Florida Campus Student
Shereffa Clarke is the
Eastern Region representative
of the American Black
Chiropractic Association
and president of the student
chapter on campus. |
Shereffa Clarke remembers
what it felt like to be a new
person in a new environment
when she began her education
at the Florida Campus. “I
had a couple of people that
became ‘go to’ friends, people
that could provide information
about the way things
worked, that really eased the
stress of being new,” she says.
Ms. Clarke, now in her 10th
Quarter, grew up in Fort
Lauderdale and completed
her undergraduate work in
Medical Science from the
University of South Florida.
Despite the fact that she is
from Florida and spent the
past four years in college in
Tampa, the Port Orange area
was totally new to her.
“I imagine it’s even more
difficult for someone from
another state or another
country,” she adds.
Recently appointed eastern
region representative of the
American Black Chiropractic
Association (ABCA), Ms.
Clarke has been president
of the campus’ student
chapter of the association
(SABCA) for more than a
year. ABCA was founded in
1981 by Dr. Bobby Westbrooks
when he realized there
was a need for supportive
services for minorities in
the chiropractic profession.
“On campus it’s really about
being a mentor for other
students to help them get
acclimated and more comfortable
in their orientation
to a new school and a new
field,” she says. Although the
organization’s objective is to
recruit, encourage and support
minorities to study chiropractic,
according to Ms. Clarke,
SABCA is not exclusive, but
instead open to anyone.
“We have about 20 or 30
members on campus and half
of those are people of mixed
race,” she says. “We don’t
turn anyone away.”
As SABCA grows on the
Florida Campus, it continues
to develop opportunities for
students to get involved in
the local community, too.
SABCA members visit Boys
and Girls Clubs and area elementary
schools, to reach out
to minority youths and share
a message about continuing
their education, as well as
expose them to chiropractic.
Ms. Clarke moves easily
between both of her local and
national roles, emphasizing
that ABCA has scholarships
available and puts on a
national convention. The
organization will celebrate its
30th anniversary at its annual
convention next June. Ms.
Clarke adds, “As we reach
out to minorities, my goal is
to work more closely with
groups such as PSAF (Palmer
Student Alumni Foundation)
and SACA (Student American
Chiropractic Association),
and work together toward
the same common goal.”
One of the factors that
motivated Clarke to become
involved with ABCA and
SABCA was the lack of
information and awareness
of chiropractic as a career
choice for those at the
undergraduate level. In her
undergraduate experience
she saw students in health
sciences being directed
toward advanced degrees in
other healthcare professions,
but very little emphasis on
chiropractic.
“I like to be part of things
that can make a difference
on a larger scale,” she says.
While her own and ABCA’s
activities focus mostly on
historically black colleges
such as Florida Agricultural
and Mechanical University,
and Bethune-Cookman
University, as well as East
Coast chiropractic colleges,
Ms. Clarke relishes her role in
helping to grow the profession.
“If we can get more minority
students to come to Palmer,
then that meets our goal,
but we’re also recruiting for
the profession, not just the
College,” Ms. Clarke says.
“I want to help grow the field
of chiropractic.”