A message to the Brock community from University President Gervan Fearon
March 8, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of International Women’s Day as defined by the United Nations. Their declaration takes a multi-generational approach, acknowledging intersectionality in terms of:
- the Canadian context of Indigenous women, including the aspirations of Indigenous communities and their contrasting realities;
- multi-racial and multi-cultural societal goals and persisting social dichotomies;
- the gains in community prosperity and business competitiveness that result from gender-balanced leadership; and
- the cumulative imbalances that result from the legacy of decisions based on past inequalities.
Gervan Fearon
The strategic priorities approved by Brock University’s Senate and Board of Trustees include enhancing the life and vitality of communities across Niagara region and beyond; and fostering a culture of inclusivity, accessibility, reconciliation and decolonization. Both priorities suggest that Brock will take a leadership role in contributing to the type of institutions and society that we identify as ideal with International Women’s Day.
Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that Brock is also subject to the tension between aspiration and realization that characterizes the Canadian context, without, of course, being defined by it.
How will Brock embrace the ideal that International Women’s Day represents? We can begin by looking at our policies and practices across the University, which suggests an important role for the Board, Senate, President and others. However, we should also recognize that the University is a collegially governed institution, with hiring, tenure, promotion, student admissions and academic program development and design taking place at a number of levels through university committees involving faculty, staff and student representatives. In other words, we all have a role to play in determining Brock’s future.
We should all take time to make our own personal list of women leaders who have directly supported our personal and professional development. I can look over my own career and identify several women who were instrumental in my professional development and in building the foundation that supported my accomplishments, as well as my ability to contribute to the goals of others.
My mother’s emphasis on education and charity has shaped the person I have become in many important ways. She would say, “I cannot write your essay, but I can read it and let you know if it communicates and makes sense to me.” And, “I cannot solve your equations, but I can sit with you and encourage you while you struggle through it.”
Other women who have had a defining influence in my life include my Grade 8 mathematics teach, Mrs. Vaughan; Rita Burak, the Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and then Secretary to Cabinet, to whom I served as Executive Assistant; Dr. Rhonda Lenton, former Dean at York University and now its President, to whom I served as Associate Dean; Leah LaPlante, Chair of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal People’s Council, on which I served; and Senator Frances Lankin, Chair of the TELUS Community Board of Ontario, on which I also served.
We can all commit to thanking the women in our lives for their formative influence, by committing our efforts and taking action each day within our sphere of influence to support decision-making that rises to the ideal of International Women’s Day. We build outstanding universities, communities and societies by recognizing and acknowledging the gaps that exist in the world around us, and then by working together to shrink the gap between our desired outcomes and the current realities.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day takes a multi-generational approach, recognizing that much of our reality today is the result of choices made by institutions and society in the past. Our challenge is therefore to create our own legacy for generations to come, by the choices we make today.
Here at Brock University, working together, I am confident that we can make progress in achieving the goals underlying the 2020 International Women’s Day.
Sincerely,
Gervan Fearon
President and Vice-Chancellor
Brock University
