In a new line of research, I have been exploring the landscape of political, religious, and social activism at U.S. colleges and universities. Specifically, along with Penn State University sociologist Gary Adler and Oklahoma State University graduate students Dhruba Das, Jericho McElroy, and Jessica Schachle, I have constructed a comprehensive database of political student groups (such as College Democrats and College Republicans), religious student groups (e.g., groups associated with the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim faiths), and social activist groups (such as Asian, Black, Latinx, Native American, and LGBTQ student groups) across the nearly 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities. Drawing on political opportunity structure, educational opportunity structure, threat-based, and resource mobilization theories in social movement studies, my colleagues and I have been examining how sociopolitical contexts, school characteristics, and student body resources shape students’ ability to mobilize and form these organizations. I am also supplementing this quantitative work with ethnographic and interview-based work on student activism on select U.S. college and university campuses. Recent articles stemming from this project have been published in Sociological Forum, Socius, Sociological Inquiry, Sociology of Education, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change.
Coley, Jonathan S, Dhruba Das, and Gary J. Adler, Jr. 2022. “Creating Sacred Spaces: Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim Student Groups at U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Sociology of Education 95(3): 171-188. (Lead article.) (external link)

Why are some schools home to Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim student organizations while others are not? In this article, we draw on theories of student mobilization, especially recent theoretical insights on educational opportunity structures, to understand the factors associated with the presence and number of minority religious student organizations at U.S. colleges and universities. Analyzing an original database of minority religious student groups across 1,953 four-year, not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities, we show that schools that are located in liberal, pluralistic contexts and that are large, wealthy, and not affiliated with Christian denominations exhibit greater odds of having at least one minority religious student organization. Similar factors are associated with the overall number of minority religious student organizations at a school. Our article represents the most comprehensive study to date of minority religious student organizations and sheds light on issues of unequal access to student organizations more generally.
Schachle, Jessica, and Jonathan S. Coley. 2022. “Making Space: Racialized Organizations and Student of Color Groups at U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 8(3): 386-402. (external link)

A growing body of scholarship demonstrates the positive role that Asian, Black, Latinx, and Native American student groups play in the lives of students of color. Yet, we currently know little about the prevalence of student of color organizations and the characteristics of colleges and universities that are home to one or more student of color organizations. Analyzing our original database of officially recognized student of color organizations across 1,910 four-year, not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities, we find that although a slight majority of U.S. colleges and universities are home to Black student groups, most U.S. colleges and universities lack Asian, Latinx, and Native American student groups. Drawing on recent insights from racialized organization theory, and employing logistic and Poisson regression, we also show that schools that have higher percentages of students of color, offer ethnic studies majors, and maintain centers devoted to issues of racial diversity, equity, and inclusion are more likely to have at least one student of color organization. A similar set of factors is associated with the overall number of student of color organizations at any given school. Our study advances scholarship on student of color mobilization within higher education and sheds light on issues of unequal access to student organizations more generally.
Coley, Jonathan S. 2021. “Creating Secular Spaces: Religious Threat and the Presence of Secular Student Alliances at U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Sociological Forum 36(3): 649-667. (external link)

Why are some U.S. colleges and universities home to secular student organizations while others are not? Recent literature suggests that threat can inspire mobilization when groups perceive challenges to their rights or their social standing. Developing the concept of religious threat, I consider whether Secular Student Alliances (the country’s largest association of student groups comprised of atheists, agnostics, and other religious skeptics) tend to be located at schools where secular students feel threatened by evangelical Christians. Through a logistic regression analysis of Secular Student Alliance presence across the 1,953 four-year, not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities, I first show that colleges and universities located in states and counties with a high percent of evangelical Christians, and colleges and universities where activist-oriented evangelical Christian organizations are located, are more likely to be home to Secular Student Alliances. Through qualitative content analyses of 47 Secular Student Alliance newsletters from 2014-2017, I then show that student leaders indeed frame their groups as a way to counter threats posed by evangelical Christians. The article contributes to social movement theory on the mobilizing effects of threat and represents the most comprehensive study to date of secular student mobilization.
McElroy, Jericho R., and Jonathan S. Coley. 2021. “Gun-Free Zones? Political Opportunities, Resource Mobilization, and Shooting Sports Organizations at U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Sociological Inquiry 91(2): 398-425. (external link)

Coley, Jonathan S. 2021. “Mobilizing for Religious Freedom: Educational Opportunity Structures and Outcomes of Conservative Christian Campus Activism.” Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change vol. 44(1): 175-200. (external link)

Coley, Jonathan S., and Dhruba Das. 2020. “Creating Safe Spaces: Opportunities, Resources, and LGBTQ Student Groups at U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Socius.(external link)
