PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
A call for commitment to Acadia’s foundational values
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ACADIA BULLETIN FALL 2020
Photo: Peter Oleskevich
I
n my spring message, I shared some of the activities Acadia had undertaken in response to the early and immediate impacts the pandemic had on the University. Since then my colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to prepare for a fall semester like no other in Acadia’s history. Once the urgent health and safety needs of the campus had been addressed in March, I asked Acadia’s Provost and Vice-President Academic, Dr. Dale Keefe, to work collaboratively with our Deans (who were featured in the last edition of the Bulletin) and administrative leaders to establish a Fall 2020 Task Force to tackle scenario planning for September. The Task Force has resolved hundreds of complicated interdependent challenges to create a primarily on-campus approach for students to start, or continue, an adapted version of the Acadia experience, under the health and safety rules dictated by the pandemic. We regret that many international students or those from the furthest reaches of our country were unable to join us in person for the start of the academic year. However, I am pleased to report that the absence of new or unanticipated pandemic developments has permitted the term to progress essentially as planned. If the anxiety and disruptions caused by the pandemic, amplified by the tragic events perpetrated by a mass murderer in Nova Scotia in April, were not sufficiently upsetting for us all, society was further rocked by overt acts of racism during the summer in many towns and cities across North America. Though diversity, equity and inclusion are bedrock values at Acadia, racism is not absent from our community. Compelled by the importance of our commitment to these values, my colleagues and I unequivocally condemn the racist acts that have triggered outrage and social action across the continent and around the world. We are sickened by the brutality reported in the media and heartbroken for those who struggle with the inhumanity of racism. We must speak up against racism, but actions always speak louder than words. Over the past year, Acadia signalled its intention to deepen its understanding of the
devastating impacts of racism by formalizing partnerships with the Valley African Nova Scotia Development Association and the Glooscap First Nation. Working together with our partners to bring dedicated staff onto our campus, we seek to broaden cultural sensitivity and smother racism. We know we must work harder to make our community a safe and healthy place to live, work and study without fear of racism, or of being racialized. In denouncing discrimination and recognizing that Acadia is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, I have established an Anti-Racism Task Force to identify the causes and barriers associated with systemic racism within our community and explore how Acadia’s educational and research mission can contribute more effectively to the broader societal advancement of anti-racism, inclusion and diversity. I will provide progress reports in future editions of the Bulletin. Ultimately, our big-picture objective is to promote longterm stability to enable Acadia to weather both present and future challenges. While faculty and staff have been extraordinarily focused on preserving the Acadia experience and creating new, safe pathways to it, alumni have remained steadfast in support and affection for their alma mater. Your words of encouragement, donations, participation in virtual events and commitment to the tradition of sending your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to Acadia has lifted us up and inspired us to press on. I will be forever grateful to you, and for the important and meaningful leadership of the Alumni Association board of directors in the life of Acadia University. Together we will achieve our objectives. Stay safe and well. Dr. Peter Ricketts President and Vice-Chancellor
