‘We bring so much to the table’

Black History Month at Furman
Read more stories >>

“OK,” said Jada Walker ’24, when asked about her activities at Furman. “This is going to be a super-duper long list.”

To begin with, the senior is double majoring in communication studies and urban studies while double minoring in poverty studies and Africana studies. She is also the president of the First-Generation Student Alliance, the treasurer of Furman’s NAACP chapter and an anchor for the Knightly News program. She has helped first-year students get acquainted with Furman as a student orientation leader, and she has helped recruit diverse prospective students as an admissions ambassador and member of the Mosaic student group.

Walker, a recipient of the Robert A. and Elizabeth F. MacDowell Scholarship, the Alfred T. Odell Scholarship, and the Wilkes Moseley Scholarship, is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and can often be found behind the circulation desk at the James B. Duke Library. Fans of Paladins women’s basketball also know her as the emcee for their games, getting the crowd involved with T-shirt tosses. And she runs her own business, Getting Cozy with JZ, making custom blankets by hand.

Furman has offered more opportunities than other schools she might have attended, Walker said. A particularly impactful experience was her internship in Summer 2023 at a news station in her hometown of North Augusta, Georgia, where she saw some stories she worked on air on the news.

“I literally did everything that someone else would do who already had a degree,” she said. “That internship really spoke to me. I was actually doing the thing I want to do.”

Life at Furman also introduced Walker to several faculty and staff members who have mentored her through challenging times.

“One positive has been seeing people who look like me in higher-up positions,” she said, “and professors who are of a different race than me but can relate to me and don’t see my skin tone as a challenge. They want to get to know me.”

Nathan Cook, the John D. Hollingsworth professor of economics, has been one mentor, as have Connie Carson, vice president for student life, with whom she has monthly check-ins, and Adam Richards, an associate professor of communication studies.

“I was just telling Dr. Richards how I appreciate that I can talk to him,” said Walker. “I can have conversations with him where we talk about life. People know you here; you’re not just walking in the shadows.”

Walker hopes Black History Month can be an opportunity for the Furman community to broaden their perceptions. The events during February, some of which Walker is helping to plan – including a Cultural Life Program event on the musical culture of historically Black colleges and universities, followed by a screening of the movie “Drumline” – should be meaningful for students of any race, she said.

“We bring so much to the table,” said Walker. “Black History Month is full of amazing ideas showcasing Black people here on campus. … I want everybody to experience that and see events that enlighten them about who we actually are.”