Brock University joined communities across the country in marking the fifth observance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Tuesday, Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
The day began with a capacity crowd of Brock faculty and staff participating in a panel discussion in Pond Inlet. Moderated by Robyn Bourgeois, Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, the event reflected on the meaningful contributions of University employees to advance reconciliation and decolonization on campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have been anywhere today, and you chose to be here,\u201d Bourgeois told attendees. \u201cThis is how we start to change the world, one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
That afternoon, more than 120 members of the Brock community wearing orange shirts gathered as a show of solidarity for survivors of the residential school system, their families and those who never returned home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a day that means a lot to me and to our Indigenous colleagues because very few of us are more than two generations removed from the residential school system,\u201d Bourgeois said. \u201cWhile I think about how much this system has stolen from my family, today is not only a day to remember what is gone and what is lost. It\u2019s a day to remember what remains, what is thriving and how incredible Indigenous people and Indigenous ways of knowing and being are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day concluded with a range of family-friendly programming and a free community game between Brock’s men\u2019s lacrosse team and the Toronto Varsity Blues. A four-part podcast collaboration<\/a> featuring Brock students and faculty was also launched on Sept. 30, exploring ways to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s Calls to Action in sport.<\/p>\n Sept. 30 marked the culmination of a month of programming<\/a> hosted by units across the University.<\/p>\n