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Laurier, Waterloo Region District School Board celebrate Black brilliance during youth conference
April 5, 2024
Print | PDFLive music, applause and cheers filled the air at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus as more than 200 Black Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) students in Grades 5 through 8 celebrated their identities, heritage and futures during the Black Brilliance conference.
The conference, hosted by the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa at Laurier and the WRDSB on Feb. 22, aimed to inspire African, Caribbean and Black-identifying students to pursue higher education by connecting them with members of Laurier’s Black community. More than 260 students from 28 elementary schools in Waterloo Region attended the conference.
The event marked the first time the Black Brilliance conference had been offered to elementary students.
Students in Grades 5 through 8 attended the first-ever Black Brilliance conference at Laurier.
“Our goal for the conference was to create a positive experience for elementary students of African descent — one that they would always associate with being at a university, in a lecture hall, with university professors and university students,” says Karen Cyrus, director of the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa at Laurier and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Music. “We have received very positive feedback about the conference and hope that this experience will help WRDSB students of African descent see a range of possibilities for their future, which I hope includes attending Laurier.”
Twenty-six Black and racialized Laurier faculty and staff members from the Dean of Students Office, Athletics and Recreation, Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Music, Laurier Centre for Community Music, and Office of the Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, among others, shared their time and expertise with student participants during workshops and breakout sessions following a keynote address by former Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo.
More than 260 students from 28 WRDSB schools attended the conference.
“One of the most powerful things about bringing Black elementary students together in education spaces is that it strips away doubt, questions and misinformation about why these spaces are important,” says Teneile Warren, equity and inclusion officer with the WRDSB. “The conference allowed students to see that the world is bigger than their classroom, hallway or community.”
Laurier collaborates with education partners and community organizations to create opportunities for youth to overcome systemic barriers to postsecondary education and see themselves in a university community that is welcoming, diverse and inclusive.
Former Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo offered a keynote address.
In February, the Black Student Association at Laurier hosted Beating the Odds, an annual conference designed to inspire Black high school students to pursue higher education after graduation. More than 200 students from across Waterloo Region attended. Beating the Odds will mark its 20th anniversary in February 2025.
On May 9 and 10, Laurier and the University of Waterloo will co-host the 2024 Inter-Institutional Forum of the Scarborough Charter. The forum aims to bridge gaps in learning and action to build better connections for Black flourishing among stakeholders in higher education. To learn more, email scarboroughcharter@wlu.ca.