Kandice Baptiste

Aboriginal Students Recruitment and Retention Officer

Contact Information

Email: kbaptiste@wlu.ca
Phone: 519-884-1970 ext.4312
Fax: 519-884-5805
Office Location: Aboriginal Student Center
Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 or by appointment

Biography

Kandice is Mohawk from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Laurier. During her years as a Laurier student Kandice was a student-athlete playing on Laurier’s Varsity Women’s basketball team from 2006-2010 and was the Founder and President of the Aboriginal Students’ Association in 2010-2011.

Kandice was born and raised in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, making community and her culture an important factor when choosing a university. She was recruited as a point/shooting guard for the Laurier Golden Hawks basketball team and chose Laurier for its strong school spirit and close knit campus. She played at Laurier for four years, building a solid career becoming known as a strong 3 point shooter and passer. During her time with the team she became a better leader, communicator and learned the value of teamwork. Kandice aims to use her athletic experiences to help other Aboriginal youth use sports as an avenue to post secondary education.

It was during her time as a student that Kandice felt isolated, as there was no Aboriginal presence on campus; often feeling like she was the only Aboriginal student at Laurier. Facing stereotypes and questions about her heritage, Kandice focused solely on basketball and school, putting her identity second.

However, after four years of varsity basketball Kandice took her fifth year to get involved in Aboriginal Student Services and the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives which were beginning to grow at Laurier. She created the Aboriginal Students’ Association which was meant to bring Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students together to create community and find understanding amongst each other.

Kandice also became the first Aboriginal Student Intern and in this position helped the Aboriginal Student Support Coordinator, Melissa Ireland, create events and provide services for students at Laurier. Her biggest achievement was the creation of the yearly Aboriginal Awareness Week, which is a week full of engaging and informative events which help to spread awareness of Aboriginal culture and peoples around the Laurier and greater Kitchener-Waterloo community. Kandice was also a member of Laurier’s Aboriginal Education Council as the Waterloo campus student representative from 2009-2011.

In Kandice’s current role as Aboriginal Students Recruitment and Retention Officer she assists incoming students in the transition to university life, answers admissions questions, visits communities, and creates retention programming for current students. Kandice travels with the Aboriginal Post Secondary Information Program (APSIP) which works to inspire Aboriginal youth and communities to reach their educational goals. She recently accepted the position as Governance Chair for APSIP taking on a greater leadership role as part of the Executive Council. She also has become a strong public speaker. She creates Aboriginal awareness presentations and workshops for both on and off campus organizations and groups. Overall, her mission is to ensure that current and prospective students feel supported and welcomed throughout their journey to University life.

To connect with the local community, Kandice has volunteered as an Assistant Coach for the Kitchener-Waterloo Lightning Girl’s Basketball Club since the 2011 season. Last year she was the assistant coach for the midget team who won a silver medal at the Ontario Basketball Championships. As a volunteer coach she enjoys staying connected to a game that gave her many opportunities and using it as a teaching tool for young female high school students.

Through all these experiences Kandice feels fortunate to stay connected to Wilfrid Laurier University as a student, athlete, volunteer and now staff. She looks forward to continuing to build The Office of the Aboriginal Initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University and focusing on her goal to strengthen bridges and relationships with Aboriginal youth and communities.

Additional Information

LINKS:

GuelphMercury.com Article

Office of Aboriginal Initiatives Headline

Laurier Athletics Page