Acknowledgments
I am deeply indebted to all the students who repeatedly completed surveys and interviews. This book would not be possible without their willingness to offer up the details of their college and other life experiences. This research and writing could not have been conducted without the generous funding and developmental support of the William T. Grant Foundation. I am thankful for the undergraduate and graduate students who worked with me during various stages of data collection and analysis.
I am grateful for my editor Frances Benson, who championed my goal of writing an academic book that would appeal to nonacademic audiences and pushed me at each step to write with clarity and “grace.” Rachelle Winkle-Wagner generously went well beyond her role as a reviewer to provide insightful comments and suggestions that strengthened the depth of ideas presented in the final manuscript. To Barbara Ray, I thank you for quickly and enthusiastically editing this book from top to bottom with an eye toward making it engaging for a nonacademic audience.
I am mutually indebted to Gina Samuels, Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Adrienne Brown, and many others for creating an intellectually and emotionally sustaining campus counterspace.
I am thankful for Vivian Gadsden and Vivian Tseng, who gifted me with their sight: where I saw barriers they saw opportunities; where I saw dead ends they saw around corners.