Monday, June 19, 2017

Indigenous lawyer and activist urges “reconciliaction” through education

Roberta Jamieson, Canada’s first Indigenous woman to earn a law degree, highlighted the importance of education in achieving reconciliation during the University of Waterloo’s 60th Convocation Lecture.

“Canadians have an opportunity to become former colonisers,” said Jamieson, adding “for the next 150 years, Indigenous people are looking forward to real change.”

Jamieson referenced Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Murray Sinclair, who stated that “education is what got us into this mess — but education is the key to reconciliation.”

In her one hour address, Jamieson outlined three actions that will lead to reconciliation:

1. Truthful education of Canadians about the democracy, science, and diplomacy of the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the land prior to colonization.
2. Educating Canadians on the true history of relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada’s colonizers.
3. Education of Indigenous children about how to embrace Indigenous identity in the modern world, including the approaches to science and conflict resolution that are a part of their culture.

Jamieson emphasized the importance of supporting Indigenous youth, saying “We need to give them validation in who they are. Give them a sense of identity.” Jamieson went on to describe the value of Indigenous youths seeing Indigenous peoples in positions of power and success, leading them to take pride in their identity.

Jamieson’s charity, Indspire, invests in the education of Indigenous peoples by providing bursaries to Indigenous students and offering resources to K-12 educators to enhance the education they offer to Indigenous youth. The charity supported 3792 students in 2015-16, with Jamieson noting that 93% of its bursary and scholarship recipients graduate from their programs.

With compliments to the University of Waterloo for its active Indigenous Students Association and  its collaborations between the Water Institute and Indigenous communities, Jamieson urged the University to apply its innovative focus to how to make reconciliation a reality.

The lecture, which began with a performance of the Mohawk friendship song by the Indigenous Students Association drum group, ended with a powerful call to action by Jamieson to decolonize universities and fight for change.

“We can spark action, create synergy, awaken alumni, and bring about change internally and externally,” she continued, “we can achieve and create our shared future by design. We can dream together and make our dreams come true.”

Celebration 2017 teams submit proposals for review

In celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the University and the 150^thanniversary of Canada’s confederation, the Celebration 2017 legacy project will embody the University of Waterloo’s image as a hub for innovation and celebrate Canada’s spirit of diversity and inclusion. This exciting student design competition, built on the success of the I3 main campus gateway project, kicked off in March.

June 15 was another important milestone as 22 student teams submitted their stage one proposals for review. The Celebration 2017 Steering Committee is poised to select the top 10 teams who will move on to stage two.

Members of the Steering Committee, which is co-chaired by Peggy Jarvie and Jeff Casello, share their enthusiasm for the legacy project:

“I am excited to see the innovative energy of my fellow peers come through their submissions!" says Alexander "AJ" Wray, an Honours Planning student in the Faculty of Environment. "Waterloo is full of talented and exceptionally bright people that know how to create a great community through public space. I look forward to seeing the potential changes for this great part of our campus!”

"What a great way for students to show off their creative talent and have a real lasting impact on their university," writes Karen Hammond, a lecturer in the School of Planning. "With the huge talent pool in campus, I’m eager to see a broad range of entries —  cutting-edge solutions that push the envelope in different ways, solutions that:

• Make a meaningful statement … about UW’s future in an innovative way
• Make a contribution …  by enhancing one of its most important open spaces.
• Make a real difference … to the image and enjoyment of the campus."

“Being involved with the i3 competition and meeting the student teams was inspiring," writes Tina Roberts, director of Marketing & Undergraduate Recruitment. "Working with our students, I saw how talented they are and how much they cared about their Waterloo. Little did we know at the time of ground breaking that this new University of Waterloo sign would become an iconic symbol for our University. I have equally high expectations for our students involved in our Celebration 2017: Legacy Project. I expect we will see highly creative/innovation designs, passionate and engaged students, and it will likely be hard for the jury to choose just one winning design.”

Waterloo shows its Pride

by Kathy Nguyen. This article originally appeared on the Federation of Students site.

June marks Pride month, and The Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity, the oldest running LGBTQA+ student organization in Canada, will be representing the University of Waterloo in the 37^th annual Pride Parade on June 25.

“A lot of us can’t go by ourselves because people come from families that are not supportive of their identities, nor do they have the time or money,” said Charley Peitzmeier, an exchange student from University College London who is currently working as a coordinator at Glow. “For Pride, you don’t have to be a part of Glow – anyone who is affiliated with the University of Waterloo can join us.”

This year, Pride chose “+” as their theme, which represents the joining of community, differences and diversity. Glow’s 2017 Pride slogan is the “SUM of Us.”

“The beauty and strength of our community stems from its variety,” Charley said. “We want everyone to know that no matter which letter they feel represented by, especially if this is a letter hidden by the non-specific little plus sign at the end of the LGBT acronym, it is the “sum” of us that matters – not only “some” of us.

Glow has marched in every Pride parade since Toronto’s first parade in 1981. The University is represented with a float adorned in black and gold amongst a sea of rainbow. Attendees also learn a dance routine that they perform along the route.

This year marks a special first for Glow: President Feridun Hamdullahpur will be joining them.

 “A huge struggle with Glow is visibility and acceptance,” Charley said. “By bringing the President, we are trying to burst the bubble of exclusion. Since the President is marching, we have a lot more interest from the students, staff and faculty. At Pride, we’re not visitors. We are participants.”

Before heading to the parade, Glow organized for the Pride flag to be raised at University of Waterloo for the first time. The event took place on June 12 in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Orlando Pulse shooting and was followed by a vigil for the victims. The Pride flag will be flying at South Campus Hall for the entire month of June, standing alongside the Waterloo, Ontario and Federal flags.

“Glow is a Feds service that offers a safe space for the LGBT+ community,” Charley said. “We are here for students who feel insecure about coming to a new place as LGBT+. We are here for them to offer them space and connection.”

Glow holds office hours where people can come in to do homework, connect with peers, hold peer support meetings, and organize events.

Staff, undergrads, graduate students and guests are all invited to march alongside Waterloo students, Glow ambassadors and President Hamdullahpur in this year’s Pride Parade. Tickets are available now.

“Pride is a strengthening and affirming event – it’s a day that represents Glow. It’s where everyone feels welcomed and have the right to simply be,” Charley said.

Monday's notes

The SLC/PAC Groundbreaking celebration takes place today from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. on the BMH Green. Samples of new food options that will be available from Food Services will be served. Attendees will have the opportunity to chat with project leaders, and leave their mark on the expansion – literally – by having their signature incorporated into the design of the new building. All are welcome to attend.

Employees can still register to participate in the Excellence Canada focus groups that will be held June 20-30. Focus groups will confirm survey data from the recent Excellence Canada survey completed by 36% of employees and will delve deeper to assess how well the University is performing in five general areas: leadership, planning, service to students, people engagement, and process management.

On the agenda for today's meeting of the University's Senate, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in NH 3407:

• A motion to approve appointments to the Senate Long Range Planning Committee and the Senate Graduate & Research Council;
• A motion to approve the approve the establishment of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology;
• A motion to recommend to the Board of Governors to rename the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR).

Senate will also hear a research presentation from Associate Professor Lora Giangregorio of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences.

The University of Waterloo Muslim Students' Association is proud to present its 4th Annual Fastathon this evening. The complimentary event Monday starting at 7pm will feature dinner for those fasting, and is an opportunity for people of different faiths to come together and gain a better understanding of one another. It is also an opportunity to do something to contribute towards the one thing that we all have in common, our humanity, through raising funds to help support those affected by the famine in East Africa. Non-perishable items will also be collected to donate to the Foodbank.