The realm of academia has long been a restricted domain, occupied at all levels by members of the racial and gender majority. In recent years, these demographics have shifted allowing for the presence of a broader range of individuals and experiences in universities across the nation. However, despite the increasing presence and success of people of color in higher education, a disparity remains, greater on some campuses than others. Universities in which the gap of representation remains wide and disproportionate in relation to population demographics are termed predominantly White institutions (PWIs). This paper will examine the experiences of faculty and staff of color at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), a public liberal arts university and PWI in Western North Carolina. Using grounded theory and inductive research methods, this case study analyzes data from individual interviews along with existing research to uncover themes around the experiences of these faculty and staff members, and to locate these motifs within the trends presented by extant literature on people of color in higher education. A critical race theory analysis is employed, and implications for campus climate, university policy, and community-level organizing are discussed.
