Connecting Through
History:
The Black Leaders Who Shaped StFX’s Students’ Union
When Rebecca Mesay ’20 was elected StFX Students’ Union president in 2018-19, she knew the role carried responsibility. She didn’t know it would also connect her to a piece of university history she hadn’t known existed.
Rebecca Mesay ’20
At the time of her election, the student newspaper, The Xaverian Weekly, ran a story noting that, as far they knew, Ms. Mesay, who today is a lawyer based in Toronto, was the university’s first Black Students’ Union president. Not long after, she received a note from Janet Stark ’65, former University Registrar. The letter was warm and congratulatory, and it contained a revelation. Ms. Stark gently corrected the record. Ms. Mesay was the first Black woman Students’ Union president. Enclosed were photocopied yearbook pages of Dr. James Winford Sutton ’67 of Antigua, who had served as Students’ Union president in 1965.
While at StFX, Dr. Sutton had been part of the team of Students’ Union president Bob Hutton ’65 during a pivotal time in university history. Ms. Mesay says Mr. Hutton started the process that transformed the Students’ Union into an independent, incorporated body separate from the university. Dr. Sutton would go on to become the first president of that newly incorporated union, a legacy that continues to shape student governance today. “I remember thinking, how incredible would it be if I could get in touch with him,” Ms. Mesay recalls
She began searching in March 2018. Dr. Sutton had gone on to become a physician and had established a clinic in Antigua. For six months she tried to track him down, through online searches, calling a clinic number Ms. Stark had provided, and following all leads. No luck. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, she searched for the centre where she believed he was affiliated and found a phone number. She called. Dr. Sutton answered.
“I was very excited,” Ms. Mesay says, laughing at the memory. She quickly explained who she was and why she was calling. On the other end, Dr. Sutton was surprised and pleased. Why did Ms. Mesay feel compelled to get in touch? “What we do at the Students’ Union today is a direct result of what he did all those years ago,” she says. “I feel we are very much part of his legacy. Wouldn’t it be great if he knew the impact of his actions?” Ms. Mesay remembers the conversation as being a “blast from the past” for Dr. Sutton, who remembered Ms. Stark and was curious about Ms. Mesay and her role with the union. He gave Ms. Mesay his contacts. Eight years later what began as a cold call has become a friendship.
Rebecca Mesay ’20 and Dr. James Sutton ’67
They met in person in October 2020 and reconnected again in summer 2025. Dr. Sutton, who retired in 2021 and turned 81 last October, has children in Ontario and has met up with Ms. Mesay during visits to Canada. “I almost feel like I have a mentor in him,” Ms. Mesay says. “We were lucky that a friendship sparked.”
"I almost feel like I have a mentor in him. We were lucky that a friendship sparked."
Rebecca Mesay ’20
When asked if the two students’ union presidents had similar personalities, she says she sees parallels between their paths. Both were deeply engaged in their communities. Both saw something they could contribute to and stepped forward to lead. Ms. Mesay admits she was shocked when she learned that StFX had a Black Students’ Union president as far back as the 1960s, particularly given the global climate around race and diversity at the time.
Dr. Sutton, she says, still remembers StFX after all these years and talks about the positive lifelong impact the university had on his life. “I feel that way about StFX too,” she says. Their connection, she believes, is yet another example of the community found at StFX, the enduring bond alumni maintain across generations. “Generations that came before us are still very much part of our story,” she says. For Ms. Mesay, their relationship also reinforces that Black people have always been a part of the history and fabric of StFX and have integral to both shaping and leading at the university. She takes pride in that.
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