Sababu Norris and his staff have developed the ALANA Student Center (ASC) into a place admired by colleges and universities in Western New York and other parts of the country. Under Sababu’s unwavering leadership since 1989, ASC is credited with the creation of the college’s former Racial Incidents Team. Since 1991, the ASC has coordinated the annual MLK Canisius College awards, plus a host of other initiatives, such as the annual Soup with Substance Speaker Series, cross-cultural student workshops, a monthly newsletter and a new summer orientation program for new underrepresented students, Align with ALANA and Friends.
Sababu taught the first acting class at Canisius as an assistant professor. His ability to nurture the creative side of students has allowed the Canisius College Performance Troupe to proudly share their talents with an ever growing number of city of Buffalo high school students since 1998. This helps to motivate high school students to consider Canisius as a school of choice after they experience the Troupe’s timely themes that address African American life through poetry and prose.
Sababu’s own book of poetry, Mama, I Understand, will soon appear on Amazon Kindle. A copy is housed in the Canisius College Andrew L. Bouwhuis Library. A poem from the book, “i don’t mean to embarrass” appeared in the Buffalo Challenger. Canisius Professor Dr. H. James Brix writes: “Sababu’s heartfelt prose and poetry challenge one to reflect on the intense complexities of human experiences.”
Did you know…In 2008, thanks to the support of a Buffalo board member of the NAACP, Sababu received recognition as one of the Uncrowned Community Builders of Buffalo, New York. In 2010, the national Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities—Conference on Diversity and Equity bestowed upon him the Legend Award.
Pictured above: Sababu, left, enjoys Hertel Avenue with John Christiano ’57.
Submitted by: Public Relations
