NEWSFLASH WHAT’S NEW ON CAMPUS AND IN THE StFX COMMUNITY
KIKNU “OUR HOME” – INDIGENOUS STUDENT CENTRE OPENS
HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED: MARANGONI FAMILY DONATE $100,000
L-r, Mi’kmaw Elder and StFX Knowledge Keeper Kerry Prosper ’09 and StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin Kiknu, meaning ‘our home’ in English, is the name of StFX’s Indigenous Student Centre, officially opened on campus on Feb. 26, 2021. Mi’kmaw Elder and StFX Knowledge Keeper Kerry Prosper ’09 and StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin joined together to unveil the centre’s name during a ceremony in Dennis Hall. “I give thanks for this,” said Elder Prosper as he shared an honoured, traditional welcome. The Indigenous Student Centre, he said, is a safe spot for students, their families, and for all Indigenous people who come here. “We have lived here for thousands of years, but today we struggle to find safe spots in our homeland,” he said. “We will always remember this day.” “It’s a special moment in StFX’s history,” Dr. Hakin said as he recognized honoured guests and thanked the community for allowing StFX to have this moment. “I’m excited about the possibilities that Kiknu brings us.” Dr. Hakin says the name speaks to what this place can be and should be—our home. He says he sees Kiknu as a place that will bring people together, where peer mentoring and learning happen organically, a place that promotes the success of students, that promotes friendship and helps in the truth and reconciliation journey. It will be a place of growth, a place to amplify Mi’kmaq culture in our daily lives and provide learning opportunities to all. “I’m so glad that this is happening,” said StFX Faculty of Education professor Michelle Sylliboy, who thanked Terena Francis ’01 ’20, StFX Coordinator, Indigenous Student Affairs, for her efforts to make this day possible. Prof. Sylliboy was involved in asking Elders, including StFX alumni, their input on the name. Kiknu was suggested: “It’s a home away from home for these students.” Jeneva Dennis ’21, a graduating BA student, emceed the event. She spoke about the space’s importance. It’s a place where she can come to study, to talk to people, and to hold her culture close. StFX Vice-President Students Elizabeth Yeo, who gave a Territory Acknowledgement, said while StFX recognizes there is work to do, today is a meaningful step forward, celebrating the naming of this space, and creating a space with the hopes it ensures that Indigenous students feel safe, welcomed and honoured.
Dr. Gerry Marangoni delivers remarks StFX science students will have even more opportunity to participate in undergraduate research and learn new skills thanks to a generous gift of $100,000 the university has received from the Marangoni Family, which includes longtime StFX chemistry professor Dr. Gerry Marangoni. The donation to the Chemistry Department will be used to create a fund to support student research, capital equipment acquisition, and to create an endowment for future needs. “Thank you to you and your family,” StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin said during the March 29, 2021 announcement. “It’s a game-changer, Gerry.” Bringing students into the game is what we do at StFX, Dr. Hakin said, and this donation will help provide even more opportunities to involve students in research. Dr. Marangoni said the gift is about supporting the department, helping enable even more student research, and helping provide equipment and an endowment for future needs. Honours chemistry students Nicole MacNeil ’21 and Taylor Doucet ’21, who’ve worked as research assistants in Dr. Marangoni’s lab, and emcee Shannon MacLellan, a 2019 chemistry graduate and current second-year education student, spoke on a personal level about what the donation will mean to students and the invaluable experience it will provide. The donation will also help fund crucial new equipment for the department, including a Benchtop NMR. Dr. Marangoni’s long relationship with StFX Chemistry spans back to 1992. Along with his teaching and research, he is founder and scientific advisory board member of SONA Nanotech, a nanotechnology life sciences firm. He is also founder, with Dr. Kulbir Singh, of GMS Surface Tech, a company creating environmentally friendly cleaning products. StFX ALUMNINEWS l SUMMER 2021
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