Originally from Belle River, P.E.I., Sam was a Loran Scholar studying Environmental Studies at Queen's University. He was also a leader a whole lot of Black students across this country looked up to.

He saw a gap and built a coalition

Most people will remember Sam as the co-founder of the BUC. He noticed a gap in the capacity of Black Student Associations and recognized that BSAs across the country were all running into the same problem.

His answer was Convergence. The 2026 Convergence Convention brought over 300 Black student leaders from 25 universities in all 10 provinces to the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). Under the theme Growth, students connected with more than 28 Black professional mentors and took part in workshops hosted by organizations including the BlackNorth Initiative, the UTM Office of the Vice-President and Principal, and the GLOCAL Foundation. Senator Paulette Senior and Fares Al Soud, MP for Mississauga Centre, were featured guests. ByBlacks co-founder Camille Dundas delivered the keynote.

It was the first national gathering of its kind in Canada, and Sam made history pulling it off.

His passion was the driving force behind the BUC, and the team leaned hard on his initiative and enthusiasm. It's still difficult for them to accept that the meetings, planning sessions and late-night phone calls with Sam are over.

A mentor who made leaders

Sam arrived at Queen's in 2021. He spent his first few years building up support for the Black community on campus, including through the Queen's Black Clubs Caucus and the Queen's Black Academic Society, before he set his sights on the national picture.

Lorenzo Yankam, the BUC's 2026-2027 chair, met Sam during Lorenzo's first year at Queen's. Both were deep in Black-led events, and they ended up in plenty of group conversations about politics, music and movies. Over time Sam became a close friend Lorenzo could reach out to.

"He has always been a mentor to me," Lorenzo said. "Working with the BUC has felt inseparable from Sam."

Sam was a lifelong learner. On a long drive home from a conference, he might have an audiobook going, something like How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

Khadra Osman, the BUC's director of student affairs, remembers how much effort he put into understanding his team. She once found out he was reading books on supporting women in leadership roles.

He was incredibly capable, and with Sam at the helm the BUC felt ready for any challenge. He also brought people up alongside him. Whenever you started to doubt yourself, he'd remind you who you were, and imposter syndrome had no place in the BUC. He seemed to know exactly where someone would excel, and he still believed in pushing you out of your comfort zone.

Sam was committed to giving back to Black students and knocking down barriers. He understood how much a person's background, where they live and their financial situation can shape the opportunities in front of them. When the BUC ran out of travel funding for out-of-province students, one student kept reaching out, hoping for a chance to attend.

Sam paid for that flight himself.

He never went looking for recognition. The executive team still remembers his half-joking disbelief when they posted on LinkedIn to thank him for leading the Convergence planning. As far as Sam was concerned, the credit was unnecessary.

For Isheanesu Nhiwatiwa, the BUC's director of communications, a line often attributed to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks captures Sam well: "Good leaders create followers, but great leaders create leaders."

"He imagined a world that could do more for Black students than was done for him and took steps to create it," Isheanesu wrote.

At Convergence, Isheanesu saw that vision reflected in Sam and the people around him. "I've never seen a greater group of visionaries." Sam wanted to build, Isheanesu said, "a foundation that could stand for others to reach further."

Asked to describe working with Sam in one word, Lorenzo picks "reassuring."

The BUC had a team of 17 in its first year. By the time the 2026 Convergence came around, just six people were planning it, and Sam trusted every one of them.

"He had this incredible ability to make people believe that what we were working toward was possible, even when the path ahead seemed impossibly difficult," Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo has served as chair since the spring. He credits Sam with giving him the confidence to lead, and says Sam stayed available through all the tough demands that come with the role.

"He was someone I could call at any hour," Lorenzo said, "and somehow, he always seemed to have an answer."

At the March 2026 Convergence, Sam signed the official founding of the Black Undergraduate Coalition. It was his final act as chair, and a fitting close to the work he'd spent years bringing to life.

When the BUC shared the news of his passing, more than 90 people left comments about the impact he had on them. Sam leaves behind a community of people who learned from him how to build something that could outlast its founder.

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The Sam his friends knew

Away from the planning calls, Sam had an adventurous streak. After a long conference day, he was the one convincing everybody to sign up for go-karting. He loved upscale dining, and he could put you onto the most niche rap music you'd ever heard.

The BUC started as a small group of friends. Today it's a national community, and its work continues in the hands of the people Sam brought together, the leaders he helped shape and the students who will walk through the doors he pushed open.

The best way to honour Sam is to keep that work alive. That means showing up for one another and making room for the students who haven't arrived yet, so the next one has a little less standing in their way.

Lorenzo says Sam lived to bring people together. In his memory, the BUC plans to keep doing exactly that.

The first time I saw Sam, at the 2025 Convergence, he reminded me of a hummingbird. He was flitting from one part of the room to another, always busy, always moving. That contagious energy is part of the BUC's foundation, and we're going to keep it going.

Sam will be missed.