Resource guide created for Black students at Chapman

Justin Riley, the associate director of Student Community Support and Development, created a resource guide for Black students to better acclimate to Orange. The guide includes local Black-owned businesses and restaurants for students and faculty to visit. Photo courtesy of Sage Okolo

Back in 2007, Justin Riley, associate director of Student Community Support and Development,  just needed a haircut.

When he was an incoming freshman at Chapman, Riley would wander through the streets of Orange, looking for a suitable barber to cut his hair. He couldn’t find one. So once every three weeks, Riley would get in his car and drive about 25 miles to his hometown’s barbershop in San Dimas, California. 

Years after Riley’s graduation from Chapman in 2011, he was hired as the associate director of Student Community Support and Development in the Office of Student Affairs. One of his primary goals, once he returned in November 2019, was to prevent other Black students from experiencing situations similar to his quest for a barbershop. 

“Chapman was a place that just didn’t reflect my identity, and in a lot of ways for Black students, Chapman is still very much that place and is not reflective of who they see in the mirror every morning when they wake up,” Riley said. “I wanted students to be able to have access to individuals who look like them, who are reflective of their experiences, who can help be a guidepost and support them in any way possible.”

In trying to turn those hopes into reality, Riley came across a guide created by the Claremont Colleges called the “Blackbook.” Inspired by this guide, Riley began searching for local Black-owned businesses easily accessible to students on campus. 

After almost nine months of research, Riley’s list became the Black Resource Guide. This guide has a wide range of resources for Black students, faculty and staff to find familiarity within the area, including faculty, staff, student services, restaurants and hair and beauty salons. 

“I would explain it as a navigational tool and resource to help Black students better acclimate to Chapman and the greater community around them,” Riley said. “The real point of it is to provide a roadmap of understanding who’s who and where’s what.”

One of the businesses featured is Blazing Fades Barbershop in Santa Ana, California. The owner, Roderick Ulmer, said he was honored to be featured and that Riley’s guide is a major step in the right direction to highlighting businesses that might otherwise be unknown to the public.

“When you move to businesses, there are not a whole lot of Black businesses; if there are, I don’t know about them and you might not know about them,” Ulmer said. “So, it’s important for Black businesses to be broadcasted out here so people are more aware of them.”

Riley often referred to the guide as his “labor of love,” which he developed not only for students, but also for Black faculty and staff. With a total of 29 restaurants on the guide, Riley has been eager to try new ones for his own enjoyment and continues to search for more to include in future guides.

“Just as it is beneficial to students, it is also beneficial to me,” Riley said. “I remember my wife was craving fried chicken the other day and I was like, ‘Let me pull out this resource guide.’ And sure enough, there was a restaurant I put in there and we really enjoyed it.”

The impact of the guide is not only felt by Black and African American students, but also by other groups on campus who want to create similar resourceful opportunities for students. Riley said additional guides geared toward members of the LGBTQIA+ and Latinx communities would lead to a sense of greater comfort.

“It would be great for various groups to collect and put together these guides to provide an additional layer of support for students,” Riley said. “I hope it turns into a resource that can be adopted to other groups and just serve as a launchpad for new ideas.”