BIPOC Student Support Group provides safe space to be heard and seen

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) students at King’s have a safe space to be heard, seen and relate to one another through the efforts of the BIPOC Student Support Group. There are already plans to continue the group next year.

“When students participate in the BIPOC Student Support Group, they are afforded a level of understanding that can only come through shared experience,” says Teigan Elliott, KUCSC Vice President of Student Affairs.

Each session of the BIPOC Support Group centers on a different topic relating to the BIPOC experience, as chosen by the attendees.

“Discussion revolves around the lived experience of attendees, allowing for students to share their thoughts and feelings in a safe space, and also facilitates learning about the topic and how to navigate it as racialized people. Throughout the year, we've covered a variety of topics including navigating white spaces; the relationship between colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy; dealing with microaggressions and stress; interracial relationships,” says Elliott.

The conversations are guided by Jennifer Slay, Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization, and Christina Lord, who serves on the London Black History Coordinating Committee and the Congress of Black Women, London Chapter, who facilitate the group under their co-owned business, Shifting Perspectives. Both Slay and Lord share their knowledge of, and experience with, each topic and allow attendees to share theirs as well. 

“Representation matters.  Many students can go through their post-secondary career never having a professor of colour and subconsciously it can have detrimental effects on what a person believes is possible.  I’m very proud of King’s for recognizing and supporting the needs of their students in this way,” says Slay.

The group was created in 2021 to recognize the experiences of people of colour on campus. The formation of the group, through the combined efforts of the King’s University College Students’ Council (KUCSC), King’s Students Affairs and Shifting Perspectives, was one of the recommendations made by the Anti-Racism Working Group in their 2021 Anti-Racism Report. Roshaydia Morgan, then-KUCSC Vice President of Student Affairs, a member of the Anti-Racism Working Group and now the KUCSC President, oversaw the first year of the group.

For more information about the BIPOC Student Support Group, visit the Event Calendar listing.