ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´

Convocation speech text follows below: 

Thank you Chancellor Emeritus.

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Friends, Graduands:

The recipients of the 2022 Principal’s Teaching and Learning Awards have been announced, recognizing excellence demonstrated by educators at ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´.

Administered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the criteria include student support, curriculum development, promotion of inquiry, international innovation, and educational leadership.

Ten ‘blue sky’ courses have been selected for the Principal’s Impact Courses (PIC) initiative this year. The programs will use funding creatively to support the development of educational experiences that push the boundaries of teaching and learning.

Courses receiving funding range in topic from impact-driven leadership to the effect of humanitarian crises on health and health systems.

On June 21, people across the country will be marking National Indigenous Peoples Day. It’s an opportunity to honour the history, heritage, and diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

In his role as ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ Chancellor, the Honourable Murray Sinclair, shared his thoughts on the importance of sustaining the national push for reconciliation.    

The ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ Task Force on Street Parties held its first meeting on June 6.

Struck by Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane, the task force builds on ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ existing partnerships with the City of Kingston and community partners and provides a forum to develop new and innovative approaches to address unsanctioned street parties.

ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊԴ’s UK campus has a new name – Bader College.

Following an extensive consultation process and review of the Canadian and international post-secondary landscape, Bader College was selected as the new name for the Bader International Study Centre (BISC).

This past November, ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ became a founding signatory of the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education. Signing this document commits the university to specific goals and targets to work towards eliminating anti-Black racism across the institution and to promote Black representation and flourishing. More than 50 universities and colleges across Canada have signed the Scarborough Charter.

We have so often found ourselves the ironic dupes of COVID-19 that I am reluctant to write anything that might invite a further humbling of the species. So, if I take this opportunity to reflect on the pandemic and its impact on the people of ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´, virus stand down: I am in no way presuming that we are finished with COVID-19.