"Pushing for Change: Women of Color at Wellesley College, 1966-2001" tells the story of how students of color pushed for changes with institutions of higher learning to make their existence in higher education not only felt but also more enjoyable. On a larger scale, this dissertation argues that women of color attending institutions of higher learning negotiated space and identity in order to alleviate racial and social tensions that existed on campus and initiated a push for equity in order to achieve success during their college years and beyond.

With the 1960s a ripe time for social movements, students of color pushed for full inclusion and equity on their college campuses through social movement examples of non-violence and American democratic ideas of participatory democracy ideals. This dissertation features a case study of Wellesley College, a women's college founded in 1875 and located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, an affluent suburb of Boston. While considering the importance of students of color at elite institutions, this study examines the experiences of African American, Latina, Asian American, and Native American students at Wellesley College by focusing on how these students claimed their own cultural and public spaces using tools they learned at home and new tools they gained in college in order to survive in Wellesley's elite culture. This dissertation proves that, even though often left out of American history, ALANA students initiated a push to make changes at institutions of higher learning and made their presence known on campus while paving the way for more positive experiences for future generations of women of color.