In this article, Tedla Desta explores the deep connection between Wilfrid Laurier University and the Kitchener-Waterloo region, focusing on the historical contributions of the Black community, which has been present in the area since the early 1800s. Early Black settlers, such as Peter Edward Susand and John Frederick Augustus Sykes Fayette, played key roles in shaping the region’s social and cultural foundations. Desta also addresses the increase in racialized students during the 1950s and 60s, particularly through the International Business Program, while questioning why the university prioritized international students over established local Black communities. Early Black students like Seth K. Bansa, the first Black graduate, and faculty like Edcil Wickham, the first tenured Black professor, both played key roles in the university and the towns. In a historical climate of pervasive discrimination, Black students and scholars made significant contributions to the university and community life.
THE HISTORY OF A UNIVERSITY is closely connected to the town or region in which it is located, hence the adage “town and gown.” Wilfrid Laurier University has maintained a strong relationship with the local community of the Kitchener-Waterloo region. This article focuses on the less researched history of the university’s first racialized members, primarily Black individuals. It initially developed as part of the Laurier Legacy Project, examines the history of racialized members of the university, with a particular focus on Black communities, utilizing a range of archival, bibliographic, and historiographic sources. To understand the role of Black individuals that shaped WLU’s early history, it is important to first examine the broader history of Black communities in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, whose presence and influence predate the founding of the university. The contributions of these early Black communities laid a social and cultural foundation in the region, shaping the environment in which the university later emerged.
The Black community in Kitchener-Waterloo region has a history that dates back to the early 1800s, arriving in the Waterloo area at least as early as the Mennonites. The first Black immigrant came to the region as an employee of Abraham Erb, often referred to as the founder of Waterloo, and most Black settlers found work as laborers, threshers, hostlers, and cowherds. By 1848, about 1,500 Black settlers were living in the Queen’s Bush area of Waterloo and Wellington counties, and few years later approximately 700 residing in Berlin (Kitchener). The Black community actively participated in local life, establishing one of the first schools to offer formal instruction in English grammar, at the Wellington Institute High School. This school was led by John Frederick Augustus Sykes Fayette, who was the first to use a map as a teaching tool in the classroom in the region. [1]
One of the most notable early Black residents of this region, recently recognized in various Kitchener forums, is Peter Edward Susand. He was the first to establish a barbershop in Kitchener, owned the Meridan Coffee Salon, and authored a book titled The Prose and Poetical Works of Peter Edward Susand. Susand won several legal cases against white individuals who had damaged his property. He also aspired to be a politician, running unsuccessfully for the position of Berlin town councillor. [2] In addition to Susand, Robert Sutherland and Levi Carroll were other prominent early Black residents of the region who made substantial contributions to the area.
Laurier was founded in 1911 as the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary and later changed its name to Waterloo College, then to Waterloo Lutheran University, before finally becoming Wilfrid Laurier University in 1973. I contend that the university did not become international in 1951 when students of colour from Asia, Africa, and the West Indies joined its community. From its inception, Wilfrid Laurier University, along with its offshoot, the University of Waterloo, has been diverse in its composition and has been shaped by the contributions of students and faculty who immigrated to Canada. For example, Nils Willison, the first graduate of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, immigrated from Sweden with his parents as a child. He served as the first registrar, and was a Board Governor, while many faculty members came from Germany and the US.
The November 1951 issue of the student newspaper, The Cord Weekly, featured a cover drawing that illustrated lines connecting the continents to the seminary/college entrance. The editor wrote, “It is only fitting, therefore, that the cover represents Waterloo College as the hub, with spokes radiating to far-flung global points.” The article further stated, “A student from outside the province is rare enough, but when they arrive in quantity from Venezuela, Germany, Nigeria, Liberia, and the West Indies, Kitchener-Waterloo locals are dumbfounded.” [3]
The first international or foreign students to arrive at Waterloo in 1951 included Leo Marechek from Venezuela (born in Singapore), Williy Fritz and Luscha Bechtloff from “war-ravaged” Germany, as the newspaper represented it; Mercy Okum/Okam from Nigeria, Seth Bansa from Liberia (born in Ghana/Gold Coast), and Neville Phills from St. Vincent, West Indies. Seth Bansa and Mercy Okum were very active and participated in many fraternities, societies, and clubs at Waterloo College. Mercy Okum is noted as the first Black female student of the institution and during her stay, she contributed articles to The Cord, including one advising “Foreign Students” and another reflecting on her home country of Nigeria.
Seth K. Bansa, the first Black graduate of WLU [The Keystone, 1954]
It can be seen on the student yearbook, The Keystone, that Seth K. Bansa was the first Black student to graduate with a General Arts degree from Waterloo College in 1954. That same year, Neville W. B. Phillis became the first international student of Asian heritage from St. Vincent, British West Indies, to earn a General Arts degree from the College. In December 1951, Seth contributed an article to The Cord, expressing gratitude for the warmth of the local community in Waterloo. He concluded with a humorous question: “What I would like to know is—why are the people so warm-hearted while their climate is so cold, COLD HEARTED?” [4]
Between 1955 and 1960, the number of racialized students enrolling at the university also grew, with many coming from Guyana, West Indies, New Amsterdam, British Guyana, and Trinidad. During this period, the internationalization of education flourished worldwide. The US Peace Corps ventured into developing countries, while universities in Europe and North America began welcoming students from across the globe, often driven by specific agendas such as missionary work (proselytization), geopolitical interests, colonial aspirations, and economic goals. When we analyze the International Business Program (IBP) and its Export Promotion initiative at this university during the 1960s—a time regarded as a significant and ambitious phase of internationalization in the institution’s history—we may observe that the motivations for this internationalization were likely self-serving and primarily economic.
Established in September 1965 under the sponsorship of the Government of Canada in cooperation with Waterloo Lutheran University, the IBP aimed to “provide management training to businessmen and women, and government officials from developing countries.” [5] It educated hundreds of Asian, African, and South American students until its discontinuation in 1973. This program changed the racial tapestry of both the campus and the region. Until this period, I was unable to find records of Canadian-born or local Black students. Why did the institution admit students of colour from distant countries when a significant number of racialized and Black individuals had been residing in this region since the 1800s? The possible reasons may include economic factors, the Lutheran connection of the institution, and a preference for training Lutheran people of colour.
International Business Students [The Keystone, 1967]
In 1988, WLU introduced a short course for part-time students called “Peoples of Africa: A Televideo Course Offering a Survey of African Cultures.” [6] This initiative indicates a step towards institutional inclusion and content diversification initiatives; however, the campus still does not have a Black Studies program, which is different from African Studies. In addition, the emergence of various associations for racialized students continued, as noted in the October 7, 1998, issue of The Cord, which listed several International Campus Clubs, including the Association of Chinese Students, the Association of Black Students, and the Taiwanese Club, among others.
The racial composition of the faculty began to change in the late 1960s with the hiring of an Asian (George Haggar) and a Black professor. Edcil Wickham, who was originally from Barbados, joined the Faculty of Social Work in 1969 and served as an Associate Professor until his retirement in 1997 .[7] Notably, Wickham was the university’s first tenured Black professor and may have also been the first Black scholar to serve as president of a faculty association at a Canadian university. Elected by the faculty to represent their interests, Wickham first became president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association in 1983, serving until 1984. He later took on the role of inaugural president when WLUFA transitioned to a union, serving from 1988 to 1989, and was re-elected for an additional term from 1989 to 1990.
These students and scholars encountered a range of challenges on campus and in the surrounding towns, including experiences of discrimination. I will compare and analyse those challenges in relation to current data on racism and discrimination in the region, which will be explored in detail in an upcoming article.
As the late-Professor Oscar Leon Cole-Arnal observed, the Black students of this institution made an indelible impact on both the campus and the community. [8] The presence of this community in this region is centuries old, and its contributions are both widespread and significant. This raises an important question: Have the Black communities in the region and former students fairly accessed and benefited from the opportunities and resources available in this region?
Notes
[1] Joanna Rickert-Hall, Waterloo You Never Knew: Life on the Margins. (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2019).
[2] Joanna Rickert-Hall, Waterloo You Never Knew: Life on the Margins. (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2019). and Kitchener Public Library. Black History Month Profile: Kitchener’s First Barber. 2024. https://www.kpl.org/your-library/blogs/all-blogs/blogs/~301-Black-History-Month-profile-Kitchener-s-first-barber
[3] The Cord Weekly (Waterloo), November 1, 1951: 9.
[4] The Cord Weekly (Waterloo), December 1, 1951: 27.
[5] WLU Archives & Special Collections, The Keystone, The International Business Program Begins, 1966.
[6] WLU Archives & Special Collections, News from Wilfrid Laurier University, 051-1988, Press Release, July 1988.
[7] WLU Archives & Special Collections, Photograph Collection, U57_1340.3, Edcil Wickham Retirement Party, 1997.
[8] O.L. Arnal, Toward an Indigenous Lutheran Ministry in Canada: The Seventy-Five Year Pilgrimage of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (1911-1986). (Waterloo: Waterloo Lutheran Seminary: 1988).
Tedla Desta had previously been an Adjunct Lecturer at Martin Luther University College and has recently completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with a focus on Institutional History at Wilfrid Laurier University. He received his PhD in Peace and Reconciliation from Trinity College Dublin in 2016, and a Master of Science in International Development Studies in 2011.