By Moyo Lawuyi
While Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) bustling, multicultural downtown location fosters a diverse demographic of students, many have also undergone their own search for like-minded peers who can provide them with a safe space through shared lived experiences.
According to The Ryersonian’s archives, in the 1980s, the then-named Ryerson Polytechnical Institute had only one student group for Black students—the Ryerson Caribbean and African Association. However, this was before the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion—and long before its first Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate report in July 2020.
Today, there are various Black student groups at TMU where, in 2024, eight per cent of its undergraduate population identified as Black. These groups range from cultural and ethnic associations to academic program groups, which provide not only a social gathering but also a home away from home and a shared space to celebrate Black identities.
If you’re looking to connect with fellow Black students, explore Black cultures and traditions or simply have a good time, here are five student groups at TMU for you.
Black Business Students’ Association (BBSA)
In her second year at TMU, global management studies student Olamide Olukolu was searching online for initiatives at the university for Black students, when she came across the Black Business Students’ Association (BBSA) and joined as a general ambassador.
Now in her third year, Olukolu serves as the association’s corporate relations leader. She said the association fosters a supportive community and provides resources that work to minimize barriers within the corporate world that Black students might face.
Since its creation in 2021, the BBSA has hosted many events, but Olukolu said its professional events—like the group’s annual conference or shark tank—are what benefit students the most.
“It’s a way for companies to actually engage with Black students and talk about the resources they have in their companies that will benefit us,” she said.
The BBSA also aims to help bridge the gap between students and industry professionals. While many resources on campus provide mentorships and career advancement opportunities, Olukolu said not many focus on Black students.
“BBSA is focused on Black experiences and how easy or how hard it is to actually navigate corporate spaces,” she said.
The group also hosts social events and, at times, collaborates with other Black student groups at TMU to allow students to network and forge connections with people from their community.
Olukolu said many people mistakenly believe that due to the group’s name, only students in the Ted Rogers School of Management can join or attend events. However, she assured that the BBSA welcomes all Black-identifying students regardless of their faculty.
Black Fashion Student Association (BFSA)
The Black Fashion Student Association (BFSA) was founded in 2019 by Caron Phinney—an assistant professor at TMU’s School of Fashion—to create a community for Black-identifying students in a program where they saw little representation.
Since joining the association in her first year, now co-president and fourth-year fashion student Cali Greenidge has watched the association grow from organizing fashion runway shows to welcoming guest speakers, including influential Black figures in the industry such as Sean Brown, Karen Ferguson and Iris Simpson.
“Bringing in these outside sources who can speak to their real experience, while being Black and working in the fashion industry, helped to make the space positive and I think motivates students to fulfill their creative passion,” said Greenidge.
The group also runs more laid-back events, such as vinyl painting and game nights. In recent years, it has evolved into a home for Black students who are interested in fashion and related fields, regardless of their program.
“It was important that we opened the BFSA to students outside of the fashion program, cause we knew that the community could be so much stronger and so much bigger,” said Greenidge.
Caribbean Students Association (CASA)
TMU’s Caribbean Students Association (CASA) was reinstated in 2023 after its president, Analise Bartolo and her friends pursued a goal to bring together the Caribbean community on campus.
Bartolo, a third-year global management studies student, said transitioning from the warmth of the Caribbean islands to cold Canadian winters can be difficult for many students. With that shared experience as a base, the group aims to plan events that unite the community.
“We [try to] uplift the spirits a bit more and try to teleport people to make them feel as though they are home, despite the weather,” she said.
So far, the group has hosted events like game nights/potlucks and Caribbean parties that allow Caribbean students—regardless of their birthplace—to get to know each other. The club is also open to people who aren’t from the islands to attend events just so they learn more about Caribbean culture.
“I just want everybody to feel safe and feel included and feel welcomed. Just seeing that being radiated through people’s faces at events, it’s, it’s the most fulfilling feeling,” said Bartolo.
Nigerian Students’ Association (NSA)
TMU’s Nigerian Students’ Association (NSA) is relatively new, having been created in 2023 by a group of first and second-year Nigerian students. They felt that although many Nigerians they knew attended the same places of worship in Toronto, they still needed a community on campus—which was missing.
Ihinosen Ebhohimhen, a third-year biomedical engineering student, is the president of the NSA as well as one of its founders. She said that since most Nigerians on campus are international students, the group was essential to establish.
“We wanted to create a space where you could be your truest ‘Nigerian-iest’ self,” she said.
Ebhohimhen said the group introduces students to resources—such as where to get their hair braided or the best place for Nigerian groceries and ethnic food—providing a soft landing for newcomers.
The group also hosts many social events during the school year to introduce more Nigerian peers to each other. These events benefit first-year students especially, helping them bond over shared experiences, cultural ties and mutual connections from home.
“You don’t really have to start from scratch with people in a cultural group,” said Ebhohimhen.
For now, the association’s president said the group aims to curate more career and academic-centric events and reach parts of the Nigerian student population that might not have heard of them.
“We’re just here to help you unwind. We’re here to help you have a good laugh, eat some jollof rice and be happy,” said Ebhohomhen.
United Black Students Association (UBSA)
While the university’s United Black Students Association (UBSA) had existed for many years, it fell inactive until Mary Kamau, a fifth-year RTA media production student and Markicia Fletcher, a fourth-year social work student took the initiative to revive it in the winter 2024 semester.
Kamau had spent six months in Germany as part of an exchange program through TMU and saw how a Black community foundation there had events for Black-identifying students in their predominantly white university. This motivated her to restart the UBSA alongside Fletcher when she got back to Toronto.
Both Kamau and Fletcher said it was difficult to go through the various steps needed to make the group official again but knew how important it was to have this Black student space on campus—one that transcended ethnic backgrounds or academic programs.
“We just want it to be a safe space for any type of Black-identifying student,” said Kamau.
Now the two co-presidents lead a new team that curates events ranging from study sessions and panel discussions to movie nights and parties.
Kamau said that at a commuter school like TMU, the UBSA is essential to build a community on campus.
“Given the history of who we are as Black people, it’s so important for us to come together, share in our experiences and work together to be better people, to find each other and to create community,” she said.
Fletcher agreed, citing that the group additionally helps create a space where students can talk about the racism or microaggressions they may experience on campus when they don’t feel comfortable doing so elsewhere.
“[It’s important] having that outlet where we can talk to each other and just uplift each other and change the narrative at school to say, ‘Hey, we’re Black and we’re here,’” affirmed Fletcher.
“’We’re here to stay. We have a purpose here, there’s a reason we’re on this planet.”
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