Busy summer ahead at BU

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2024 (687 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the campus slides into summer, I find myself still coasting on the great feelings of convocation.

There’s nothing like the pride and excitement of graduates crossing the stage to receive their degrees and enter the next stage of their lives. But I was reminded recently that convocation has even more magic to it than that.

Earlier this week, we held a thank-you reception for the dozens of BU folks who work hard behind the scenes to pull together four great convocation ceremonies every year. On my way there, I heard a show on the radio where they were preparing to interview Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor and founder of Orange Shirt Day. And, as of last month, a BU honorary degree recipient. On this national radio show there was a BU connection.

A few days before that, I was headed down Brandon Avenue when I spotted a Brandon legend. That would be plein air painter Weiming Zhao, who was standing at his easel capturing a portrait of a local Brandon business.

Of course, I had to stop, and enjoyed a brief chat with him. It turns out that the owner of the business had been attending convocation, had been inspired by Weiming’s speech to graduates and had reached out to commission the painting.

That’s a very Brandon story, but it’s also a very BU story. We are all about connections, and that includes connections around the world, but especially connections to our community. When we talk about BU as Canada’s Finest Regional University, when we speak to high school students to invite them to take a degree with us, when we welcome alumni back for Homecoming every year, we build on those community connections, which are strong and meaningful relationships.

Often, I’m approached in the community by people who offer some variation of congratulations for their assumption that the university closed over the summer. Don’t I sometimes wish! But while our focus shifts, be assured that BU is still buzzing. And in the case of our Bee U honeybees, I mean that literally. You can stop by Bailey’s Café Monday at noon or after work on Tuesday to try out some honey treats and see our budding BU beekeepers checking on their broods.

Campus is also busy with our PENT program, which celebrated a fantastic feast earlier this week, and with Mini U, which revs up younger minds over the summer.

Many faculty are busier than ever over the summer, as this is prime time for research. You may have read that this month we are welcoming a visiting scholar from Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University in Türkiye. Through a European Union mobility agreement, Atilla Barutçu is here to collaborate with our own Jonathan Allan, a Canada Research Chair. In a nice echo of Father’s Day last weekend, they are working together on studies related to masculinity.

Some of our own faculty are on the road as well. I recently spotted some news coverage of Pete Whittington, for example, on CBC and CTV from the Sudbury area, where he is involved in a $1.4-million research project attempting to rehabilitate polluted peatlands, and bring these critical carbon sinks back to life.

Interestingly, this is not only an environmental win, but an educational win as well. With Whittington in the field is one of his students, Akwasi Oduro Kwarteng. We’re proud that at BU, we are able to provide students with exceptional hands-on research opportunities that would be rare or difficult at larger institutions.

That is our approach at the BU Co-operative Education program, too. This summer, for the second year in a row, we placed 100 per cent of our Co-op students with employment that’s directly related to their field of study, meaning they’re getting a leg up on their future careers, building a network — and bringing home a paycheque.

Often left unsaid when we talk about Co-op is the energy and knowledge that students bring when they return to the classroom in the fall. They’re fired up by the connections they’ve forged between classroom and career, and it’s infectious.

In fact, we’re all getting a bit fired up for the fall already. The 2024–25 academic term will be a special one for us, as Brandon University celebrates 125 years since our founding as Brandon College in 1899. Our history does go back a little earlier than that, and we trace our lineage through McKee Academy and Rapid City a few years prior. While all of this pales next to the thousands of years of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom that far predates us in this area, we are proud to mark BU125 as a real milestone and have many community celebrations in the works.

(Wait a minute … I hear you asking, wasn’t it just BU50 a few years ago? But why have just one party when you can have two? In 2017–18 we marked 50 years since Brandon College became Brandon University. This year’s 125th anniversary goes all the way back to our Brandon College roots.)

As we think back to the legacy that the past 125 years have left us, including tens of thousands of graduates, a gorgeous campus graced with historic buildings, innumerable research and creative works, and proud athletic achievements, we want to ensure that we are leaving a legacy for the future as well.

Of course, all of BU is gearing up for a significant enhancement and renovation of our Brodie Science Building, which will include a brand-new research annex as well as facilities to train medical doctors right here in Brandon. This will be a signature achievement for the Westman region, but it is likely a few years before the ribbon-cutting.

Over the coming year, we’re aiming for campus changes that we can complete in the short term as BU125 projects. One that I’m quite excited about is the prospect of removing a metered parking lot from the centre of campus, adjacent to our courtyard, and creating instead an outdoor learning and gathering space.

While we will forgo some revenue from the meters, there is ample space for vehicles not much further away, and the area is much better served by turning it over to people rather than parking. This is a change envisioned in our Campus Master Plan, which calls for a green spine in an area that was identified as the beloved “heart of campus.” The Kavanagh Courtyard and public sculpture garden are right there, as is the Turtle Fire ceremonial fire pit. This area is a popular space for events, for warm-weather meetings, and for lunches. It all used to be parking, and removing the final few spots is the right move now.

As we are also looking at ways to expand our Indigenous Peoples’ Centre into the space currently used by the Evans Theatre, we want to make sure that we continue to accommodate the films, productions, and events that make use of that stage. Some of groups will have great new facilities in the renovated Brodie building. One option for the new outdoor space could include an amphitheatre or other outdoor stage.

We’ll be doing consultations over the summer and perhaps early fall, finalize a design and fundraise over the winter, and aim to have shovels in the ground next spring.

As with many things, and especially education, there’s no constant like change. As we close out one academic year, and enter our summer of busy transition toward our BU125 year, I’m energized by the positive change I see around campus.

However, it’s also important to take breaks. I’m going to step away from this column for the next couple of months, and will return in the fall.

Enjoy the warm weather!