david vasser

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.”