“I think especially since there are not as many Black students on campus, having identity-based clubs is very important,” said Adanya Collins, a junior linguistics major. “Not only do they allow students to feel heard and understood by administration, but also their peers.”
Collins is a student leader on Hofstra University’s campus. One of her roles is being the president of Hofstra’s Queer and Trans People of Color Coalition (QTPOCC).
“As president, I essentially create events with my executive board and execute the events,” Collins said. “I also make sure the resources we have on campus are easily accessible to students in the LGBTQ+ community. A lot of people don’t know about the opportunities that Hofstra provides like the name change policy, the pronouns policy and how to report biased incidents with professors and staff on campus.”
Collins said her main goal as president has been to receive more recognition for QTPOCC, so students are aware of the club’s existence. She thinks it’s important that students feel like there’s a place on campus where they feel comfortable.
“Last semester I heard a lot of new members expressing [that] they didn’t previously know QTPOCC was a club on campus,” Collins said. “Hearing that makes me feel really good about the work I’ve been doing with creating events, attending meetings with our advisors and going to all the required training. At the end of the day, the only thing I want to do is make sure that the LGBTQ+ community on campus feels heard.”
Some of Collins’ past student leadership roles include former public relations chair for Black Leaders Advocating for Change at Hofstra, former social media chair for Drop of Drag and Summer 2025 Welcome Week leader.
In the Fall 2026 semester, Collins became a Hofstra study abroad ambassador, a role dedicated to helping students navigate and understand the steps and preparation needed to study abroad.
“The reason I decided to join was because when I was applying to study abroad, I felt the Hofstra website was a little bit difficult to use,” Collins said. “I also felt that I didn’t know that many other Black students that had currently studied abroad or at least had openly talked about it in a social setting.”
Collins studied abroad in Seoul, South Korea, last summer. She feels that a lot of students share their experiences studying abroad in European countries, but not as many do so when they went to other continents and countries.
“We [study abroad ambassadors] talk about our experiences studying abroad, how the Hofstra system works and how to set up meetings with the study abroad office,” Collins said. “There’s so many different routes on how to study abroad, so we can give a glimpse of how our trip went and how you can plan for your study abroad.”
Collins is also the financial secretary of the Kappa Phi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
“Essentially when it comes to anything financial, I’m the one helping the treasurer, writing reports and [handling] anything income-related for events,” Collins said. “We all work together when it comes to creating events and making sure we’re in good standing with Hofstra’s [Fraternity and Sorority Life].”
Collins said her sorority is very big on discussing social justice issues.
“Last semester we did an event called ‘Your Voice Matters,’ and it just happened to be after the town hall meeting,” Collins said. “It was a very important event because students were able to get their voices out there; it allowed for other people to know what’s happening on campus and be aware of what Black students on campus are facing.”
Collins said that it’s important to have student leaders of color on campus so that other students are interested in getting involved and having their voices heard.
“I think the biggest thing with leadership is a lot of people are scared to put themselves out there, especially when you are the minority in a predominantly white institution,” Collins said. “It can be very hard to feel seen, so I think seeing other people of color in these leadership roles is important because they feel like they can do it too.”
Collins continues to work in her leadership roles and strives to create safe spaces for students to feel authentically themselves.
“My experience being a leader on Hofstra’s campus has been very rewarding,” Collins said. “I feel like I’ve made a lot of great connections and like I’ve made some sort of impact on campus. It feels great, and I hope to be able to continue doing the work I’m always very excited to do.”
