Success at a Price

Lisa C. Huebner, Samantha Jeune, and Odette Kolenky discuss their book: "Success at a Price: Women of Color Students at a White University," an examination of the American college campus experience for women of color.

In this three-year ethnographic study of women of color undergraduate students, Huebner, Jeune, and Kolenky found that while thriving, women of color students suffered what they describe as “a daily normal” of harassment and erasure. At the same time, however, they excelled, often graduating with many academic and cocurricular achievements.

Celebrated by the university as successful students but also ignored by it, they felt alone, deceived, and exploited by the very university system that was dedicated to helping them. This book offers a rare glimpse into the successes we take for granted. Centering the voices of women of color students, this book offers a new story of how successful women of color overcome barriers no one else seems to see and, through their experiences and insights, offers recommendations to all of us who care about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dr. Lisa Huebner is a sociologist of gender and professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at West Chester University. She was the first full-time faculty member in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and has been here ever since. She wrote the book Catheters Slurs and Pick Up Lines: Professional Intimacy in Hospital Nursing and co-wrote Success at a Price: Women of Color Students at a White University. In 2023, on behalf of her department, she founded The Women’s and Gender Studies Collection, an open educational resource that publishes and provides free and trustworthy information. This has all been great and very rewarding, but her favorite part of her job is teaching amazing past, present, and future students like her co-authors, Samantha Jeune and Odette Kolenky!

Samatha Jeune, LSW, is a Philadelphia-area licensed social worker, therapist, and writer with experience spanning clinical practice, nonprofit fundraising, and social impact. She currently works as a psychotherapist at Walnut Psychotherapy Center, supporting LGBTQ+ individuals, and as a social worker at Malvern Behavioral Health, working in both their LGBTQ and dual-diagnosis units. Before working in direct practice, Sam held fundraising and leadership roles with organizations including the ACLU-PA, Maternity Care Coalition, Nationalities Service Center, Women’s Way, and Collective Climb. Sam is a co-author of a chapter in Difficult Discussions: Issues and Ideas for Engaging College Students in Peace and Justice Topics and co-author of Success at a Price: Women of Color Students at a White University. She holds a BA in Women’s and Gender Studies from West Chester University and an MSW from Temple University. Outside of work, you can find Sam singing, dancing, and being in community with others.

Odette Kolenky is a public health researcher, writer, and equity-centered advocate whose work focuses on health equity, community-informed research, and systems-level change. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health at George Washington University, with a
concentration in epidemiology, maternal and child health, global health, and community education. With over eight years of experience across clinical, nonprofit, academic, and international research settings, Odette’s work centers on translating complex data, policy, and lived experience into knowledge that supports more equitable and humane public health systems. Her background includes clinical research coordination, outcomes and program evaluation, and policy-relevant scholarship, with a consistent emphasis on centering marginalized communities, particularly women and families of color. A published author and conference presenter, Odette integrates research, storytelling, and public health practice to make complex systems more accessible and accountable. Outside of her professional work, Odette engages in digital art and collages as a restorative creative practice, reflecting her belief that creativity, reflection, and sustainability are essential to
leadership and long-term impact.