Dr. Joanne MacLean, UFV President & Vice Chancellor
November 20th is National Child Day – November 20th is National Child Day when Canadians celebrate children. This date has been recognized in Canada since 1993 and commemorates the adoption of two documents on children’s rights: the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child (November 20, 1959), and the United Nations Convention on … Read more
A Strong Business Case for Inclusive Workplaces – Disability Employment Awareness Month Inclusion is an issue of social justice and is also a case for business. One out of every five Canadians have disabilities. This group of 7.4 million people with disabilities is one of the largest minorities we have in Canada. Unfortunately, only 49% … Read more
In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1st as the International day of Older Persons. The intent being that October 1st would be a day to both raise awareness regarding issues related to age and ageing, and to celebrate and appreciate the contributions older adults make to society. In response, Canadians celebrate National … Read more
Peacebuilding in Turbulent Times The hallmark of the UN International Day of Peace, which is observed annually on September 21, is a 24-hour period of nonviolence and ceasefire in conflict zones. The UN intended to have people focus on how to foster peace work around the globe in keeping with an established theme. This year’s … Read more
International Literacy Day is commemorated on September 8th of each year and draws attention to the importance of literacy and its direct relationship to human rights. While every person has the right to learn to read and write, UNESCO reports 773 million adults and young people globally are still lacking basic literacy. A combination of … Read more
Thinking about global humanitarian interests in the midst of a global pandemic — Today marks the 11th anniversary of the institutionalization of the World Humanitarian Day. This day was formalized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009 in memory of the August 19, 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, which … Read more
Books have the power to connect us in socially distanced times — Writing about the importance of books and reading for a university audience is akin to preaching to the choir, but I think the pandemic has provided an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the role that literature can play in our … Read more
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
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
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