Back to School 2026-27: NAIT holds first fall orientation for Black, Caribbean and African students

Adebayo Otekunrin left Lagos, Nigeria, where he was born and raised, to “expand my world view,” he says. “You cannot just get used to one way of seeing things.”

So, in January 2026, the 30-year-old arrived in Edmonton. He had enrolled in NAIT’s Bachelor of Technology in Management program, planning to build on his previous post-secondary credentials in computer science.

Despite the snow and cold, “my first experience and impression of Canada was lovely,” says Otekunrin. In contrast to the winter, “the people here are warm and friendly.”

Nonetheless, he felt the culture shock of travelling halfway around the world.

Otekunrin was interested in understanding a new country and customs, but he recognized that he needed the balance of something familiar. To his delight, that arrived in the form of Nigerian meat pies and finger foods known as “small chops,” which he enjoyed soon after his arrival with a few new friends at NAIT’s inaugural Black, Caribbean and African (BCA) Student Connect.

“It was a beautiful welcoming,” says Otekunrin.

Aug. 28 will mark the first time that reception is part of the institute’s fall series of welcome sessions, including NAIT Student Orientation and Indigenous Student Orientation. Together, they’ll attract as many as 1,800 students. Among Alberta polytechnics, NAIT is the first to hold an event specifically for Black-identifying students.

Alisha Shah, resource centre supervisor at NAIT’s Centre for Community and Belonging (CCB), proposed it after noticing a similar one at the University of Calgary. 

“What stood out to me was the opportunity for students of the African and Caribbean diaspora to connect with one another, build community, and see themselves reflected within the post-secondary landscape,” she says.

Today, the BCA orientation is the product of a collaboration between staff of the Black Excellence Employee Network, which works to foster belonging, champion success and celebrate the richness of Black culture at NAIT.

“When we think of the student academic journey, especially in a post-secondary setting, we think of the orientation as the beginning of that journey,” says academic liaison and Network member Salwa Mohamud, who volunteers to help with budgeting for the event in addition to helping out the day of. 

As that beginning, the orientation presents a unique and valuable opportunity.

“[Creating] a specific space for our students, in which they feel acknowledged and seen, I think that sends a strong message … that they matter.”

Serving a selection of comfort foods is just one part of creating that space. The program also includes music, guest speakers and performers such as spoken word poets. Taken together, it’s meant to enable students to connect while they also learn about the services that will support their success at NAIT. 

Mostly, though, it’s about the gathering.

“Naturally, when you're in a new environment, maybe a foreign environment, you seek comfort in … people that you can relate to, people that look like you, the people that you know can bring that sense of home to you,” says Mohamud.

There is much diversity within the community, notes Otekunrin, but he believes all members of the diaspora share enough in common to make the event authentic and meaningful.

“As Africans, Blacks and Caribbeans, I think we have a similar way of communicating [through] storytelling,” he says. “Once students see someone who looks like them, they know that this is a safe space to relax.”

And perhaps they also know it’s a safe place to work to achieve their academic goals and likely more. In addition to settling into his program comfortably enough to earn grades meeting his expectations, Otekunrin joined the CCB as a belonging ambassador. If a student is struggling, the role qualifies him to listen and suggest appropriate on-campus services and resources.

He’ll continue in the role into the fall, when his classes resume, and through next spring. For Otekunrin, it’s a way to pay forward benefits he received from that first BCA orientation, such as the confidence it may take to make an unfamiliar place more like home.

“It made me feel like I didn't go to the wrong place,” says Otekunrin. “It made me feel like I was supposed to be there.”