From dreaming of wearing the “hat” to inspiring and uplifting those around her, Professor Kesha Fevrier now balances multiple roles across campus, each one a new feather in her cap.
The Queen’s Student of Colour Collective, a student group that advocates for racialized students on campus, is hosting “Pathways to Success: A with Professionals of Colour,” featuring Fevrier, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Planning and a Queen’s National Scholar.
On Feb. 13, the will highlight professionals of colour and provide students with insights into their career journeys.
In an interview with The Journal, Fevrier reflected on her journey as a former student and an academic scholar, sharing the challenges she faced and the importance of intentionality when seeking mentorship.
“My path here would have been more complicated and a lot more difficult without having good mentors,” Fevrier said. “When I started my master’s, none of my mentors were Black. Both of them were white, and in some ways, that was also a great learning experience,” Fevrier said.
Coming from York University, which she describes as a more diverse institution than Queen’s, she found strong mentorship to be instrumental in navigating academia. That system helped her manage the imposter syndrome that often accompanies both academic and professional journeys.
“A lot of racialized students We’re coming through York and […] that made the PhD journey a lot easier for me, because of [the] level of mentorship that I got,” Fevrier said. “I would also say that sort of mentorship [helps] you deal with your imposter syndrome.”
With a PhD in environmental studies, Fevrier described the imposter syndrome she felt when she was first hired at Queen’s in 2021, particularly given her hiring coincided with the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“You had companies and institutions, all of them coming out, making statements in of Black Lives. Universities were doing cluster hires,” Fevrier said. “The optimist among us would have thought, ‘this is great, the tide is turning.’ The pessimists among us [said], ‘I don’t think so.’”
She explained being hired under these circumstances led to an internal struggle about representation and expectations. “Sometimes it’s very hard to not connect George Floyd with your hire,” Fevrier said. “Am I hired as evidence that the University is committed to diversifying its faculty? Am I hired because of this pressure so many institutions faced after the murder of George Floyd and the rise of Black Lives Matter?”
Beyond her academic responsibilities, Fevrier acknowledges the additional emotional labour often expected of Black faculty .
“If there’s an equity committee, if there’s Black History Month, if there’s needed for Black students—who are they going to ask? The Black professors,” Fevrier said. “As if you represent Blackness. But I don’t represent global Blackness—I can only speak for my experiences.”
Considering her own academic journey, Fevrier shared a personal anecdote about what first inspired her to pursue a PhD, and it all had to do with the feeling that came with being represented and feeling represented.
“I sitting at my master’s graduation in 2011, and I one of the first doctoral candidates walked up [the stage], she had a Shakespearean hat, she had dreads, or she had her head braided and, in my head, all I said is, ‘I’m going to wear that hat,’” Fevrier said.
Years later, in 2022, Fevrier walked across the stage herself, finally wearing the hat she had envisioned for so long.
She encourages students of colour at Queen’s to take an active role in finding community and resources.
“It’s about figuring out what resources are available to you, and not just assuming that there is nothing,” Fevrier said. “There are groups, whether it’s student-led groups, whether it’s other university initiatives. It’s about finding networks and connecting with faculty and community groups.”
Tags
Queen’s Student of Colour Collective
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].