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When Vince Omni ’94 was a student at St. Olaf College, there wasn’t a local barbershop that provided specialized hair care for students of color.

Instead, he remembers how BIPOC students would give each other haircuts and do braiding right in their dorm rooms. For professional hair care needs, then-Director of Multicultural Services Leona Collins would drive students to Minneapolis.

Three decades later, Omni is thrilled to see that St. Olaf has opened a permanent barbershop space on campus that provides haircuts, braiding, and styling services. It serves all students, faculty, and staff, especially meeting the needs of Oles of color with textured hair.

“It’s going to build a communal space on the St. Olaf College campus — not just through the services, but the community that will come with it,” Omni says.

That’s exactly what Aidan Lloyd ’24 and Giovanni Green ’23 set out to accomplish when they first worked to bring a pop-up barbershop to St. Olaf three years ago. Both student-athletes and members of the Oles Against Inequality student organization, Lloyd and Green understood both the practical need for BIPOC hair care services and the deeper need for a truly inclusive space for conversation and connection.

“In the Black community, barbershops aren’t merely a place to get a haircut, and your barber isn’t just someone who cuts your hair,” Lloyd says. “Historically, barbershops have been a hearth for the civil rights movement, a safe place for people to communicate ideas, a place for community.”

The bi-weekly pop-up barbershop that started in the fall of 2021 attracted not only students seeking hair care and community, but also the attention of film producer Sarah Kazadi-Ndoye and her crew at CBS. As the crew began work on a new documentary detailing the history of Black hair in America, the role that sports and athletes have played in that history, and efforts to pass legislation that prohibits racial discrimination based on hair style or texture, they came to campus to film the St. Olaf barbershop.

The resulting Emmy-nominated documentary, titled CROWN, featured interviews with sports icons like NBA Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving, three-time Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony — as well as commentary from Lloyd and footage of the St. Olaf pop-up barbershop in action.

The impact and importance of having a barbershop on campus became clearer than ever. Lloyd began making his case for a permanent space to college leaders, and teamed up with Green and Zari Irving ’25 to create and pitch a business plan for a permanent barbershop shop — dubbed The Shop 1500 — as part of the annual Ole Cup student entrepreneurial competition. They won a $5,000 prize — and the support of college leadership.

Shortly after her inauguration in the fall of 2023, St. Olaf President Susan Rundell Singer approved plans for the construction of a permanent barbershop space in Buntrock Commons. Lloyd spent much of his senior year in meetings with architects, contractors, and campus leaders to help create the vision for The Shop 1500.

LSE Architects, the largest Black-owned architecture and interior design firm in the upper Midwest, designed the plans for the shop. Architects there worked closely with Lloyd on his vision and design, and introduced him to Houston White, a Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, community leader, author, and designer whose work focuses on creating a more intercultural world. LSE designer Sam Ero-Philips says it was rewarding to work with Lloyd.

“As a Black-owned firm, we value the experience of having a client who is young, Black, and focused on a clear vision,” he says.

A Practical and Powerful Resource
The Shop 1500 opened this fall in its new space in Buntrock Commons 112, located in the heart of the college’s student union and across the hall from the Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion. It is the only barbershop in the City of Northfield that provides specialized services to meet the needs of people with textured hair. Students, faculty, and staff quickly began making appointments, and the campus community celebrated at a grand opening during Homecoming and Family Weekend.

“Beyond its obvious purpose as a place for hair care, I hope that the shop holds its symbolic value. I want all students to remember that they are what makes St. Olaf what it is — and they should make it suit their needs, make it the perfect place for themselves.”

— Aidan Lloyd ’24

The St. Olaf Jazz Collective, conducted by Associate Professor of Music Joseph Jefferson, provided music to open the celebration in the Buntrock Commons Crossroads. Lloyd returned to campus to speak at the opening, and he shared an emotional reflection of what it meant to step into the space he had worked so hard to make a reality.

“This has been a project I’ve been dreaming of and working on since my literal first month at St. Olaf, so to see it coming to life is everything,” he says. “I take so much joy in knowing that it will be carried forward by a new generation of Oles and is something for them to make their own and use as a place to incubate their own ideas.”

Kazadi-Ndoye also traveled to campus to provide remarks at the celebration. She noted that her interest was first piqued when she heard about “this little bootleg barbershop at St. Olaf,” but it was conversations with Lloyd and Green that made her want to highlight the shop in CROWN. Their understanding of how critical the space would be to the St. Olaf community was inspiring, she says.

“Getting a shop on this campus is an act of love,” Kazadi-Ndoye told those gathered for the grand opening kickoff.

It’s also a tangible sign that St. Olaf sees all of its students, Lloyd says. “Dignity comes in the physical form. This space accomplishes what the pop-up barbershop never could,” he told the Sahan Journal reporter who attended the grand opening.

As the crowd made their way upstairs to The Shop 1500 to see the space, several alumni swapped stories about cutting hair in dorm rooms and the fellow students who served as stand-in barbers. Some even remembered advocating for an on-campus barbershop decades ago.

Bryan Bass ’95 says that while he felt welcomed and supported while a student at St. Olaf, he struggled to explain privilege and the Black lens he saw things through to his white classmates. Students of color had to work hard to create community and space on campus where they felt like they belonged, he adds. That’s what makes The Shop 1500 both a practical and powerful resource on campus.

“The Shop 1500 is an instant affinity space. You walk in, you’re in community,” Bass says. “It conveys a powerful and symbolic message from the college: You belong here. It’s everything for current students and alumni of color to see the college and its leadership walk the talk of one of its core values — inclusion.”

Part of that acknowledgement of the space includes dedicating it in honor of the late Bill Green ’77, the longtime director of multicultural affairs at St. Olaf who made a deep impact on scores of students. Lloyd says it’s important to him to recognize the people whose shoulders he stood on while building a vision for this space. Now he hopes that current and future students continue to advance the work he started. 

“I hope they use the space as a location of true community and innovation,” Lloyd says. “Beyond its obvious purpose as a place for hair care, I hope that the shop holds its symbolic value. I want all students to remember that they are what makes St. Olaf what it is — and they should make it suit their needs, make it the perfect place for themselves.”

Claiming Space in the Center of Campus
The Shop 1500 has four chairs, with professional barbers and stylists coming from the Twin Cities to work in the space. It also features chairs and tables for Oles of all backgrounds to chat, play games, listen to music, or just hang out between classes.

The shop is led by student managers Maroova Elkemary ’26 and Jerome Covington ’25. Together they oversee The Shop 1500’s scheduling and promotions, care for the physical space, and manage the relationship between the barbers and St. Olaf.

Elkemary became interested in working at the shop while pitching a natural hair care product at the Ole Cup student entrepreneurial competition. She wanted to support the new space, and she’s looking forward to leading the barbershop through its inaugural year on campus. “It’s a great initiative, first of its kind, and I’m very excited to see what it will lead to,” she says. “St. Olaf is trying its best to have diverse initiatives.”

Covington agrees, noting that The Shop 1500 is essential for St. Olaf as it moves into the future. Students of color now comprise about 23 percent of St. Olaf’s student body, with international students making up an additional 11 percent. “The campus is continuing to get more diverse, and it’s important to be inclusive to all incoming students,” he says.

As a student who used the pop-up barbershop, Covington says the convenience of The Shop 1500, along with the quality of the barbers and stylists hired, will bring a different energy to campus for BIPOC students. Having a permanent space for the shop also demonstrates a commitment to inclusion for all students. “It shows that I’m recognized, and I don’t have to be someone else coming to Northfield, Minnesota,” he says.

Covington says in addition to barbers, the shop will have braiders and stylists to provide hair care for a wide range of students. “This is a place for community, and we want to take advantage of this space,” he says.

Rundell Singer told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the shop meets an important community need that’s tied deeply with belonging.

“It’s about change, it’s about a healing act,” she says, “that allows people that had been marginalized to claim their space in the middle of campus.”

In Honor of Bill Green ’77
The Shop 1500 was dedicated in honor of William “Bill” Green Sr. ’77 during a ceremony on campus that was attended by his family and friends. Green was a passionate educator and minister, deeply committed to community restoration and educational equality. His life was marked by advocacy, mentorship, and an unwavering faith.

Green majored in political science and sociology while a student at St. Olaf, where he was also a member of the track and field and football teams. He returned to the Hill in 1986 to join the Admissions team and eventually retired in 2012 as the Director of Multicultural Affairs and Community Outreach (MACO) and an Assistant Dean of Community Life and Diversity. 

As someone who  knew the importance of building community, Green showed a deep passion for breaking barriers for those who felt like they didn’t belong on the Hill. He was known for bringing barbers to campus for Oles of color to have access to their services, and he helped lay the foundation for the creation of a space like The Shop 1500.

The location of the shop also sits in the exact same space where Green’s original office in Buntrock Commons was located — making it the perfect place to honor his legacy.