By Lincoln DePradine

In the aftermath of the death of Dr. Agnes Calliste, St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) found a way to honour Calliste, whom they referred to as a “pioneering scholar, educator and social justice advocate’’.

StFX established the “Dr. Agnes Calliste Academic and Cultural Centre’’ as a “dedicated space where Black students can study, connect, or just simply be’’. 

The four pillars on which the centre was set up, said StFX, are academic success, belonging, healing, and community.

Akua Amankwah-Poku, Black Student Advisor at the university, describes the centre 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’’.

Calliste began her career as an educator in her Caribbean homeland, teaching English Literature at the Grenada Boys’ Secondary School.

In 1984, she joined the sociology department at StFX, an undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

She became not only a tireless advocate for Black students at StFX, but also a nationally and internationally celebrated academic, receiving innumerable awards for her contributions to research, education and social activism.

Calliste, with Toronto-based university professor, Dr. George Dei, co-edited influential academic collections such as “Power, Knowledge and Anti-Racism Education’’ and “Anti-Racist Feminism’’.

Her work remains widely referenced in the fields of sociology, Black Canadian studies, and anti-racism education.

According to published reports, Calliste’s “scholarship broke new ground in examining the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and labour in Canada. Through her research on African-Canadian railway porters and Caribbean-Canadian nurses, she illuminated previously overlooked dimensions of Canadian social history, focusing not only on institutionalized oppression but also on the organized resistance of marginalized communities’’.

Dr. Calliste, after nearly 30 years at St. Francis Xavier University, retired in 2010.

She died August 31, 2018, at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, Antigonish. She was 74.

Calliste was eulogized for her scholarship and ground-breaking research that frequently are cited by academics.

The Dr. Agnes Calliste Academic and Cultural Centre opened a year and a half ago and StFX staff say it’s making a difference in the lives of students.

“The centre is a real place for students to come,” said Lorraine Reddick, manager of the Dr. Agnes Calliste Centre.

“The atmosphere is relaxing. Students enjoy it. They feel like family when they come, especially when Antigonish is not home. It’s a substitute of how we would be in our living room, able to be together, as a family.”

Having a space on campus like the Dr. Agnes Calliste Centre helps students see themselves represented and that’s important, said Amankwah-Poku, whose office assists students to navigate university life; from learning how to find and apply for bursaries to connecting with academic to mental health supports.

Faculty, library staff, and academic support professionals also drop by the centre to connect with students.

A small kitchen is on site with snacks and students also can access groceries such as milk, eggs and vegetables.

Amankwah-Poku finds excitement in being able to connect with students, support them, laugh with them, and being a friendly face to them.

“And to see them cross the stage at the end and think of all the good things they will do, it makes it worthwhile,’’ she said. “It makes it enjoyable, knowing you can support someone’s success.”

Reddick said her late close friend, Dr. Calliste, would have liked the centre.

“She was so supportive of students. She was a believer and a fighter and this is a great legacy for her,” said Reddick.

St. Francis Xavier University also has a “Dr. Agnes Calliste African Heritage Lecture Series’’.

It was established by the department of sociology, says StFX, as a way to continue honouring the legacy of Calliste “by bringing esteemed speakers to campus to engage with issues of race, resistance and social justice’’.

LJI reporter

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