Remember this moment

REMEMBER THIS

“Remember this moment,” Michelle Sylliboy, a StFX assistant professor and a descendant of Indian Residential School survivors, told those gathered Sept. 30, 2021 at StFX for a remembrance ceremony marking the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

“Our shared history was never fully written about or talked about,” she said during part of the ceremony held outdoors at Alumni Plaza where all were invited to tie an orange ribbon on an installation in memory of the over 6,500 children who lost their lives in the residential school system. Indigenous Student Society volunteers spent countless hours cutting the ribbons for the installation, which remained on display through October, Mi’kmaq History Month.

“Tell your families what happened and tell them they should never repeat that history again,” she said during the ceremony that began in the Joyce Family Atrium in Mulroney Hall. StFX hosted the event in collaboration with local Mi’kmaw partners and the StFX Indigenous A airs O ce.

During the event, Prof. Sylliboy provided an explanation of the 215 children statement found in the commemorative garden outside StFX’s Coady Institute.

Terena Francis ’01 ’20, StFX Coordinator, Indigenous Student A airs, and descendant of Indian Residential School survivors, also shared powerful insights, while she honoured the legacy of her parents.

Ms. Francis says she was overwhelmed by emotion from the support shown.

“I ask you to continue to educate yourself on our shared history.”

StFX Knowledge Keeper and elder Kerry Prosper ’09 explained the importance of the smudging ceremony he performed that morning. Elder Prosper also led a prayer of remembrance.

StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin noted that the university closed so that people can come together to listen and re ect on a shared history that challenges us so very much.

For there to be reconciliation, he said we must learn and speak the truth, we must come together to re ect on the historical injustices in icted on the Indigenous population, injustices that continue today. is history cannot be swept under the rug.

Dr. Hakin called on everyone to commit to a deeper responsibility, to take as many opportunities as they can for deeper insight into our shared history, to listen and learn and work together for healing.

“Let’s fully embrace the fact we are all Treaty People.”

NEW PLATFORM FOSTERS MENTORSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS AND ALUMNI

A new online mentorship program at StFX is pairing upper-year students with StFX alumni and friends, and organizers are looking forward to the power and potential of the community it will create.

X-Connects is a partnership between the StFX Alumni A airs O ce and the VP Students O ce, through the Student Career Centre. “ We are very excited to work with StFX Alumni to explore the power of mentoring as a support for StFX students as they navigate important transitions in university life” says VP Students Elizabeth Yeo. ey’ve teamed together and will work with EnPoint, a Halifax, NS-based online mentorship platform to virtually match mentees and mentors with similar interests.

“We’re really excited to launch X-Connects,” says Alumni A airs director Shanna Hopkins ’01.

Many alumni are seeking those opportunities to give back, she says, and to get involved and be more connected with today’s students. is feedback was recently reinforced from a recent alumni survey her o ce commissioned.

Students, too, are keen to connect and learn from the advice of those who have been there.

Student Career Centre manager Jane MacDonald says the program’s primary goal is to provide students the opportunity to gain insight into the work world by participating in networking events and meeting one-to-one with alumni and friends, learning those important networking skills in a supportive environment. rough X-Connects, students will have opportunity to gain knowledge from alumni who work in various elds and have diverse backgrounds, broaden their professional networks, clarify career goals, and build professional and personal leadership skills.

Additionally, they’ll take part in events such as the annual Making the Connection Dinner that brings in employers who recruit StFX students and o ers opportunities for speed networking and learning from keynote speakers.

“Really the purpose of this is to create those opportunities for upper year students, to introduce them to the work world and to give them more networking opportunities to help with career coaching and interview skills,” says Ms. Hopkins.

Another great aspect of the program, she says, is that it introduces current students to the supports available to them through the Alumni O ce.

“We don’t want students to nd out about the Alumni O ce a er they’ve le campus. We want to provide those opportunities to connect starting when the students are already here.”

To find out more information on the X-Connects Mentoring Program or to sign up, visit https://enpointmentorship.com/c/stfx

THANK YOU, GLENDA!

The StFX Alumni A airs team would like to inform our alumni of the upcoming retirement of one of our own, Glenda Bond. Glenda has been a familiar name and face to thousands of alumni who have stopped by the o ce, returned for Homecoming, or reached out to the Alumni O ce for the past 20 years.

We will certainly miss Glenda and her institutional knowledge, but we wish her the best of luck in her retirement. Glenda’s last day at StFX will be on Thursday, March 31. If you wish to send her a note to wish her luck, you can reach her at alumni@stfx.ca