The Democratic Nationwide Conference held in Chicago was a celebration of Vice President Kamala Harris, now the social gathering’s official nominee for President of the USA. Researchers Dr. Terrell Strayhorn and J’Quen Johnson seen it wasn’t simply Harris within the highlight, however her alma mater and sorority as properly.
Harris attended Howard College, one of many nation’s 101 traditionally Black faculties and universities (HBCUs) and have become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority, Inc., one of many traditionally Black sororities and fraternities recognized collectively as The Divine 9.
J’Quen Johnson, a Ph.D. candidate on the College of the Cumberlands and director of analysis at Do Good Work.
‘The Kamala Impact’: Measuring Harris’s Affect on HBCUs, was revealed this month by Do Good Work LLC, a consulting group working to enhance pupil success. Strayhorn is CEO and president of Do Good Work, as properly because the director of analysis at VUU’s Heart for the Research of HBCUs. Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate on the College of the Cumberlands and director of analysis at Do Good Work.
To conduct their analysis, Strayhorn and Johnson used an on-line software which scraped knowledge from Fb, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (previously Twitter). The 2 started in search of six key efficiency indicators inside social media posts, assessing for mentions, sentiments, interactions, likes, and shares related to Harris and HBCUs.
Posts had been analyzed over two set intervals of time: simply earlier than Harris introduced she was formally operating for president (July 15–20) and shortly after (July 21–26). They seemed for hashtags like #HBCUgrad, #HBCUpride, #HBCUlove, and #madamepresident.
“We noticed an uptick throughout the board in interactions, shares, and likes,” mentioned Johnson.
In truth, the report reveals that the whole variety of interactions round HBCU-centered social media posts elevated by 45.2% within the six days after her announcement. Likes on posts about HBCUs elevated by 44.75%. Johnson mentioned, after July 21, when Harris stepped into the race, the Democratic Social gathering “grew to become alive once more.”
The rise in HBCUs and Harris associations didn’t simply occur within the U.S. or Canada. Geolocating knowledge revealed a big focus of posts from Chile, Jordan, the Netherlands, and India.
“When you take a look at India, that is doubtless expressions reflecting cultural pleasure and assist from fellow Southeast Asians and others in the area who’re conscious of and acknowledging Harris’s HBCU historical past,” mentioned Strayhorn.
Dr. Terrell Strayhorn
Whereas their examine noticed total extra constructive mentions relating to HBCUs, additionally they seen a corresponding improve in detrimental engagement round HBCUs. Johnson and Strayhorn agree this must be a warning to institutional leaders at HBCUs to anticipate extra criticism and assaults, particularly if Harris wins the election in November.
The researchers identified that this examination of Harris’s influence was not achieved with an intent to cut back her humanity. In truth, they hope their work sheds gentle on the complexities of her expertise, how Harris represents a number of intersections of identification and, even simply as a candidate, is already breaking historic floor.
Strayhorn and Johnson additionally agree that it will likely be attention-grabbing to examine Harris’s potential influence on HBCUs by November and past. They surprise if her highlight may improve curiosity, purposes, and enrollment numbers at HBCUs, or if her AKA membership will see extra younger girls embracing its pink and inexperienced colours.
However one factor that they mentioned is for certain: Harris’s nomination will have an effect on younger women of colour.
“That is what’s doable when America lives as much as its values, ensuring that everybody, together with Black girls, have entry to dwelling their desires, sitting within the highest seat of management,” mentioned Strayhorn. “We do consider the Kamala Impact will probably be noticed for years to return.”
