jovawn mcneil joshuanyaringo david vasser

Jovawn McNeil(he/him)

21, Long Island, NY

Class of 2023

Joshua Nyaringo (he/him)

21, Carteret, NJ

Class of 2023

David Vasser

23, Rio Grande, NJ

Class of 2023

There are about 2,800 Black people at GW, 840 if they are Black men, and 280 if they are also undergraduates.

At a school with over 27,017 students, about 10,000 of them being undergraduates, 280 is an extremely small community of people with shared identity. On top of the community already being small, forming a deep connection takes so much more than those 2 bonding points of being Black men; It also takes common interest, compatible personalities, relatable upbringings, morals, and so much more to truly become close to someone.

Naturally with these statistics it can be harder for Black men on GW’s campus to connect and find a place to feel seen and known within their demographic. David Vasser and Joshua Nyaringo were lucky to be each other’s first college friends, but finding others outside of their duo was the more difficult part.

When Josh first moved into his Thurston dorm room, he noticed that his two other roommates were white. This made him feel unsure of how to react initially, but he had already subconsciously accepted the idea that he might be the only Black person in the room. However, when David, the final roommate, arrived, Josh was pleasantly surprised to see another Black person in the room. His surprise grew even more when David overheard Josh speaking to his family in Swahili and responded by speaking the language himself. This unexpected connection between the two roommates provided Josh with a sense of comfort and belonging in his new living space.

After talking and learning they were both from New Jersey, both spent time growing up in the same parts of Kenya, were both pursuing engineering degrees, and had the same interests, they instantly became friends.

The first week of living on campus, one of their white roommates invited them to come hang out with him and his friends. They accepted the invite, open to meeting new people, but David and Josh immediately felt out of place in this mostly white group.

“We stuck out like a sore thumb…none of our jokes would land, whenever we would try to play music we’d get kicked off aux…it was just a bad vibe all around.” David recalled.

For David, this was the moment he realized he needed to be around more people of color if he was going to find the right friend circle. Growing up going to school in Kenya, all the peers he ever had were Black so it didn’t even register for him that now attending a predominantly white institution he would now need to actually seek out friends with shared identities.

Having close friends has always been very important to David. He spent most of his life in boarding school far from family and was much younger than the cousins he grew up with, leaving him often left out and picked on. Because of this, he turned to his peers in school for connection and has since prioritized starting and maintaining friendships in his life. He knew early on making these connections was essential for him.

Josh went in with a similar mindset not really understanding what the landscape of a PWI would feel or look like for him socially. He felt the discomfort of being in that all white space, but at the time didn’t yet feel the push to put himself in different environments.

“I was let down, but at the same time part of me was like ‘i just gotta make this work,’” Josh said. –

Meanwhile, Jovawn McNeill was moving into his Freshman year dorm assignment in Somers Hall on GW’s Mount Vernon campus.

“The vern was a cult.” Jovawn laughed as he described the isolation and forced interaction so many Mount Vernon students experience.

Because he was so far from main campus, Jovawn used his naturally sociable personality to mingle with the people he had at his disposal, who happened to be mostly white. Wandering around his residence hall allowed him to meet some of the people who would make up his early college friend group.

“I wanted more friends of color, but in the very beginning I just wanted to find people I messed with. I felt really isolated from the Black community on the Vern, so I just wanted to find people I felt comfortable with.” Jovawn said.

It wasn’t until quarantine that he really started taking a closer look at the people who he had spent freshman year surrounded by. Jovawn was craving a community of people who understood him, and all parts of his identity. Beyond the surface level connections, he felt a lot of the friendships he had formed were missing true understanding and depth. He used this as a driving point to be more intentional Sophomore year to prioritize the friendships he had built with people of color, and to do more to put himself in Black spaces.

The Boys’ paths crossed Junior year when they met at a mutual friends party. After several weeks seeing each other at the same functions and running into each other in their dorm building, their short conversations soon blossomed into a close brotherhood.

“If I didn’t have you guys I don’t know what I’d be doing.” Jovawn said.

This group likes to gather with their friends whenever they can. With everyone’s busy schedules, this often looks like meeting up at odd hours but as long as they get to be together, the time isn’t so important.

“We gather out of love,” David responded when asked why they choose to gather. The love and connection they’ve built with each other and all their other friends in Jovawn’s words is, “completely indispensable.”

Sitting On The Bathroom Floor

Friendship As Family

Ben grew up an only child but thanks to college now he has 3 sisters, fulfilling his childhood dream of having siblings. Junior year Sofia, Maya, Hannah, and Ben had each other’s schedules memorized to a T. Although they didn’t all officially live together, they practically did, spending any free moment they had, together.

As any family would, they gather around the living room, debrief their days, and perhaps put on a show. This simple act of gathering at home is a much needed release from the day. Someone, most likely Sof, will make the group a delicious meal in the kitchen which they will enjoy together after cozying themselves up somewhere in the apartment.

The living room, the kitchen, and sometimes even the bathroom floor,where these four used to routinely meet after classes to share a joint, talk, and listen to music, are all important spaces for coming together. A warm hug from Maya, a kind smile from Hanah, big sisterly advice from Sof, and a ring of laughter from Ben decorate the spaces, coloring the walls and their hearts, making it home.

In college I learned the value of a chosen family. Living away from home for the first time makes us realize how integral having a support system is. This support system transcends blood relations, and should comprise of people who make us feel seen, heard, and cared for fully, exactly as we are. Family doesn’t need to look like you or come from the same place as you to understand you, to love you.

Sofia Yanza(she/her) 22, North Brandford, CT

Class of 2023

Maya Pinney(she/her) 22, Rutherford, NJ

Class of 2023

Hannah Jospeh(she/her) 22, Santa Clarita, CA

Class of 2023

Ben Averia 22, Fairfax, VA

Class of 2023

Coming into college, Hannah Joseph was worried about only being surrounded by white people. Attending a PWI was daunting. She knew from the start she would need to be somewhat intentional about making friends of color and placing herself in the right environments to meet people who shared her background. To her surprise, the first friend circle she fell into was made up entirely of students of color, one being Ben Averia, who is still one of her best friends to date. While she is still grateful to have been surrounded by a community of other students of color so early on in her college experience, in hindsight, the group lacked any real compatibility or similarities. This became glaringly evident after they were separated due to COVID-19, and all came back as vastly different people.

“Looking back, I’m like, what did we even talk about?” Hannah laughed.

This is the reality for so many students of color at GW. Especially as freshmen, so much development and identity-building is still happening, which can leave friendships in a volatile place as individuals grow and evolve. Hannah and Ben felt this coming back to campus Junior year and realizing they no longer resonated with many of their friends.

The class of 2023, who had their Freshman year interrupted by the COVID-19 shutdown, were collectively eager to come back to campus once the university returned to in-person instruction.

“When I think of my college experience, it’s distinctly freshman year, and then everything else,” Ben said, referring to the vastly different nature of freshman year compared to post-COVID life back on campus.

Sofia Yanza was also looking forward to coming back to campus Junior year as a fresh start. She left GW in the spring of her freshman year, hating the school and wanting to transfer. She had started to make friends before COVID happened, but still felt that she “didn’t have anything solid.” However, it ended up being the encouragement from friends she had started to build, one being Maya Pinney, that convinced her to give GW another try and stay in hopes of building these connections further.

“It was the connections I had built that kept me here, and I’m glad they did,” Sofia said.

Maya was also very jarred by the interruption of freshman year by COVID. She vividly remembers sitting with Sofia and a few of their other new friends a few days before being kicked off campus, planning their first night out to the clubs. At this point in the semester, she had just started to feel like she was getting the hang of things and building relationships, so having it cut off so abruptly was disappointing. But similarly to Hannah, Ben, Sofia, and so many other students in her class year, the second chance she was granted junior year would not be something she squandered. She took the opportunity to build her friendships deeper and make new ones by putting herself out more than she ever had before.

“Last year to now has been so transformative for me,” Maya said, discussing the newfound confidence and outgoing personality she has fostered over the past year.

Maya, Hannah, Sofia, and Ben crossed paths in their dorm building. They were next-door neighbors living in District House when Hannah and Ben went over to knock on Maya and Sofia’s door to borrow something. Ever since, they haven’t left each other’s sides. Becoming friends allowed all of them to branch out and meet so many people through each other, expanding their circles significantly.

Although each of them comes from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, just the shared identity of being students of color has been a huge bonding point for them. Ben expressed that being friends with the girls has helped him appreciate his culture more, and despite their different identities, he still feels beyond seen and understood for who he is