Years after the passing of pioneering Grenadian-born scholar, educator and anti-racism advocate Dr. Agnes Calliste, St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) in Nova Scotia, Canada has cemented her legacy through a purpose-built space dedicated to supporting Black students on campus: the Dr. Agnes Calliste Academic and Cultural Centre.
Conceived as a safe, dedicated hub where Black students can study, build community, and exist without barriers, the centre is rooted in four core guiding principles: academic achievement, a sense of belonging, collective healing, and connected community. For students who come to the small town of Antigonish from elsewhere, the space has quickly become more than just a study spot—it functions as a home away from home.
“Students drop in for advising, but also just to sit and talk, to spend quiet time in a space that feels safe,” explained Akua Amankwah-Poku, StFX’s Black Student Advisor, whose team supports students through every stage of university life, from navigating bursary applications to connecting them with academic and mental health resources. Centre manager Lorraine Reddick echoed that sentiment, noting the warm, welcoming atmosphere that lets students relax and connect like family. The centre even includes a small kitchen stocked with snacks and staple groceries, removing small everyday barriers for students building new lives off campus. Beyond student support, the space also fosters connection between learners and campus staff, with faculty, library teams and academic support professionals regularly dropping in to engage with students.
To understand the significance of the centre, it is necessary to look back at Calliste’s extraordinary trailblazing career. Calliste began her journey as an educator in her home country of Grenada, teaching English Literature at Grenada Boys’ Secondary School before moving to Canada to join StFX’s sociology department in 1984. Over nearly 30 years at the undergraduate liberal arts institution, she built an international reputation as both a groundbreaking scholar and a relentless advocate for Black students on campus.
Her research redefined understandings of Canadian social history, centering the intersecting impacts of race, ethnicity, gender, and class that had long been erased from mainstream academia. Her landmark work on African-Canadian railway porters and Caribbean-Canadian nurses shed new light on both systemic oppression against marginalized communities and the powerful organized resistance these communities built. Alongside Dr. George Dei of the University of Toronto, Calliste co-edited two widely cited academic collections: *Power, Knowledge and Anti-Racism Education* and *Anti-Racist Feminism*. Today, her work remains a foundational reference in sociology, Black Canadian studies, and anti-racist education. She earned dozens of awards for her contributions to research, education and social justice activism before retiring from StFX in 2010, and passed away in August 2018 at the age of 74, leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape the field.
In addition to the new cultural centre, StFX continues to honor Calliste through the Dr. Agnes Calliste African Heritage Lecture Series, hosted by the university’s sociology department. The series brings leading scholars and activists to campus to continue the work Calliste started, fostering critical conversations about race, resistance, and social justice. Since opening 18 months ago, the academic and cultural centre has already made a measurable difference in the daily lives of Black students at StFX. For Reddick, who was a close friend of Calliste, the space perfectly reflects her life’s work. “She was so supportive of students. She was a believer and a fighter, and this is a great legacy for her,” Reddick said. For Amankwah-Poku, the reward of the work comes in watching students thrive. “And to see them cross the stage at the end and think of all the good things they will do, it makes it worthwhile, it makes it enjoyable, knowing you can support someone’s success.”