institution
• cultural capital
• social capital
• community cultural wealth

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Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2023.2281119)