Across the sector, there is always tension when planning Black History Month events in October.
The goal is to build a programme that genuinely celebrates our community, without feeling like a corporate annual obligation that needs to be fulfilled.
The constant fear is that we just end up talking to ourselves. You risk creating a space where only the people who already care show up, while for the wider student body and university leadership, it’s just business as usual.
At Northumbria SU, the context is different. We don’t have the huge Black student populations you see in some London universities, and that reality forced us to rethink our entire approach.
We knew that if we only marketed these events to Black students, we would not just be limiting our impact, we would be limiting ourselves to a very small room.
We knew we had to break out of that bubble. We needed to create a shared experience that stayed true to its roots but was welcoming enough to pull the wider university community into the celebration.
Stepping into the role as the SU’s first Black female sabb, I knew I didn’t want a quiet October. I wanted our Black students to feel genuinely seen and celebrated.
But to make that happen, we had to make these events feel important, creating high-status moments that everyone, from the vice chancellor to students who never felt these events were “for them”, felt they had to attend.
The result spoke for itself – five sold-out events, a guest list including Vice-Chancellor Andy Long, MP Chi Onwurah, Councilor Quewone Bailey-Fleet, and Northumbria’s Honorary Graduate Dr. Beverley Prevatt-Goldstein, and a four-figure profit to put back into student initiatives.
Here is the blueprint of how we made it happen.
Breaking the bubble
We had an “Open Invitation” Strategy. Given the makeup of our student body, we had to be smart about how we presented “culture.” We stepped away from the idea that Black History Month is just about sitting in lecture halls, which can feel a bit intimidating if you are not part of that community.
Instead, we focused on experiences we could all share.
To ensure we engaged every type of student, from the ambitious careerist to the quiet reader, we curated five distinct pillars:
- Jollof Connect: The headline cultural celebration (and the hook for our VC!).
- From Roots to Routes: A Black career journey panel featuring industry role models.
- Black-Owned Market Day: Supporting the local economy and inviting community businesses on campus.
- Afro-Caribbean Karaoke Night: A space for pure, unfiltered student joy.
- Black History Month Bookshelf: Ensuring educational history and literature remain accessible to all.
The best example was “Jollof Connect”. We pitched it as a high-energy show where chefs from five nations competed for the crown. Food breaks down walls; it is a language everyone speaks.
By framing this as a celebration everyone could taste, rather than a history lesson, we completely sold out. We proved that you can put Black heritage right at the center and still invite the whole campus to the party.
Relationships are a long game (Start early)
You can’t just send a cold email in September and expect big names to show up in October. You have to lay the groundwork way before that.
I started having casual chats with a wide range of leaders, from our Vice-Chancellor to local MPs and community icons, months before I even had a final plan. We were running a programme of five very different events, ranging from our “Roots to Routes” careers panel to the “Black-Owned Market Day”, so I knew a generic guest list wouldn’t work. I had to match the right people to the right room.
Crucially, we framed this as a shared win. We showed the leadership that this was not just a fun “SU thing”, but the University’s Race Equality Charter commitments coming to life. We took the values off the strategy posters and lived them out in the room. When you show that you are not just filling out a social calendar, but helping the university hit its own goals, the doors to the top offices open much faster.
By the time the formal invites hit their inboxes, they were not just agreeing to attend; they were already on board with the vision because we had talked about it. The result was genuine engagement. We had the VC and Deputy Mayor getting involved in the cultural celebrations, while MP and industry leaders connected with students at our careers panels and market day. Seeing that level of buy-in proved to the campus that this was not just a tick-box exercise, but something the university valued.
Don’t build in a silo: Co-create with the community
We knew we couldn’t just look inward. To make this authentic, we had to partner with the experts outside our uni. We moved from simply hiring external speakers to building genuine partnerships with external networks and Black-owned businesses.
This was not just about sponsorship – it was about ecosystem building. When students see successful Black professionals from their own city willing to come onto campus and invest time in them, the “belonging” metric shoots up. We didn’t just host an event; we built a bridge between the campus and the local community.
If you want value, give it a price tag
We took a bit of a risk and decided to charge for some of our main events. In the SU world, we usually assume that everything has to be free to be “accessible.” But the truth is, when a ticket is free, it’s often just a “maybe” in someone’s calendar. When you pay for it, it becomes a commitment.
We did not charge for everything, though. We used a blended model to get the balance right:
- Ticketed Events: For the big food event like Jollof Connect, we charged students £4 and everyone else £8.
- Vendor Fees: For the Market Day, we charged external vendors £60 to book a stall but kept it free for students and alumni.
- Free Events: We made sure key community events stayed completely free, so nobody was excluded.
This approach did not just cover our bills; we made a four-figure profit to be channeled towards other student initiatives. We proved that a high-quality Black History Month programme can be sustainable.
You can’t lead a movement alone
While I set the vision, a project of this scale requires a huge force behind it. I learned that you need a “co-pilot” who shares your passion. For me, that was our VP Welfare, Isaac Etonam. Having a fellow officer who championed the vision meant we had double the reach and double the energy in the room.
Equally, we had to get the internal SU team, from marketing to activities staff, fully on board. Once the staff understood that this was not just another event, but a reputation-defining moment for the Union, they went above and beyond to deliver the professional touch that made our special guests take notice.
The Legacy
The “buzz” was great, but the strategic shift is what matters. Students told us they felt “inspired” by the events, and the model was successful it was replicated on our London campus, selling out there, too. My biggest takeaway for the sector is legacy. Real success is not just pulling this off once; it is creating a blueprint that survives you.
My term will end soon, but the relationships with the VC, the list of sponsors, and the commercial model are now part of the SU’s DNA. The university is already asking to collaborate on bigger events next year. We have moved from a month of “awareness” to a sustainable, headline act that the whole institution is proud of.
