Statement on International Pride Month
Dear members of the UBC community: As we reflect on international Pride Month and anticipate Vancouver’s upcoming Pride celebrations, we recognize it as a time to celebrate and honour 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (or Questioning), Intersex, Asexual) lives. It’s also a time to reflect on and affirm our commitments to make UBC […]
Weekly Update: June 26, 2020
Dear members of the UBC community. I hope you’re all doing well. Like many of you, I was disturbed by the violence depicted in a video of a police wellness check in January involving a student in the community. I condemn the behaviour shown in the video and the use of excessive force in any […]
Moving Forward
Dear members of the UBC community: This past weekend, Michael Korenberg, the Chair of the Board of Governors, informed the Board and the University that he was stepping down after social media interactions that, in his own words, “thoughtlessly supported regressive voices which are attempting to discredit broad-based, legal and necessary protest.” We acknowledge both […]
Statement on National Indigenous Peoples Day
On National Indigenous Peoples Day, I would like to celebrate the diverse and unique cultures and contributions of Indigenous people in Canada, British Columbia and at UBC. I want to take this moment to honour and celebrate, in particular, the Musqueam and Syilx peoples on whose traditional and unceded territories the main UBC campuses have […]
Weekly Update: June 19, 2020
Dear members of the UBC community. Earlier this week, we held our first ever Virtual Graduation Ceremony. I was proud to participate in the event and to celebrate, along with their families and friends, the accomplishments of the members of the class of 2020. I hope you had the chance to watch one or both […]
June 2020 Newsletter
Welcome Welcome to the June 2020 issue of Letter from Santa, a regular communication to members of the UBC community. Over the past few weeks, our attention has been focused on anti-racism and the COVID-19 pandemic. In this newsletter I will address both of these as well as other news from UBC. Highlights COVID-19 and UBC […]
Welcome to Steven Lewis Point; Farewell to Lindsay Gordon
I’m delighted to welcome the Honourable Steven Lewis Point as UBC’s 19th Chancellor. I’d also like to say farewell and thank you to Lindsay Gordon, who has served as Chancellor with great distinction for the past six years. Dr. Point, who assumes his role on July 1, is not only a UBC graduate and honourary […]
UBC Committee on Systemic Racism
UBC and systemic racism Recent events, including the incident involving a UBC graduate student, have brought to light the pervasiveness of systemic racism, and in particular anti-Black racism. When any population on campus does not feel included, respected, and engaged, it impacts their experience and their capacity to change the world. Since my statement on […]
Weekly Update: June 12, 2020
Dear members of the UBC community. It’s just twelve short weeks before the beginning of the Fall term, and UBC faculty and staff are busy preparing to welcome back thousands of new and returning students. This year UBC will be welcoming students from across Canada and from over one hundred and fifty countries around the […]
June 2020
Welcome Welcome to the June 2020 issue of Letter to the Board, a regular communication to members of the UBC Board of Governors. Naturally, most of our attention – along with the rest of the world – has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. In this newsletter I will give a brief summary of the […]
Touring Brent Sparrow’s ʔəlqsən art installation
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting with Brent Sparrow Jr. to view his newest public art installation on the UBC Vancouver campus. Brent is a member of the Musqueam community and ʔəlqsən (Point Grey) is his first public art installation cast in bronze. The installation is comprised of 10 cast bronze panels […]
Weekly Update: June 5, 2020
Dear members of the UBC community, I hope things continue to go well for you. As you know, the recent anti-black and anti-Asian violence in communities across North America has focused our attention on deeply rooted racism in Canada and globally. UBC itself is not immune to racism and injustice. Earlier this week, I […]
Together against Racism and Injustice
Dear UBC community: Recent anti-Black and anti-Asian violence in communities across North America has focused our attention on the deeply rooted racism in Canada and globally. UBC itself is not immune to racism and injustice. As a university, we need to make it crystal clear that racism and bias have no place in our community […]