Dr. Joanne MacLean, UFV President & Vice Chancellor
Give up privilege — In her recent guest post on this blog, Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains provides us (people of European descent) with a clear and powerful call to action: To move past rhetorical statements denouncing racism and to instead take tangible steps to change ourselves — and in the process to dismantle the structures … Read more
Dear Colleagues, After months of grappling with the strange and unprecedented, something ordinary is finally happening: vacation season has arrived at UFV. The frenzied pace of university life in a pandemic is coming down a notch, allowing many of us to turn on our email auto responses and tune out the daily chatter of MS … Read more
A call to action – have you heard this before? Not so long ago, a small brown girl attending a school in Abbotsford in a mostly white, privileged neighbourhood found herself being paraded around classrooms by her white teacher one morning. The teacher showed her off with great flourish to the other white teachers, saying … Read more
UFV held its first virtual town hall last week. My thanks go out to those of you who participated in the live session and submitted questions. For those of you who couldn’t participate in the live event, here’s a recording. If you have any feedback or questions, please reach out: Email the President’s Office … Read more
Dear Colleagues, Provost and VP Academic James Mandigo reminded me of an important anniversary this week: it has been three months since UFV made the rapid switch to remote learning and working. Since then we have marked the transition from winter to spring, and this weekend we’ll welcome summer. The summer solstice is also the … Read more
Not even a sack of potatoes — Indigenous history in Canada is long but many of us do not think of it that way. I recall being on a bus tour with my son; we were with his classmates in Europe. My son was in awe of the history. He commented, “This is awesome. We … Read more
Pride month in a time of solidarity — As I begin to write this blog post, I am slowly being consumed by a feeling I haven’t felt for a long time. My palms are sweaty; my heart is beginning to pick up its pace; and my body is becoming fidgety, searching for the closest door … Read more
UFV graduates: Today would have been convocation day, and as you know, we’re not able to gather together right now the way we have in the past. Instead, I’m reaching out via a video to encourage you, congratulate you, and express my profound admiration for how you’ve responded to the challenge of the past few … Read more
Dear Colleagues, Like you, I have watched the events of the last week and a half unfold with anger and disappointment. Why do we always come back to this place, needing to be reminded of something that shouldn’t be in doubt – that Black lives matter? But the global reaction to these events also gives … Read more
Our role as a university in addressing racism — We have been shaken by the recent death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Within a space of a few weeks. the media has confronted us with two deaths by design: the asphyxiation of George Floyd and the shooting of Ahmaud Aubrey. Both occurred … Read more