Enacting Equity‐Minded Change with Community College Latine Students in Rural Settings: Student Voice and Federal Policy

ABSTRACT

This article examines how Hamiter led equity‐minded change at Jupiter Valley College (JVC), a rural Hispanic‐Serving Institution (HSI), serving predominantly first‐generation college students from low‐income backgrounds who reside in a rural community in California.  In doing so, this study highlights how Hamiter leveraged HSI funding as a mechanism to confront structural barriers hindering Latine students at JVC. Using a life history portal approach and equity‐mindedness as the guiding framework and analytic lens, we trace how Hamiter's role in securing and implementing an HSI grant positioned her to gather, protect, and mobilize student voice. This study advances understandings of equity‐minded policy implementation by underscoring how an HSI designation and Title V funding can support organizational change when equity‐minded practitioners use student experiences, institutional relationships, and campus structures to confront racialized barriers in rural community colleges.