Loy Excellentia Initiative celebrates Black History Month at Brandon University

On Saturday February 24, 2024, the Loy Excellentia Initiative organized an event for all African/Black students at Brandon University (BU) and Assiniboine Community College (ACC) to mark the Black History Month in Canada,

Loy Excellentia Initiative is founded by a Nigerian-Canadian professor in the Faculty of Education at BU, Dr. Aloy Anyichie. The event was attended by over 50 African students, as well as Dr. Alysha Farrell (Dean, Faculty of Education at Brandon University), Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett, Councillor Jason Splett, Brandon’s first Black councillor, Sunday Frangi, and Richard Azinwi (Vice President, Commercial Financial Services, Royal Bank of Canada).

The event started with the land acknowledgement and opening prayer by the Founder of Loy Execellentia, Dr Anyichie who is also an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Brandon University. In his welcome message, Dr. Farrell remarked her excitement about co-hosting this event that brings together Black students happening in BU’s Faculty of Education building.

Keynote Speech

In his Keynote speech on the theme: Rising Together: Empowering African/Black Students to Excel Through Mentorship, Dr. Anyichie gave a brief history of how the Black History Month celebration started in the United States of America and Canada. He highlighted the importance of celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of black people and black communities in Canada. Such celebrations “reminds us that Africans are born to be successful and excel wherever they find themselves and the need to rise together as one”.

He explained how his challenges as an international student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver as well as his award of the best PhD dissertation in Educational Psychology in the whole of Canada in 2019 was instrumental to his founding this initiative. He said, “Reflecting on my journey as a PhD student, the challenges and opportunities especially the mentorship experiences and how they shaped the future that I am living today, I thought that it will be wonderful to create opportunity for African/Black Students to be able to gain the support they need to excel. I hate seeing someone experiencing similar challenge I have navigated. That is the spark for founding of Loy Excellentia Initiative”.

This initiative is founded to empower African students to excel through mentorship and support programs. It has three major components including mentorship, workshops and social events. Dr. Anyichie highlighted that absence of any specific events tailored for all African students during Black History Month in Brandon community contributed to his organizing this event as a platform for the students to connect and integrate into the community. Through Loy Excellentia initiative, the African students of both BU and ACC, faculty members of both institutions, and community members are brought together for the first time in the same space to celebrate the Black History Month and listen to the experiences of these students.  He encouraged the students to never forget where they are coming from and the African cultural heritage and values of collectivism enshrined in group goals, personal/interpersonal relationships, hospitality, resilience and hardwork. He, therefore, charged the African students to come together as one and be empowered to be successful through the mentorship opportunities Loy Excellentia is freely offering them.  

Student Representative from BU and ACC

Chukwuanugo Okudo, President of the Brandon University Students’ Union, acknowledged the challenges faced by newcomers, particularly in accessing health care.

“Our big concern has been health care and we have done our best to write to ministers, advocating for international students to have the health card once more…. Cost of medications and doctor consultations has been perceived as having a considerable monetary impact, leading to concerns about paying out of pocket for these services.”

He highlighted the reluctance of some international students to seek medical assistance due to the perceived financial burden, especially for checkups or prescriptions.

“We’ve done our best to send out letters and have meetings with some of the ministers and we are still hoping to get some meaningful response,” he said. “But for new investor students, we do have a student VIP health plan that we still offer to students, both domestic and international, to help cover some parts of the insurance.”

The president of African Students Club, ACC’s Student Association Mubarak Adewunmi expressed his excitement about the Black history celebration organized by Loy Excellentia. He, also, emphasized the challenges faced by newcomers, including housing, language barriers, transportation, and socialization.

Adewunmi was motivated to address these challenges at council meetings, after he gathered feedback from students, sending weekly newsletters to inquire about their challenges and how they want better representation.

“There has been progress, possibly due to pre-existing initiatives, in completing bus stops, checking routes for additional buses and housing…Currently, there’s an initiative on housing, where a survey has been sent to students to understand their housing challenges and what the school can do. These were concerns raised in council meetings, and I’m pleased to see that action is being taken.”

Messages from the Guests

Brandon’s first Black councillor, Sunday Frangi, says there is a need for excellence and unity among Black students. He encouraged the students to aim to be successful knowing that “To have something you don’t have; you need to do something you never did.”

Fawcett, who commended the Loy Excellentia Initiative, expressed continual joy in welcoming students from around the world to Brandon, whether at the college or the university, noting a significant change in this trend over the last generation.

“Many individuals come here seeking educational opportunities, and what initiatives like Loy Excellentia do is provide a better chance to establish connections… It helps students feel comfortable more quickly, giving them someone to talk to and encouraging involvement in the broader community.”

This, in turn, Fawcett said, creates a base of people with whom students feel connected, enabling them to be more adventurous and engaged in the community, which is key.

Regarding the areas expected for exploration by students after graduation and contributing to the development of the region, Fawcett said “look at entrepreneur Emilio Brown, a BU graduate from Jamaica, actively involved in the Chamber of Commerce and various community initiatives. Mentoring is crucial, and recent graduates like Emilio serve as excellent mentors.”

“Health care is an obvious area, considering the significant number of students in nursing,” he added. “Transitioning these students from the nursing program to positions in our region is a priority. Education is also vital, and anything that BU and ACC offer presents opportunities, as there is demand for various fields.”

Mr. Azinwi shared his own experiences of being an international student in Canada about 20 years ago. He encouraged the students to always look out for mentors and never to allow the mentorship opportunities created by Loy Excellentia to elude them.

Closing

In addition to meal and drinks, the students were engaged in different types of games facilitated by Dr. Ayodeji Osiname, an assistant professor at Brandon University. The students also had opportunity to share their experiences of challenges and opportunities. There was also announcement of door prizes and recognition of volunteers for the event.

In her vote of thanks, on behalf of the organizing committee, Dr. Onyinye Okeke, an Instructor at ACC commended the founder of Loy Excellentia for his love for education and commitment towards supporting international students especially those of African descent. She also expressed her gratitude to all who helped in organizing the event including the volunteers and all in attendance.

In his closing remarks, Dr Anyichie, in addition to thanking all in attendance he charged the African students to come together and form an association of African students in Brandon so that they can have a voice and support each other to succeed.

He was happy for the different people and institutions that supported the events such as Dr. Farrell, RBC, Westoba Credit Union and Slankit.

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