The UFV School of Communication was proud to put forward the name of retired member Dr. Marcella LaFever for being awarded Emeritus Status in recognition of her dedicated service to the department. She was in the company of some amazing people at the Recognition Dinner on May 14th.
Marcella remains, as always, dedicated to intellectual engagement with the communications discipline, and supportive to the progress of the School. She expressed recently, her gratitude for continued work on research within the discipline. She laughs and says ” three people asked me if I was going to write an autobiography, so I thought I had better at least think about it.”
In addition to being able to offer her expertise in the areas of intercultural communication, small group process, and public dialogue, Dr. LaFever also works to support the active realization of the concepts of “belonging, inclusion, diversity and equity” such as in projects related to Indigenization and reconciliation.
During the last year and a half, since retirement as full-time faculty at UFV, and as an Adjunct Professor for the School, Marcella led several research projects, and consulted with organizations, that are examples of the work mentioned above. These included:
- Halq’eméylem Language Teaching in Stó:lō Téméxw (Jan. 2024); Completed to support the work of Teacher Education, UFV;
- Building Relationships with First Nations (Oct. 2023): Panel presentation for Woodlots BC AGM
- Engaging with First Nations to Develop Meaningful Relationships workshop (Feb. 2023); for Golden Community Forest Initiative
- Backgrounder on BC K-12 School Districts’ Indigenous Language Teaching (Dec. 2022): Completed for the Office of Indigenous Affairs; UFV
Our hearty congratulations and best wishes – but don’t work your retirement away!!!
photos courtesy of UFV Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ufv/albums/72177720317028750/