Reflections on Black Student Access Initiatives at Canadian Universities During the War on "Woke" Higher Education

• In Event: Access to and Equity in Canadian Higher Education for Mature Students Symposium

Abstract

Objectives:
This paper critically examines the extent to which Canadian universities and their provincial governments intentionally foster access to higher education (HE) for Black-African-Caribbean (BAC) students, including mature students. It interrogates whether institutional and policy responses to systemic anti-Black racism translate into tangible, race-conscious access initiatives. Situated within the larger symposium theme on mature students, this study offers a foundational exploration of the structural commitments (or lack thereof) to Black student access—laying the groundwork for subsequent papers focused on subpopulations of mature students and their educational trajectories.

Theoretical Framework and/or Perspectives:
Guided by Black radical thought and theories of anti-Blackness, this paper employs a framework that centers Black epistemologies and interrogates the systemic dehumanization of BAC communities in settler colonial educational contexts. The analysis positions Blackness as consistently rendered out-of-place in Canadian institutions, particularly within higher education. The study also critiques colorblind equity frameworks that obscure the specificity of anti-Black racism by subsuming BAC identities under broader categories like "visible minority" or "racialized."
Methodology & Data Sources:
This qualitative multi-case study, conducted by the Black Student University Access Network (BSUAN), analyzes institutional documents and public data from four universities. Data were collected by local research teams and subjected to a cross-case thematic analysis, moving through stages of preparation, exploration, specification, and integration (Shahid et al., 2019). The study also examines the presence, or absence, of provincial policy incentives that support BAC student access.

Findings & Scholarly Significance:
Findings reveal that only two of the four universities have access initiatives specifically targeted to BAC students, often due to longstanding community advocacy. By contrast, the other two lack race-conscious programming and do not systematically track BAC student enrollment. This absence signals institutional resistance to naming and addressing structural anti-Black racism, and a tendency to conflate Blackness with immigrant or international status. These patterns perpetuate the erasure of Black Canadians from discourses on equity in HE. This paper underscores the need for disaggregated race-based data collection, community-driven program development, and policy frameworks that go beyond generic equity language to directly confront anti-Black racism. In doing so, it provides a critical entry point for understanding and improving mature student access more broadly, especially for those who are multiply marginalized by age, race, and other intersecting systems of oppression.

Author

• Vidal Chavannes, University of Toronto