Negative appraisals of campus racial climate (CRC) have been associated with diverse negative psychosocial and academic outcomes among Black college students. However, mechanisms that explain the association between CRC and suboptimal well-being indicators have been seldom explored. Further, examinations of the psychosocial and academic implications of CRC appraisals across different institutions of higher education (i.e., predominately White institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges/universities (HBCUs)), remain limited. To address these gaps in the literature, the current study examined the mediating roles of social anxiety and self-esteem in the association between CRC and impostor phenomenon (cognitions of intellectual incompetence) among Black students attending PWIs and HBCUs. Data were drawn from a cross-sectional study of Black college students attending PWIs and HBCUs in the southeastern United States (N = 270, 76% female). Results from path analysis showed that, when indirect effects were not considered, CRC was positively associated with impostor phenomenon, but only for students attending PWIs. Examinations of unique indirect effects revealed that negative perceptions of CRC were associated with IP through social anxiety among students attending HBCUs, but not PWIs. Serial mediation analysis showed that social anxiety and in turn self-esteem explained the association between CRC and impostor phenomenon among Black students regardless of institutional racial composition. Our findings have implications for future research and practice that aim to enhance perceptions of CRC to augment positive campus experiences and academic outcomes of Black students as they matriculate to and through institutions of higher education.

Xavier University of Louisiana has a national reputation for producing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates who go on to obtain MD and PhD degrees. According to a 2013 National Science Foundation report, Xavier is ranked first in producing African American graduates who go on to receive life sciences PhD degrees, fifth in the nation in producing African American graduates who go on to receive science and engineering PhD degrees, and seventh in producing African American graduates who go on to receive physical sciences PhD degrees. Xavier is currently third among the nation's colleges and universities in the number of African American graduates enrolled in medical school, according to data compiled by the Association of American Medical Colleges, and ranked first in the number of African American alumni who successfully complete their medical degrees. The success of Xavier's graduates is due to a combination of university-based student support initiatives and externally funded programs, in particular, the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD), Maximizing Access to Biomedical Research Careers (MARC) U*STAR, and Research Initiative in Scientific Enhancement (RISE) programs. These three programs, funded by the Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) Division at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), offer select trainees undergraduate research opportunities, support mechanisms, and a variety of activities designed to improve their potential for success in graduate school. The BUILD, MARC U*STAR, and RISE programs work closely together and with the University to leverage the resources provided by each in order to provide the best experience possible for their students with a minimum of redundancy of effort. This chapter focuses on the program components and how the programs work together.