A group of black women formed an unbreakable friendship while studying to get their PhD at the Indiana School of Education. The great eight as they’re nicknamed at the college became friends, after they realised there wasn’t much women of colour on their PhD programme. They decided that they would stick together and help each other out when it was needed! One of the women PhD candidate Jasmine Haywood spoke about how the group’s formation had helped her college experience: “We often deal with this idea that we always have to do more. And our collective black female community here we were able to tell each other you’re enough.”
The women made history as no other university has had this many black women receive a doctoral all at the same time. This small but effective idea, has taken 8 women who could have been struggling in isolation into a community that is still thriving! Now that’s what we call black excellence!
