Community supports, spaces for Black students key to boosting representation on campus
'Space where [Black students] can just be themselves ... it acts as a tool of representation'
As a self-described introvert navigating a new city and school far from family, Gabriel Comla knew starting out at the University of British Columbia would be tough. Yet the international student faced another major barrier as he arrived in Vancouver in 2021.
"Coming from Nigeria where almost everyone and anyone is Black, to a place where it's hard to see a Black person — [going] from majority to minority — it was a really big cultural shock," said Comla, now in his second year of civil engineering studies at UBC.
"Coming from a predominantly Black background, I feel like communicating with Black people would have been the easiest … [but] when I go to class, I look left, I look right, I look forward, I'll look back — everyone is not Black," he said.
Whether grappling with isolation and alienation, dealing with microaggressions in class to incidents of anti-Black racism on campus, Black post-secondary students face challenges and barriers different from those of non-Black peers. Advocates boosting awareness of these issues, amid a current momentum for change, are working to identify and establish the supports needed to help Black students thrive in higher education.
B.C., where Comla has settled, has one of Canada's smallest Black populations. Coupled with the fact that while Black youth in Canada are as likely as other peer groups to graduate from high school, they're less likely to complete post-secondary qualifications (trades certifications, college diplomas or university degrees), it paints a vivid picture of the isolation many Black students have described.
That feeling of being alone can be daunting for any student to experience, but for Black students, it's often exacerbated by other factors, according to Ainsley Carry, UBC's vice-president of student affairs.
"When it's time for a group assignment and people start selecting groups, [Black students are] often the last one chosen," he said. There's also the stereotype that Black students are present due to athletics rather than academics. "People think it's a compliment, but for many really scholarly Black Canadian students, it's [offensive]."
Among listening sessions with hundreds of students conducted for UBC's recent Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence, Black students shared these stories and identified supports they've found lacking on campus, including space "they can kind of call home," funding for cultural programming and "the absence of Black male leadership" who can offer academic and cultural support as well as career guidance, he noted.
The Black Male Initiative, a monthly meetup expressly for male Black students introduced earlier this school year, is part of UBC's response. Carry, an American who co-founded the program, was inspired by the camaraderie, mentoring and fraternal connections he experienced during his own post-secondary studies in the U.S.
"Every time we've had a meeting, 15 to 20 young Black men will show up and many of them will say 'I've never been in a room with this [many] people who look like me. I didn't know you guys were here,'" he said of the regular gatherings, during which "free-flowing conversation about challenges and opportunities" are shared between attendees, which also includes university staff, faculty or advisers.
"We are creating and holding safe space for people to meet, talk, share their stories, cry, support one another and find connections that will help them as they [continue] and eventually graduate from the university."
Sustaining a sense of community
UBC's initiatives join others that are emerging or well established at post-secondary institutions across the country. At Dalhousie University in Halifax, Imhotep's Legacy Academy (ILA) has for the past 20 years worked to boost STEM learning among African Nova Scotian students. About four years ago, the group — which primarily focuses efforts on engaging elementary kids and high schoolers — formed Imhotep's Learning Community, an offshoot that specifically supports the post-secondary community.
In part, it was born from the success of the main initiative: students who had learned with the group while younger arrived at college and university — some pursuing STEM, some not — looking for that same community and support, explained program director Asher Trim-Gaskin.
"It's ingrained in our vision of being that inspiration, [being] nurturing and supporting. Whatever aspect of the journey we are in, there is some person that we can influence. There's someone who has a question. There's someone who's looking for support."
The overall program's STEM focus has tended to draw more male Black students, acknowledged outreach officer Benjamin Ofosu-Atuahene.
However, the need for more women in STEM intersects with the fact that Black men and women are "disadvantaged at the same rate," added Trim-Gaskin, and that's why the group hasn't initiated male-only programming and makes specific efforts to highlight and include Black female mentors and tutors.
The post-secondary group organizes events such as trivia nights, peer mentoring, job search and career guidance workshops and networking events with professional societies. Also important is that Imhotep's has some dedicated space on campus where Black students can study, seek advice and gather.
"Community space where [Black students] can just be themselves — they can talk about whatever and not feel as though they're being judged or [asked] 'Why are you being so loud?' … it acts as a tool of representation for our students," said Trim-Gaskin.
Also, when younger Black students visit and see these older Black students, it sends a message that they, too, will one day belong, he added, and "it fosters that same atmosphere of 'Hey, let's study. Let's do it. They're doing it.'"
As more post-secondary institutions and programs explore and expand supports for Black students, Trim-Gaskin would like to see more funding opportunities, more diversity in leadership (in educators right up through administrators) and unflinching discussions about Canada's history of anti-Black racism — year-round, not only during February. He encourages others across the country to keep welcoming new Black students in and to reach out to peers for support.
"Don't give up. Continue to stay passionate about what it is you're doing and … ask questions," he advised. "You don't need to reinvent the wheel."
Back in Vancouver, engineering student Gabriel Comla says he's pushed himself to speak up more often in class and initiate conversations more to make new friends. He's also found community through UBC's Black Students Union and, more recently, the Black Male Initiative.
"At BMI we see that 'Yes we are all going through the same minority stress,' he said. "It gives me that sense of home … that feeling of being with your guys, with your boys."
It's a feeling he wants other male Black students to have as well.
"We need to promote these things more because we are on campus — young Black men are on campus — but we just need to reach out to them."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Deana Sumanac-Johnson and Nazima Walji