Students of Colour Speak Out: Race and Belonging on Campus
Students of colour struggle to feel included on predominantly white campuses.
Posted July 3, 2025 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk
By Hesam Farahani, Lucia Rios Maia da Silva, and Monnica T. Williams
In recent years, universities across Canada and beyond have made public commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion. But how are those commitments experienced by students on the ground, especially students of colour?
At the University of Ottawa, we sought to answer that question directly by surveying more than 400 racialized students about their experiences with race, discrimination , and inclusion on campus. The result was one of the largest studies of its kind , a deep and sometimes difficult look at how students of colour experience campus life.
What we found was both encouraging and challenging.
On the one hand, many BIPOC students described feeling welcomed by peers, staff, and faculty. Campus reforms in recent years, particularly those aimed at improving accountability in campus security and increasing awareness of racial dynamics, appear to be making a difference. Some students noted improvements in how campus safety is handled, and others highlighted grassroots activism and peer-support networks that have helped them feel seen and supported.
Yet, troubling patterns persist. Many students reported experiencing racial microaggressions in classrooms and social spaces, including being mistaken for service workers, being made to feel like outsiders, or feeling a need to suppress aspects of their racial or cultural identity to “fit in.”
What Students of Colour Are Telling Us
Students shared some powerful reflections:
“A professor could mistake the same 3 Black girls in her 30-person class for the whole semester and still blame it on 'not being good with names'. Even representation in teachers is so hard to find.” –First-year student in psychology
“The university should make an overall program and ask BIPOC students once what they would like to see and then implement that. They keep asking BIPOC students to relive their trauma , and then they do nothing about it.” –Fourth-year student in health science
“[The university] should implement mandatory, in-person, racial sensitivity training for every student. This training would happen within classrooms, and attendance needs to be taken in some way. As a consolidation activity, students would need to participate in a community volunteering initiative to execute anti-racist practices, in order to pass their semester. This idea will help students better understand the experiences of BIPOC and show students that it is not optional to learn about racism because it happens around us every day, and everyone has a role to play, whether they are conscious of it or not.”–First-year student in health sciences
Perhaps most strikingly, nearly three-quarters of students said they did not know how to report incidents of racism. This points to a gap—not necessarily in policy—but rather in communication, awareness, and trust.
“Any activity, program, or initiative, while they may have good intentions, does not make a large enough impact that I notice a difference in my daily life or even on campus. It's a lot of talk but not enough action.” –Second-year student in management
These responses are not unique to uOttawa. Similar studies at U.S. and Canadian universities, including the University of Connecticut, have revealed parallel trends. The message from students is clear: Representation, outreach, and cultural competence matter. Students want more than statements. They want action that they can feel in their everyday lives through inclusive classrooms, accessible mental health supports, and visible representation in leadership .
Equally important is the need to improve mental health support for racialized students. The study found that experiences of racial microaggressions were strongly linked to symptoms of racial trauma, anxiety , and depression .
“It brought up really difficult feelings, and I felt very emotional while filling out the survey and going through the emotions of how it felt in these situations. I had to take a break half way through, and I ended up crying and feeling the anxiety all over again.” –Fourth-year student in health science
Despite this, few students reported using campus mental health services, citing a lack of cultural sensitivity, trust, and representation among providers. To better meet these needs, universities must invest in culturally affirming care, diversify their counseling staff, and offer treatments that address the unique stressors faced by BIPOC students. One model for this is the racial trauma group therapy previously offered at uOttawa, which provided space for collective healing and validation, as well as specialized treatments for racial trauma.
Recommendations for Change
To that end, a number of student-informed recommendations arose:
Looking ahead, we plan to conduct a campus-wide climate survey to launch in the fall of 2025. This larger initiative aims to include all racialized students to build on these findings with a broader, institutional lens.
Creating a truly inclusive university is not the work of a single office or survey; it is a collective, ongoing effort. But by starting with honest dialogue and data-informed recommendations, we can move closer to that goal.
Williams, M. T., Nepton, A., Olaoluwa, I. F. & Farahani, H. (2025, June 8). Experiences of Racism Among Students of Colour at the University of Ottawa. University of Ottawa. https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-31205
Nepton, A., Farahani, H., Olaoluwa, I. F., Strauss, D., & Williams, M. T. (2025). How Racial Microaggressions Impact the Campus Experience of Students of Color. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being . 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB7632
Cénat, J. M., Hajizadeh, S., Dalexis, R. D., Ndengeyingoma, A., Guerrier, M., & Kogan, C. (2022). Prevalence and effects of daily and major experiences of racial discrimination and microaggressions among Black individuals in Canada. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(17–18), NP16750–NP16778.
Forrest-Bank, S. S., & Cuellar, M. J. (2018). The mediating effects of ethnic identity on the relationships between racial microaggression and psychological well-being. Social Work Research , 42(1), 44–56.
Fournier, E. (2022). Providing mental health support for BIPOC students. Mental Health, 31(5).
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Monnica Williams, Ph.D., ABPP, is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Ottawa in the School of Psychology, where she is the Canada Research Chair for Mental Health Disparities.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.