Who’s This For?
Specifically, we are interrogating what it means to sustain a deep commitment to social justice work within Student Affairs. Similarly, our findings translate to any work that demands constant attention, emotional labor, empathy, and advocacy.
We also explore the ways practitioners navigate expectations, protect their humanity, and cultivate strategies for resilience and resistance in order to mediate fatigue while remaining accountable to the communities they serve.
What Is Social Justice Fatigue?
Social justice fatigue is the physical, mental, and/or emotional toll incurred through advocating for social change while simultaneously serving as an agent of an institution of higher education.
This definition emerged from research designed to understand how student affairs professionals experience this fatigue — how it shows up in the body, in the mind, and in daily life, and what helps.
How It Shows Up
Social justice fatigue doesn’t announce itself the same way for everyone, but across participants in this study, recognizable patterns emerged in three interconnected areas.
Physically, participants described feeling sluggish, sleepy, tired, and exhausted. Many also reported specific physical symptoms — nausea, headaches, and persistent tension in the back and shoulders.
Mentally, the language was strikingly similar: tired, exhausted, drained, heavy. Participants also described a lack of clarity, difficulty focusing, and at times an inability to access empathy — a kind of mental apathy that crept in despite their deep commitment to the work.
Emotionally, participants felt drained, sad, and unmotivated — describing days when they didn’t want to get up and go to work, even though they genuinely loved their jobs.
One of the most consistent findings was how deeply mental and emotional fatigue overlapped. Participants frequently found it difficult to distinguish between the two. These dimensions were not separate experiences — they were intertwined and interdependent.
What the Research Found
Over the course of 30 days, participants were asked to engage in three daily practices: intentional reflection, at least 30 minutes of movement, and personal development activity.
Change happened — but it was connected to consistency.
By the end of the study, many participants reported that even when physical tiredness remained, they were experiencing meaningful shifts mentally and emotionally. They described feeling more grateful, more clear, and more present in their days. Physical wellbeing also began to improve, particularly for those who maintained consistent daily movement.
Participants who struggled to sustain the three daily practices saw less change. Without carving out time — even for commitments they had chosen — it was significantly harder to find joy or feel better in everyday life.
The takeaway is not that self-care is simple. It is that intentional, consistent practice — reflection, movement, and personal development — can create real change, even within the demanding context of social justice work.
Acts of Wellness
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Acts of Wellness: Colleen Riggle
Colleen reflects on burnout, daily wellness habits, and the challenge of separating personal from professional when the work is deeply tied to who you are.
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Acts of Wellness: DeLa Dos
DeLa reflects on the challenge of compartmentalizing identity and roles, and why incremental goal-setting — decoupled from self-worth — can be a powerful tool for people doing justice work.
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Acts of Wellness: Franklin Ellis
Franklin reflects on navigating exhaustion, numbness, and systems designed to make you doubt yourself — and why knowing when to tap out is part of the fight.
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Acts of Wellness: Joe Saucedo
Joe reflects on fatigue, the power of community, and a clear-eyed message for both individuals and institutions: you cannot do this work without taking care of yourself first.
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Acts of Wellness: Leilani Kupo
As a Native Hawaiian woman who advocates for students from under-resourced communities, Leilani shares what she learned about intention, daily routines, and sustainable wellness while doing justice work.
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Acts of Wellness: Natalie Gross
Natalie reflects on the gap between preaching self-care and practicing it — and what it costs, personally and professionally, to keep pouring out without ever pouring back in.
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Acts of Wellness: Will Johnson
Will reflects on intentional time management, showing up for colleagues, and why social justice fatigue needs to be a central conversation within the student affairs profession.
