Exemplary student: Cherisse Vanloo

Cherisse Vanloo, daughter of Vincentians Oswald Vanloo and Cyvia Ollivierre, has successfully completed a Bachelors of Building Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

Cherisse finished her degree as one of the top students in her program. {{more}}

During her four years of study at Concordia University, Cherisse did not restrict herself to only academic studies. She was involved extensively in student life and the black community.

Her community activities included co-editing the Montreal University Contact newspaper and being a Black Star Project mentor. The University Contact is a subsection of the Montreal black community paper, the Community Contact. It serves Quebec’s black and caribbean community. The University Contact’s represents the youth within the Black community by providing a forum for students to voice their opinions, concerns, and accomplishments. The Black Star Project is affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada. The program involves being a mentor to a young black child in the Montreal area.

In April of 2003, Cherisse joined the only Canadian team from Concordia University and Université de Montréal to join the 2005 Solar Decathlon. The competition consists of designing and building a house powered solely by solar power. The competition will be held in October 2005 in Washington D.C.

Since her second year at Concordia University, Cherisse also became involved in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Concordia University Chapter. NSBE’s mission statement is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers, who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community. She joined the executive board and in her last academic year served as the chapter’s President. Her time at NSBE allowed her to travel across Canada and the United States, meeting and networking with other young black engineers.

Cherisse plans to continue her studies at Concordia in the Masters program of Building Engineering.