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Results Announced: Inaugural Election for Black Caucus Steering Committee

September 14, 2023

We are so excited to announce the results for Black Caucus' inaugural Steering Committee election. Meet your 2023 Steering Committee.

Meet the 2023 Steering Committee

Congratulations to the successful candidates of Black Caucus' inaugural Steering Committee election! To learn more about each individual, their role, and responsibilities be sure to check out our governance page.

Hope Alicia

Co-Chair (Student)

(she/her)
Undergraduate Student

Read Hope's Bio

June Francis

Co-Chair (Faculty)

(she/her)
Associate Professor

Moroti Soji-George

Secretary

(he/they)
Alumnus

Read Moroti's Bio

Obumneme Stanley Dukor

Treasurer

(he/him)
Graduate Student

Read Obumneme's Bio

Oromyia Ali

University Administration Relations Officer

(she/her)
Undergraduate Student

Read Oromyia's Bio

Tiara Cash

External Universities and Black Community Relations Officer

(she/they)
Graduate Student

Read Tiara's Bio

Clemance Bisamu

Actions, Solidarity, and Social Justice Officer

(she/her)
Undergraduate Student

Read Clemance's Bio

Henry Daniel

Academics, Research and Mentorship Officer

(he/him)
Distinguished 間眅埶AV Professor

Read Henry's Bio

Survey Results

During the voting period, we asked Black Caucus members about what initiatives, events, and advocacy they would like to see from the Caucus. For both questions, we have organized the responses into sub-categories for easy viewing.

Check out the results below arrow_downward

What initiatives or events would you like to see 間眅埶AV Black Caucus host in the 2023-2024 academic year for students, staff, faculty and alumni? Could be in-person or online.

To view the results, click on the toggles below. Responses by broad category, in no specific order

Organizational Practices, Succession Planning, and Sustainability

  • Centralize and regularize certain events such as Black Grad, Black Student Orientation, and a Group Mentorship Semesterly meeting or more for Students to attend and meet professors.

  • Solidify the appointed roles and also generally make it accessible for people to get involved. Ensure to get quickly added to the mailing list when they are interested

  • Discussion on the Black Student Centre

  • Make it more accessible for people to find and join Black Caucus 

  • Hybrid general meetings every month. Online accessibility is important, and so is in-person connections to build rapport. 

  • Black Caucus should establish community guidelines, and a fair policy / accountability process for how to handle misconduct. For example, if the Caucus felt the need to expel a member from the Caucus for causing harm, what would that look like? What would support for the person harmed look like? 

  • Establish and document a good transition / onboarding system for Black Caucus elected members and volunteers 

  • Link Black students with professionals Mentor and mentee programmes

Celebrating & Archiving

  • Continue Black Grad!! 

  • A newsletter with highlights and opportunities to get involved 

  • End-of-year celebrations of Black Caucus members achievements 

  • Host a discussion imagining what Canadas first historically Black University could look like community series discussions about any subjects, with live-graphic recording. Example here.

  • Have information and updates about events, meetings, updates publicly available on the Black Caucus website and social media Host annual general meetings 

  • Green Book (Sharing internal knowledge and experiences of Black Folx at 間眅埶AV) 

  • An academic research webinar to showcase the research of Black Caucus members.

  • Expanding funding opportunities and scholarships for international students could be a transformative initiative for the 間眅埶AV Black Caucus in the 2023-2024 academic year. Creating scholarships specifically aimed at international students from Black backgrounds would be a powerful way to support their educational journey. These scholarships can be merit-based or need-based, enabling talented students to access quality education without financial constraints.

Cultural, Skill, and Community Building

  • Informative workshops

  • More dances that bring together and celebrate different cultures

  • More in person events that facilitate open conversation on difficult topics or life in general - workshop based 

  • Game night

  • Annual or bi-annual conference about different subjects (with free entrance for Black students). Have local speakers and fly in speakers from various places 

  • Get to know each other and set the main priorities within 間眅埶AV Communities

  • Build connections between students, staff, and faculty; host casual social events, professional networking events, mentorship program Black student orientation 

  • Collaborations with other Black organizations and businesses, including grassroots groups/initiatives, in Canada. Local examples Hogans Alley Society, Vancouver Black Library, etc 

  • Launch 間眅埶AV-sponsored trips to Ghana for small cohorts of Black students, staff, and faculty who are descendants of enslaved Africans to reconnect with heritage, history, and identity

  • In-Person Tea Time Meet-ups (Monthly would be great! I'm thinking an informal meeting for community building in addition to general membership meetings) 

  • The Black History Month programming was very good. Maybe a Spring Social? a Winter one?

  • Black Co-Working Sessions (Online/Remote) 

  • SOCA Collab Meet-up 

  • 間眅埶AV DNA Collab Meet-up 

  • SFPIRG Collab Community Workshops 

  • Hogan's Alley History Event 

  • Vancouver Black Library Meet-up 

  • 間眅埶AV Black Archives Presentation(s) 

  • Film and show screenings (documentaries, Black fiction and non-fiction) 

  • Cookout(s)

  • Listening Parties (For the albums people want to celebrate, past and newly released)

  • In-person events hosted in the Vancouver core, for example, around the location of Hogans Alley or at the Vancouver campus.

  • Would love to experience a formal Black dinner in the winter, before exams just as a Keep going and look fabulous while you are at it. message

  • Faculty, alumni and Students meets. Black Caucus student Orientation Black Caucus student Events- formal and informal Lobby for the general interests of Black students

  • A networking event from different organizations for students.

  • More events and workshops engaging the black community at 間眅埶AV and getting students more involved in the caucus

  • More in person events :) maybe a welcome/orientation early fall?

  • interested in supporting what the group would like to move forward - can support with leadership contacts

  • At least one social to meet those in Caucus in person - perhaps a workshop or talk on how to navigate academia while being Black - a workshop or talk on Black community building

  • A mixer or networking event for Black graduate students

  • Mentorship programs for research projects, facilitating research and volunteer positions for students in the Black community relevant to their fields of study.

  • Mentorship and networking. Connecting with the larger Black community across the lower mainland, including 間眅埶AV alumni.

  • Meet-n-greets for our Black community at 間眅埶AV, Culture without Borders - an event where we can talk about our similarities and differences as people of the African Diaspora.

  • Any event that brings Black and non-Black students together.

  • Black History Month Initiatives Event supporting Black small business owners

  • Black Caucus Fall/ Spring gathering and orientation Black Grad Black history month celebration event

  • More celebration

  • Fundraisers for Black-focused events, mixers to meet friends, discussions of issues pertaining to Black folks

  • First year social Mix and mingle of alumni and current students and faculty

  • Grad ceremony Career connections nights, Community engagement events, A party, Skill development, Conferences, Guest lectures on Blackness/career/EDI/socially relevant topics, Mentorship opportunities, Travel opportunities

In what ways do you want 間眅埶AV Black Caucus to advocate for you? What issues do you want to see addressed?

Institutional Reform

  • Clear antiracism redress policies amidst racial attacks on campus 

  • End carding and racial profiling at the Dining Hall (Unlike other students, Black students are asked to prove they paid after already being seated. Or students told they dont look like their ID photo and denied entry) 

  • Get 間眅埶AV to collect race-based data (ethically) 

  • Representing collective voices and criticisms of 間眅埶AV's actions and policies (i.e. having members comment on a regressive policy, performative news story or pattern of inadequate intersectional support for Black folx on a shared Google Docs document, aggregating member comments, and then present to various stakeholders at 間眅埶AV as a representation of not just 1 person but a group of 100+ Black folx at 間眅埶AV). Compare and contrast 間眅埶AV's current approach to intersectional anti-racism (and history of anti-blackness) with other institutions, cities and cultures to illuminate oversights, highlight alternatives, and help folx better envision what safer and sustainable possibilities are out there.

  • Safer work environment for black students, staff and faculty.

Access and Power

  • Increase and bolster Black student presence within university administration through partnerships and collaborations with SOCA and ASA on either their events or advocacy 

  • Lack of representation in faculties 

  • Formalizing Black Caucus' place in 間眅埶AV governance structure Formalizing the groups place in 間眅埶AV governance structure Staff to support Black Caucus operations 

  • Hold the university accountable to 間眅埶AV Black faculty cluster-hiring and Black student office (these are both delayed!) 

  • Implement and uphold everything in the that 間眅埶AV signed

  • Advocate for enhanced curricular offerings reflecting the Black experiences at 間眅埶AV, including a Black and African Studies major, taught by Black professors Support professional development opportunities for Black people at 間眅埶AV

  • Bring in more lecturers and staff who identify as black.

  • Putting pressure on the university to follow through with their EDI commitments as well as acknowledging the work that has been done by other Black groups at 間眅埶AV (not just claiming their success) 

  • More Black Faculty Push for more race sensitive training for syllabus

Financial Investment

  • Increased funding for Black Caucus

  • Ensure 間眅埶AV Administration cements Black Caucus annual funding. We can't do much efficiently without money and autonomy 

  • More scholarships for black students

  • Get funding for off campus mental health like UBC's Mental Wellness Pilot Project for Black Students, Faculty and Staff

  • Advocate for more Black student bursaries, awards, and scholarships Support students experiencing anti-Black discrimination, racial violence, and human rights violations at 間眅埶AV and advocate for reporting mechanism for racism

Priority Causes

  • Justice for black people

  • Housing crisis,

  • Food insecurity 

  • Raising student expenses (education, res housing, groceries, tuition, books, etc) 

  • Inequality and issues of discrimination among black students.

  • Supports for Black refugee students, who are at a unique intersection 

  • Creating opportunities for mutual aid and community care among 間眅埶AV Black Caucus members (ongoing, low-entry-barrier spaces and time to reconnect as a community). Collaborating with other intersectional advocacy groups to amplify 間眅埶AV Black Caucus voices, build solidarity, and cross-pollinate ideas and shared causes. 

  • Mentorship for grad students and young faculty would be awesome

  • Highlighting Black joy and success, especially throughout the year and not just during February

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