Office of Black Student Affairs (OBSA)
Contact OBSA
Phone | (909) 607-3669
Email | obsa@claremont.edu
Office Hours | Monday-Friday 9am – 4:30pm and by appointment
Office of Black Student Affairs
139 E. Seventh St.
Claremont, CA, 91711
Annual Programs and Events
5 College Peer Mentorship
OBSA Peer Mentorship
PEER MENTOR RECRUITMENT
We accept Peer Mentor applications on a rolling basis from spring-fall, until 2 weeks before the scheduled OBSA retreat. Only rising 5C sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible. Early application is encouraged and application status will be shared within 1-3 weeks, along with assigned mentees and next steps.
2024 OBSA Peer MENTOR application: Apply here!
MENTEE RECRUITMENT
Incoming student to a 5C college? Join OBSA Mentorship and be part of a vibrant community of new and current students. Groups of up to 4 incoming students are assigned to a sophomore, junior or senior. Incoming students who identify as persons of African descent are directly emailed and invited to apply, but you don’t need to wait for the email.
2024 OBSA MENTEE application: Apply here!
OBSA’s ANNUAL MENTORSHIP RETREAT! OPEN TO MENTORSHIP APPLICANTS ONLY
Our annual retreat will be a half day event occurring off campus in September 2024. In order to be eligible to attend, you must be a registered participant in OBSA Mentorship, so applications must be received before September 8 in order to match and assign groups in advance of the event. The retreat is free of charge, with meals and transportation included.
For more information and up to date application reminders, check here and follow OBSA on Instagram. Email OBSA with any questions!
Black
Graduation
Dr. Agnes Moreland Jackson Service Awards and Black Graduation
OBSA hosts the annual Black Graduation ceremony each May to commemorate the many contributions of students, faculty and staff and to celebrate students obtaining degrees from each of The Claremont Colleges (both the graduate and undergraduate institutions). The order of events for the day traditionally includes the OBSA Dean’s welcome address, the singing of the Black National Anthem, followed by the alumni keynote, the graduation ceremony and the closing lunch reception.
Claremont Colleges Black faculty and staff are invited to wear their regalia and register to be seated onstage to cheer on and support students during the ceremony. Each graduate is welcome to make a brief speech to acknowledge those who supported them in their journey. The Dr. Agnes Moreland Jackson Service Awards and Black Graduation occurs on the Friday before graduation, so that graduates, their friends and family and the community at large can attend. It does NOT serve to replace each of the colleges’ graduation ceremonies, and students are encouraged to attend both Black Graduation and their college’s event. Degrees are not conferred at Black Graduation; however all graduates receive a congratulatory certificate from OBSA signed by the Dean and Associate Dean. Following the tradition of hundreds of colleges and universities across the United States, Black Graduation is a unifying, community centered event that provides a sense of belonging, particularly for students of African descent attending colleges where they are few in number. Black Graduation offers space for students and their families to express joy freely and in the spirit of love, inclusion and acknowledgment. Registration for graduates begins in March.
INFORMATION FOR GRADUATES
Each winter, graduates will receive an email invitation to register, along with our outreach flyers and announcements here and on our social media platforms. For 2025, tickets will not be required for entry and OBSA will provide an overflow/screening room for guests. Black Graduation is free and open to students, faculty, staff and guests.
Graduate Student Support
Graduate Student Support
OBSA provides advising and support to Keck Graduate Institute and Claremont Graduate University students in many ways. In addition to weekly coworking space (see Calendar for details) for KGI and CGU students, OBSA hosts monthly social events, advising and partnerships to graduate student-led organizations, and shares resources, opportunities and more in a monthly graduate student-only newsletter. Many of OBSA’s events are seven college inclusive, including our alumni-student mentoring program, Black graduation, the art and wellness programs and various workshops and events. Graduate students may also reserve space in the OBSA bungalow for events (see the OBSA swipe access and space use below). Graduate students are also eligible to apply for OBSA’s annual grants to support research, travel and personal emergencies.
7C Black Alumni Engagment
Alumni Engagement
OBSA holds a 7C Black Alumni brunch each year during the colleges’ alumni weekend. It occurs on the Sunday of the weekend from 11am-1pm in the OBSA Garden. The brunch is part of OBSA’s larger alumni outreach initiatives that include:
- OBSA’s Alumni Database
- The Alumni database collects survey data from Black-identified alumni across the 7 Colleges. We use our database of 7C Black alums to recruit mentors and help identify our Black Graduation alumni keynote.
- The OBSA 7C Virtual Student-Alumni Mentoring Program
- Drawing from OBSA’s database of over 100 Black alumni, Black students are able to match with alumni for virtual mentoring and coaching across colleges, disciplines, and professional interest
- Designed to connect students to alumni with resources, support, and other opportunities
- Matching is done on a rolling basis and pairs are self-directed
- There are in person opportunities for groups with local alumni including a welcome reception and midyear mixer hosted in OBSA
- Claremont Colleges Black Alumni Engagement LinkedIn Page
- Alumni can use the page to share information, learn about OBSA’s specific initiatives directed to alumni and engage with one another on a range of topics
- All current 7C students of African descent are invited to participate in the Alumni Mentoring program, the annual alumni weekend brunch, and to use OBSA’s networks to connect to Black alumni of The Claremont Colleges via our Linkedin page and email newsletter to registered alumni.
Visit the Black Alumni linktr.ee here to stay up to date about OBSA’s alumni connection opportunities, including event RSVPS and links to all of the opportunities mentioned above in one place!
We will only contact alumni if they indicate on the survey that you want to be part of the initiatives listed above. All contact information is confidential and for office purposes only.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration
The Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration is traditionally a 7 college and TCCS celebration. The event is comprised of a lecture, a student session and dinner open to the 7 colleges and TCCS.
Previous invited guests include: Zyahna Bryant (2023), Bryant Terry (2022), Yara Shahidi (2021), The Beyoncé Mass (2020), Dr. Bettina Love (2019), Dr. Chris Emdin (2018), Dr. Melina Abdullah (2017), Jamilah Lemiuex (2016), Dr. Marc Lamont Hill (2015).
Undergraduate/5C Student Support
Undergraduate/5C Student Support
OBSA’s work with undergraduate communities includes formal and informal advising to student-led groups and individuals, sharing resources and partnerships, and more. We offer gathering space for student led organizations, publish a monthly newsletter informing students of coming opportunities in OBSA and across the colleges, and have 5C specific initiatives, including 5C Peer Mentorship and Black Alternabreak. Many of OBSA’s events are open to all colleges including our alumni-student mentoring program, Black graduation, the art and wellness programs and various workshops and events. 5C undergraduate students are also eligible to apply for OBSA’s annual grants to support research, travel and personal emergencies. There are over 12 Black student-led organizations at The Claremont Colleges listed here affiliated with OBSA that engage with us in different ways.
Black History
Month
Black History Month
Black History Month at The Claremont Colleges
Our virtual celebration of Black History at the Claremont Colleges includes events offered by OBSA staff and collected from around the colleges, including students, faculty and staff, allies and partners.
Starting February 1, OBSA shares the calendar on our website and Engage, including RSVP links.
https://linktr.ee/obsaclaremont.
Black
Alternabreak
Black Alternabreak
Black Alternabreak is an annual week-long community engagement trip during Spring Break, in partnership with the Draper Center for Community Partnerships at Pomona College. It is open to all 5 undergraduate colleges, and recruitment begins each fall.
Students commit their spring break to volunteering with organizations in the larger community, addressing social issues such as environmental justice, community uplift, homelessness, and hunger.
Coordinators lead trips to a single location, and trips have occurred in Oakland, Texas and Los Angeles.
OBSA and Africana Studies
OBSA and Africana Studies
OBSA and the Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies have a shared history—both founded in 1969, each department represented the colleges’ move toward inclusive academic and student services born from student protest movements. OBSA and IDAS host a joint open house each year to signify this connection while cross promoting courses, events and opportunities to student, faculty and staff communities. OBSA and IDAS also offer a join brown bag series, provides space for faculty to host courses and events, and OBSA is the site of the AFRI 120 course B(l)ack to Nature: Poetry and Theory Course taught by Professor Laura Harris, which includes a dedicated garden space in the side yard of OBSA and hosted poetry events. In addition to course readings and discussion, enrolled students give weekly time to caretake and steward the garden space; everyone helps design, organize a poetry event/activity, and grows plants.
Upcoming Events
Key Services
OBSA engages student artist communities at the seven colleges by:
-
- offering applicant-based grant support for students who participate in creative projects at the colleges
- offering partial funding to student-organizations who plan community-wide art festivals, performances, workshops and more across media.
- student artists are invited to apply and be provided a stipend to exhibit their unique works in OBSA
- highlighting student creatives on OBSA’s social platforms and in newsletters
OBSA partners with Benton Museum to offer artist receptions and talkbacks, a special salon series event during Black History month, and cross marketing Benton exhibitions, workshops and other events to OBSA’s communities.
Submissions for grants and exhibitors are open as of September 2024. Click the links above to participate!
OBSA partners with Monsour Counseling and Pyschological Services yearly to host weekly drop in hours with MCAPS Senior staff therapist, Dr. Adrienne Hilliard. We’ve expanded these wellness checks to include a series of workshops and wellness-based engagement events called “Wellness, for Us,” tailored to communities of African descent, that include:
- Emotional wellness workshops featuring art therapy and healing practices, co facilitated by Dr. A
- Physical wellness workshops including health education, yoga, relaxation and meditation
- Financial wellness workshops facilitated by Claremont Colleges staff and faculty, in partnership with CLSA
OBSA’s calendar features events tagged Wellness, for Us events, registration required. Events are also available on Engage.
Stay up to date with OBSA by reading our newsletter. The publication informs our communities about upcoming events, fellowships and jobs, features special initiatives and partnerships, and highlights a range of student-centered opportunities across the 7 colleges.
To read OBSA’s RECENT newsletters, visit our Linktree
Each year, OBSA publishes The Black Book to assist students in identifying essential services and faculty and staff of African descent at The Claremont Colleges. The Black Book supports students in connecting to communities of African descent at The Claremont Colleges and beyond, including listings of local Black owned and Black Alumni-owned businesses. Students can easily locate and access health and wellness related services, as well as shared service resources across the colleges.
The book is updated yearly and printed copies are made available to participants in the OBSA Mentorship Program.
BlackBook 2018-2019
OBSA offers students, faculty and staff enrolled and/or employed at The Colleges permission to use the center after hours (swipe access is available M-F, 7am-11pm and reservations can be made for weekend use). The OBSA main house is open to the public M-Th, 9am-12pm and 1pm-4:30pm.
OBSA’s conference room (main house) and bungalow (back house) are available by card swipe access for students, faculty and staff after hours by request using our access form.
The general public may not use OBSA’s facilities without written request to obsa@claremont.edu, certain conditions apply.