SCRANTON - In a city with a rich Black history, Black students at the University of Scranton feel lost when it comes to Black hair care.

Black college students often wear protective hairstyles during the school year, a low-manipulation hairstyle that protects the hair from damage, breakage and tangling, such as braids, twists and locs. Coming to a university with limited options for Black hair care has left them stressed and having to plan hair appointments around academic breaks.  

Quanayah Jones, a senior from Philadelphia, tries to get her hair done every time she goes back home for breaks.  

“When I get styles done, like, its either me or my mom that are doing it, because locally, there are not a lot of people who are willing to do Black hair. the way that we would like it to be done, like in specific styles,” Jones said.  

Students can often go months in between academic breaks or visits home, leaving them to try to stretch their hairstyle for as long as possible.  

“If I feel like my braids are getting old or lifting. Let’s go to Walmart, get some nice holding mousse, lay it down and try to get a nice stretch out of your braids,” said Jones.  

Being a senior makes managing your hair more stressful.  

“Especially in the season of graduation and senior photos, I don’t want to do braids, I may want to do a wig, and because we don’t have breaks in between now and then, she’s going to have to ship the wig to me, so that I can see what would look nice with the outfits and things like that. I believe we’ve made it harder because if it’s not in the style, or if it doesn’t look right on you, I have to ship it back and hope that it comes back to me in time for these important events,” Jones said.  

Planning your hair for graduation is something that Black students who are natural, or who wear their curls out, struggle with as well. Libby Dockett, a senior from Royal Court, New Jersey, is having issues with her graduation regalia because of her hair. She has a lot of hair that doesn't fit under her cap.  

"So I have to get one of those grad caps inserts so it can actually go on my head,” said Dockett.  

The insert makes it easier for students with curly hair to wear their cap and keep it on their head securely. Almost all versions incorporate a headband.    

While older students are used to making a hair schedule that revolves around school breaks, first-year students are struggling to get used to it.  

Nicole Andres-Chester, a first-year from Brooklyn New York, found it stressful to plan around academic breaks in her first year.  

“I have a gala coming up and I only have a week’s notice and I can’t go home in between, you know. I just have to stick with it,” Andres-Chester said.

Andries-Chester said she’s nervous to wash her hair in its natural state on campus and she’s only washed it in braids.  

“It just takes a long time and my hair sheds a lot and I have a roommate. It takes, like, hours to do a hair routine and take out the braids and all that. So I’ve only done it at home because that’s were I’m most comfortable. I want to feel more comfortable doing my natural hair at school and it would help if someone could actually do our hair,” Andries-Chester said.  

Black men on campus are dealing with this issue too. Wayne Reid, a junior from Bridgeport, Connecticut with locs, had to adjust how often he got a retwist when he came to campus.

“Since I got here, it's anytime I go back from break, but usually it's every month,” Reid said.  

He tried to find a hairstylist during freshman year, but was unable to find one close to campus.

Dockett also voiced her frustrations with not finding basic styling tools for her hair.  

“The hairstyling products that I use, like brushes and stuff, aren’t even that advanced. I use a wide tooth comb to detangle and then I just got an UNbrush. So it’s nothing too crazy, but I feel like I still can’t find that unless I get in my car and drive somewhere, or order it off of Amazon,” said Dockett.  

Dockett also pointed out most of the hair care products for curly hair offered on campus are geared towards looser curl patterns.  

“I feel like a lot of products available for curly hair are available for people with looser textures, in pod but also in Target. When I would go to Target, they don’t have stuff for 4c hair,” Dockett said.  

Both Jones and Dockett wished that the university would carry bonnets in the bookstore. They said a University of Scranton bonnet would be beneficial to all students, not just Black ones.

“Once people actually educated themselves and understood that it was actually protect the curl, to make sure your hair stays healthy while you sleep…that’s when it became popularized with people with curly hair and they understood curls weren’t defined by color…So I do think the pod should sell it, not even just the pod, but the bookstore too. I think it should be available in any place that we can buy supplies because it is an essential,” said Jones.

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