For many Black students at MSIs and PWIs across the country, finding someone who knows how to care for their hair can be an ordeal that sends them hours from campus, costs them weekend after weekend, and signals, quietly but unmistakably, that the institution was not built with them in mind. The University of New Mexico is now working to change that calculus — one chair at a time.
The African American Student Services office at UNM, known on campus as the Afro or the Fro, has opened the Afro Hair Shop, a dedicated on-campus salon space designed to meet the cultural hair-care needs of Black students. The shop, housed within the AASS center, was designed and brought to life by AASS staff members and features a timeline of hair history in the Black community lining its walls.
The space is open to UNM students who are stylists, creating a pathway for them to practice their craft and serve fellow students within what AASS calls a trusted and affirming environment. The initiative is framed not merely as a service amenity but as a statement of institutional values a gift from community members and alumni that AASS describes as an investment in belonging, dignity, and opportunity.
“The Afro Hair shop at UNM is a living embodiment of what it means to enact servingness as a Minority Serving Institution at the intersections of Black students’ lived experiences. The shop is a milestone in a long legacy of the department serving as a space for community, belonging, and innovation.”— Dr. Brandi Stone, Director, UNM African American Student Services…