Greetings all,

For those of you who are new to the University of Alberta, welcome to the start of Fall term 2024! For those of you who are returning, welcome back! Fall is my favorite time of year, especially when we get to experience the leaves transforming from green to gold. It’s a nice reminder as to why the University of Alberta proudly wears the colours Green + Gold — a testament to how, like the leaves, we as an institution are always driving change.

Before I move on to things the college has been doing for the past month and will be doing in the upcoming months, I want to acknowledge September 30 as Orange Shirt Day. Orange Shirt Day is a day to honour and remember the experiences and loss of thousands of children who were stolen from their families and placed in Indian Residential Schools. As we take time to reflect on the impact of the Indian Residential School System on our history and its lasting consequences, let us also reflect on the steps we can take individually and collectively to advance truth and reconciliation. I encourage you to read about the history of Orange Shirt Day and its meaning, familiarize yourself with the TRC’s Calls to Action, and consider attending a variety of events by First Peoples’ House to recognize this day.

There are so many exciting things from the college to share with our community!

Regarding people, I want to introduce you to Monisha Vinod. Monisha is our new strategic initiatives officer for EDI and II. She is replacing Tim Ira who moved into Carrie Smith’s EDI office. 

Now, let me congratulate the U of A-led 2SLGTBQI+ Knowledge Hub (also known as the Rainbow Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, or REKB) for their award. I am so happy to see how the partnership between the Fyrefly Institute (Faculty of Education) and e-HUB (Alberta School of Business) led to funding from the Federal Government to support the creation of such an important initiative for the 2SLGBTQI+ community. Learn more about the award and its aim in this Folio story.

I also want to take this time to congratulate all of the recent SSHRC Insight Grant and Insight Development Grant recipients from our college. I look forward to seeing what comes of each recipient's important research.

Speaking of research, I want to alert you to a recent story on the Black-led Research Network Initiative (BRNI). This initiative, housed at the college, aims to support black faculty across many areas of the university as they navigate the complex research eco-system. Impressively, since BRNI’s founding, the funding for Black researchers named as principal investigators has nearly doubled, increasing from $2.1 million to $4.1 million.

I was lucky enough to attend some wonderful events recently. I want to congratulate Arts on a successful Hurtig Lecture. I learned a lot from the speaker, Elissa Strome, as well as from the moderator of the panel, Geoffrey Rockwell, as well as Nicole Denier who was on the panel on the topic of Canada’s role in shaping our AI future.  

I also was able to attend the 20th-anniversary celebration for the Prince Takamado Japan Center (PTJC) that was held at the Kurimoto Japanese Garden at the U of A Botanic Garden. On October 3, CSSH is one of the co-sponsors for the inaugural Gordon Hirabayashi Annual Lecture celebrating the legacy of former University of Alberta Sociology Professor Dr. Hirabayashi.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this event, as I had already committed to attend the Alberta Business Family Institute signature event which is held in Edmonton on October 1 and in Calgary on October 3, but I encourage you to check out this lecture if your schedule permits.

Lastly in the realm of events, I also encourage you to attend the launch of our People Strategy which is scheduled for October 22. 

Looking forward to seeing many of you at my first Frank Friday of the year, which will be happening on September 27 from 10:30 am - noon (please put this in your calendars). The theme for this Frank Friday is “What you wished Marvin knew,” a chance to share the accomplishments, successes and challenges from your area. Please head to this Zoom link to attend.

Enjoy what has so far been an amazing fall!

Best Regards,

Marvin