York U researchers awarded seed grants for global health projects
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Following the fifth annual Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research (CPGH) Workshop, York University’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and the CPGH steering committee have awarded four York U researchers this year’s $7,000 CPGH Seed Grants to initiate novel and innovative ideas that take a critical social science approach to global health research.
The recipients and their projects are:
Agnès Berthelot-Raffard, a professor in the Faculty of Health, “Towards Gender-Inclusive Social Innovation in Community Care: Lessons from Experiential Knowledge in Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Caribbeans”;
Christo El Morr, a professor in the Faculty of Health, “An AI-Driven Tool for Disability Rights Monitoring”;
Andrew Dawson, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Glendon College, “Trust and Compliance: A Cross-National Investigation of the Relationship between Trust in Political Institutions and Healthcare Systems”; and
Raju J. Das, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, “Scorching Sites: Examining the Health Impacts of Climate Change on Construction Workers.”
The CPGH Seed Grants support York University-based research that contributes to the research themes of the Dahdaleh Institute: planetary health; global health and humanitarianism; and global health foresighting. The grants are meant to encourage faculty to develop fuller grant proposals for fall Tri-Council funding and other grant deadlines. This year’s recipients will present the progress of their research at next year’s CPGH Workshop.
Watch a full recording of the workshop on YouTube. For more information about CPGH, visit the project page.
Model EU brings students from across Canada to York U
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By Elaine Smith
When political science major Sara Harsini heard York University was hosting a Model European Union (EU) for university students nationwide, she signed up to participate and convinced her third-year classmate, Nawal Alhawari, to join her.
Nawal Alhawari (left) and Sara Harsini (right).
The Model EU, a simulation of the work done by the European governing body, was held this spring and organized by Heather MacRae, an associate professor in York U’s Department of Politics. Sponsored by the Delegation of the European Commission in Canada, it brought 55 students from across the country to the Keele Campus to experience politics and diplomacy in action.
“It was an excellent experiential education exercise,” MacRae said. “The students had to do advance work, both reading and research, and then they put it into action. They learned a lot about how the EU works and a lot about climate change.”
The event was the second of its kind to be held in Canada; last year, it was held in Ottawa. According to MacRae, the goal going forward is to have universities assume the role of hosting.
The Hungarian Consulate hosted the opening reception, an event that brought students and diplomats together to hear an opening speech by EU ambassador Melita Gabrič and to discuss the issues of the day. Many of the conversations centred around the European Green Deal – the EU climate law requiring a 55 per cent reduction of emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050 – since it was the focus of the weekend’s sessions. The students were tasked with creating a resolution, addressing how they would achieve its goals.
Students worked in pairs to represent the governments of the 27 EU nations. Alhawari and Harsini chose to represent Austria, because they wanted to embody a nation that was forward thinking in its environmental policies. After researching green policies and Austria’s contribution to the EU, they were delighted to meet a representative from the Austrian Consulate at the reception.
“It was fantastic to meet him and discuss Austria’s green policies,” said Harsini. “A major part of our success came from his commentary and insights.”
Gabriele Alexandru, head of the political, press and information section at the EU Delegation to Canada, gave the opening talk the following day, before the students got to work on their Green Deal resolutions. The event was entirely student run, with a pair from the University of Victoria acting as Chairs.
“It’s an opportunity to hone so many skills, including negotiation, co-operation, public speaking and research,” MacRae said. “There’s an extra benefit getting to know people interested in similar issues from across the country. We’re building a community of European scholars.”
This was the first time Alhawari and Harsini had participated in a simulation exercise. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are considering trying a Model United Nations simulation next.
“We always have a notion that government work takes too long, but this shed light on the fact that every nation’s voice had to be heard,” said Harsini. “Now, I understand why it takes time.”
Added Alhawari, “The actual Green Deal already exists, so we were just adding to it. I realized that if the real EU was able to forge an agreement, so could we.”
MacRae liked the idea of giving students a sponsored opportunity to learn more about the EU.
“There is an EU study tour each summer, which our students can take part in, but it is expensive,” she said. “Since not all students can afford to go to Europe, we bring Europe to them.”
J.J. McMurtry, dean of York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), believes the exercise was extremely valuable.
“Participating in opportunities such as the Model EU simulation is a vital component of experiential learning and internationalization at LA&PS,” he said. “These experiences enhance students’ understanding of global affairs, cultivate critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills. By actively participating in these activities, our students not only enrich their academic pursuits but also develop the necessary competencies to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and diverse world.”
York U initiative amplifies voices of refugee youth
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York University’s Singing Our Stories project, led by Professor Andrea Emberly, aims to amplify the voices of refugee and newcomer children and youth through music and collaborative arts creation.
Andrea Emberly
Partnering with refugee settlement agencies COSTI and CultureLink, as well as international research leaders in applied community music, Singing Our Stories mobilizes arts- and music-based programs to support the well-being goals of refugee children and youth.
Supported by a $447,000 grant from Canada’s Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council, the project explores how music-making, songwriting and storytelling can foster young people’s well-being, cultural resilience and individual resilience. At the same time, it looks to challenge discriminatory assumptions about their experiences and addresses systemic barriers to their well-being during displacement, migration and resettlement.
“Music is key to disrupting these barriers because it provides a tangible and creative way for young people to reclaim and tell their own stories and share insight into their own lived experiences,” explains Emberly, an ethnomusicologist and York Research Chair in Children’s Musical Cultures.
The goal is for participants to begin healing, participate more fully in their own communities and cultures, and even begin to change prejudiced stereotypes held about them by others.
Among its efforts has been the Singing Our Stories festival, held in June at York University and community venues in Toronto, where children and youth from ongoing programs shared their music and arts. Part of the festival included a five-day residency called Common Ground Voices, running concurrently with the festival dates, led by world-renowned choral conductor and peace activist André de Quadros from Boston University. The residency invited musicians, artists and creative individuals, particularly those affected or impacted by war and conflict, to participate in creative arts as a means to dialogue about peace-building in the current world.
Residency participants collaborated with children’s and youth refugee choirs in a final performance at the Aga Khan Museum Theatre, showcasing the power of music and arts in amplifying the voices of displaced communities and fostering understanding and dialogue.
“By telling their own stories,” says Emberly, “children and young people help to shape the future of our communities.”
Professor advances understanding of animal consciousness
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A major new declaration co-initiated by York University professor and philosopher Kristin Andrews affirms there is strong scientific evidence that not just mammals and birds, but potentially all vertebrates and many invertebrates, possess conscious experiences.
Kristin Andrews
The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, unveiled on April 19 at a conference at New York University, states that the empirical evidence indicates “at least a realistic possibility” of conscious awareness in reptiles, amphibians, fish, cephalopod mollusks like octopuses, decapod crustaceans like crabs and lobsters, and even insects. Andrews co-initiated the declaration along with Jeff Sebo from New York University and Jonathan Birch from the London School of Economics.
“Recent research has shown stunning evidence of consciousness-related behaviours in a wide range of animals,” says Andrews, a professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “The declaration affirms that we can no longer assume these creatures are insentient or incapable of feeling.”
The declaration – which has already been signed by more than 80 leading scientists and philosophers across disciplines – focuses on the most basic form of consciousness – the subjective experience of being an organism and the ability to feel sensations such as pain, pleasure and hunger. While higher-order consciousness involving self-awareness is not attributed, the statement says it would be “irresponsible to ignore” the possibility that these animals can have positive and negative experiences.
For Andrews, the York Research Chair in Animal Minds who has studied animal cognition for more than 30 years, the evidence from recent studies on seemingly conscious behaviours in creatures including bees, crayfish and wrasse fish is compelling.
“We’ve seen bumblebees exhibiting placid, playful behaviours for no apparent reason other than enjoyment,” she says. “Crayfish show anxious behaviours that change when given anti-anxiety medication. Wrasse fish seem to recognize bodily markings when shown a mirror.”
Such findings challenge the assumption that invertebrates and cold-blooded animals are insentient automata. The declaration argues that when there is a realistic chance an animal has conscious experiences, we are ethically obligated to consider its welfare interests.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t ever eat them or use them,” clarifies Andrews. “But it does mean we need to recognize they likely can feel pain and pleasure, and minimize the negative experiences we impose on them.”
While the declaration doesn’t prescribe policies, Andrews hopes it will prompt wider consideration of how human activities impact invertebrates. She points to the need to include cephalopods and crustaceans under animal welfare regulations in Canada, alongside chickens, pigs and fish.
More profoundly, Andrews sees an opportunity for new scientific insights by studying consciousness across a broader range of organisms. “If even simple animals like worms or flies are conscious in some way, they could provide a revelatory model for understanding the fundamental nature of consciousness, without the confounding factors like language that make human consciousness so complex.”
By expanding our “circle of moral consideration,” as Andrews puts it, the declaration opens perspectives on the richness of subjective experiences pervading the natural world. “It offers the possibility of feeling a wider, deeper connection to all the creatures around us.”
Andrews and her colleagues hope The New York Declaration will be an impetus for more research, greater ethical deliberation and, ultimately, a heightened societal valuation of the experiences of non-human minds.
York University professor champions arts of the Indian Ocean
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For centuries, the Indian Ocean has been a vital maritime highway, facilitating the movement of people, goods and ideas across a vast region stretching from East Africa to Southeast Asia. Yet the artistic legacies born from these cross-cultural exchanges remain relatively understudied compared to other parts of the world. Zulfikar Hirji, a professor of anthropology at York University, is on a mission to change that.
This past April and May, Hirji co-organized the pioneering Arts of the Indian Ocean conference, which brought together 75 scholars, artists and curators from diverse backgrounds to explore the region’s rich artistic heritage across mediums, geographies and eras.
Zulfikar Hirji
“The Indian Ocean constitutes one of the world’s most historic hubs of maritime trade and artistic exchange, but it remains one of the most understudied areas in terms of the arts,” says Hirji. “Scholars and artists working in and on the region provide vital insights into how it has been continually shaped by aesthetic and material exchanges.”
The conference’s wide-ranging program reflected the Indian Ocean region’s incredible cultural diversity. Presentations spanned topics such as Indonesian textiles, Japanese majolica tiles influenced by the Indian independence movement and the monumental Arabic inscriptions of royal palaces in East Africa.
“We had papers covering everything from ceramics to digital arts, from prehistory up to the contemporary period, from East Africa all the way to Japan,” Hirji says. “It really gave a sense of the vibrancy and depth of artistic production across the region over centuries.”
Notably, the conference prioritized including voices and perspectives from the Global South, breaking from the tradition of knowledge about the region being produced primarily from a northern viewpoint. Participants hailed from countries including India, Singapore, Mauritius and Mozambique.
“It was unprecedented in terms of the partnerships we built across Toronto to fund and host this event,” notes Hirji, citing collaborators such as the University of Toronto, the Aga Khan Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum. “Having that diversity of perspectives was crucial.”
A key theme was the threat climate change poses to the Indian Ocean’s cultural heritage and coastal communities. Several artists raised concerns about rising seas, erosion and flooding putting historic sites and traditions at risk of being lost forever without documentation and conservation efforts.
“These are issues that artists in the region are really grappling with,” Hirji says. “Their work sounds an alarm about the need to address these environmental impacts before it’s too late.”
Looking ahead, Hirji hopes to establish the conference as a biennial event and publish an edited volume of selected papers to further scholarly engagement with Indian Ocean arts. But most of all, he wants to inspire more research and creative work illuminating the region’s incredible cultural riches.
“The Indian Ocean world has been a crucible of creativity for millennia,” Hirji says. “By bringing greater attention to its artistic legacies, we can better understand the diverse societies that have shaped human history across this vast maritime region.”
York University announces new cohort of York Research Chairs
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Ten York University researchers have been named new York Research Chairs (YRCs), an internal program that supports outstanding faculty members as they produce research and excel in their wide-ranging areas of study, including cognitive neuroscience, gender justice and molecular ecology, among others.
“The York Research Chairs program enables the University to celebrate and champion our exceptional research community as they pursue discovery, invention and innovation at the highest level in their respective fields, from using artificial intelligence to track and capture space debris to leveraging extended reality technologies for theatre and performance, and so much more,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “I extend a warm congratulations to the new Chairholders whose leading expertise, bolstered by this program, holds the potential to create significant impacts both in Canada and globally.”
This year’s YRCs are the 11th cohort to be appointed – as of July 1 – since the program was first launched by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI) in 2015.
“The new YRC appointments demonstrate the University’s continued commitment to research excellence and scholarship in all its forms, supporting the intensification and application of new knowledge for the benefit of our local and global communities,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “The YRC program also aligns with the University’s Strategic Research Plan, ‘Knowledge for the Future: From Creation and Discovery to Application,’ which aims to enhance York’s research strengths and accelerate the growth of our global impact.”
The YRC program is designed to offer a similar level of support as the federal government’s Canada Research Chairs program, which funds the work of world-class researchers and their teams at institutions across the country.
The YRC program consists of two tiers, both with five-year terms. Tier 1 is open to established research leaders at the rank of full professor. Tier 2 is aimed at emerging research leaders within 15 years of their first academic appointment.
The new group of York Research Chairs. Top row, from left to right: Annie Bunting, Pina D’Agostino, George Zhu, Rabiat Akande and Erez Freud. Bottom row, from left to right: Jack Jiang, Sandra Rehan, Laura Levin, Kevin Lande and Amy Muise.
Below are the new Chairholders and their respective fields of study.
Tier 1 York Research Chairs
York Research Chair in International Gender Justice and Peacebuilding
Annie Bunting,Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies A professor of law and society, Bunting’s research as a YRC will examine the intersection of gender violence and international justice in conflict zones in Africa, with a particular focus on affected youth, sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers, and issues that involve and centre survivors’ experiences.
York Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies
Pina D’Agostino, Osgoode Hall Law School As a YRC, D’Agostino, an associate professor of law and director of Connected Minds, will explore the role of intellectual property law in society’s increased adoption of emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), and the potential benefits and harms of a technology-driven society.
York Research Chair in Space Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
George Zhu, Lassonde School of Engineering Zhu, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Space Engineering Design Laboratory, aims to develop swarm robotics technology through his YRC program. This technology involves a group of robots working together to autonomously clean up space debris in Earth orbits, which can negatively affect space exploration and satellite safety.
Tier 2 York Research Chairs
York Research Chair in Law and the Histories of Empire
Rabiat Akande, Osgoode Hall Law School Akande, an assistant professor of law, will conduct research that examines how 19th- and 20th-century colonial powers governed racial and religious difference and explores the living legacies of that history. Her YRC program seeks to advance the understanding of the law’s role in European imperialism.
York Research Chair in Visual Cognitive Neuroscience
Erez Freud, Faculty of Health Through the YRC program, Freud, an associate professor of psychology, will investigate the developmental brain processes that enable tasks such as hand movement and grasping in children. His research will examine how these processes might differ in children with autism, providing new insights into brain specialization.
York Research Chair in Software Engineering for Foundation Model-powered Systems
Jack Jiang, Lassonde School of Engineering Jiang, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, will use his YRC position to develop advanced engineering tools and processes aimed at facilitating the construction and enhancing the quality and trustworthiness of various generative AI systems like ChatGPT and Copilot.
York Research Chair in Molecular Ecology and Behavioural Genetics
Sandra Rehan, Faculty of Science Rehan, a professor of biology, researches the evolution of bees and their role in biodiversity. As a YRC, Rehan will employ advanced DNA technology to investigate bee behaviour and genetics.
York Research Chair in Art, Technology and Global Activism
Laura Levin,School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design An associate professor of theatre and performance studies, Levin’s YRC program explores the artistic use of emerging technologies, like extended reality and AI, to address growing political polarization and misinformation and to develop imaginative methods for bridging political divides.
York Research Chair in Philosophy of Representation
Kevin Lande, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies An assistant professor of philosophy, Lande’s research as a YRC explores how the mind works, arguing that humans’ creative ability to combine simple ideas to create more complex ones extends beyond thought and language.
York Research Chair in Relationships and Sexuality
Amy Muise,Faculty of Health An associate professor of psychology, Muise’s research as a YRC tests high-quality listening and leverages interdependence in romantic relationships to combat sexism and reduce harmful gender-based attitudes.
Jason Harrow inspires graduands to embrace their creativity
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By Lindsay MacAdam, communications officer, YFile
Canadian music industry icon Jason “Kardinal Offishall” Harrow accepted his honorary degree from York University at the June 20 convocation ceremony by reciting spoken word poetry – infused with his signature hip-hop lyricism – to graduands of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.
The former York University student, born to Jamaican immigrant parents and hailing from Scarborough, Ont., spoke of his decision to hit pause on his post-secondary studies to follow his creative passion. “I left the halls of this institution in pursuit of my dreams and never thought that I would be welcomed back in this manner,” he said of the full-circle moment.
Pictured, from left to right: Chancellor Kathleen Taylor, Jason Harrow, President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton.
Harrow repeatedly touched on the difficulties of being an artist in a world built around money, where professional success is often defined by one’s financial worth. “They say art is when you listen to the universe and magic is when the universe listens to you,” he said. “Either way, being a successful magician is not based on how much money you can accrue.”
Through a series of artful rhymes, Harrow urged graduands to shift their mindset around education, career and finances – to avoid looking at their university degree as a means to get rich; to avoid choosing their career path based on what will pay them back the fastest; and to think about the difference between making an impact and making money. “You didn’t spend all this time here at this beautiful institution,” Harrow said, “to enter into the workforce looking for restitution.”
Indeed, it wasn’t financial gain Harrow was after when he decided to risk it all to chase his creative calling. It was the prospect of living his truth, and it led him to the fulfilling career he has today, working in artist development and creative direction at record labels and continuing to make music and collaborate with other artists, some of whom he namechecked during his moment at the mic – Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Run-DMC, Rihanna, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Will Smith, among others.
Harrow then asked rhetorically, “Which one do you want – passion or purpose, freedom or finance?” before sharing one lesson his professional journey has taught him. “When you move with passion and living your purpose,” he said, “you will achieve a sense of freedom and it won’t be by chance.”
The honorary degree recipient ended his speech by emphasizing to graduands the critical importance of remembering their purpose and holding onto their creative spirit as they embark on their careers, despite the inevitable pressures to do otherwise.
“Be proud of your degrees and all the hard work that it took to get here. These words are just a starter pistol – the beginning of a race to get clear,” Harrow said. “Once your spirit gains clarity, you will know you have arrived. It has been said that a creative adult is the child who survived.”
In pictures: Spring Convocation celebrates Class of 2024
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Spring Convocation for York University’s Class of 2024 ran from June 7 to 21, and featured ceremonies at both the Keele and Glendon campuses.
This year’s Spring Convocation began on June 7 with a ceremony at York University’s Glendon Campus, and continued with a dozen more in the following weeks at the Keele Campus. More than 7,000 graduands received their degrees during ceremonies overseen by the 14th chancellor of York University, Kathleen Taylor.
View photos from the Class of 2024 ceremonies below:
John Ralston Saul urges graduands to be engaged citizens
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John Ralston Saul, an award-winning essayist and novelist who is often referred to as one of Canada’s leading thinkers, received an honorary degree from York University during a June 19 convocation ceremony for the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
“It’s amazing looking around at all the faces and thinking about the future,” Saul said after approaching the podium and taking a moment to acknowledge the number of graduands around him. Then, he explained how this large convocation ceremony is representative of a major shift in Canadian society that he believes requires addressing.
“We are the best educated society in the history of the world – Canada, in particular,” he explained. “And we’ve gradually evolved over 100 or so years … from a small, educated elite to the conviction that everyone has to have a serious education.”
To loud cheers from the crowd, he argued that undergraduate education should be well-enough funded to eliminate the need for student loans, debts and hardship.
Pictured, from left to right: Chancellor Kathleen Taylor, John Ralston Saul, President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton.
Saul then commended the graduands for the years of hard work that led them to this particular moment, but he cautioned that hard work of a different kind now awaited them.
“You, for better or worse, are graduating into tough times. There’s no point in pretending that isn’t the case,” Saul said. “We live in an era of uncertainty where democracy is being threatened, authoritarianism is on the rise, access to education needs to be improved and engaged citizenship is lacking.”
Facing the current and coming challenges, Saul stressed, will require more active participation – in society, in government, in debate – even if it might feel risky. “The problem today is that there’s an atmosphere out there, including in universities, that if we’re serious then we should all keep our heads down. We should be careful. We should be intellectually polite,” he said. “We don’t go anywhere if we’re intellectually polite all the time. That’s not the nature of debate.”
To challenge, change and course-correct society, he said, requires a thick skin. “You have to go out there and be ready to knock things down and therefore be knocked back,” he urged.
Saul warned about those – especially in politics – who urge efficiency and speed. Democracy should not be fast, he said, because that speed excludes key components of the democratic process.
“What could be slower than a society which takes the time to have citizens involved in the process? A society, at its best, listens and acts on the opinions of non-experts,” he said. “I would say we need to go even slower. We need more participation, more listening, much more participation, much more speaking up.”
He noted, too, that while over the past decades there have been world-changing advancements of knowledge that have led to a rise of expertise and efficiency, that should not shape our society. “The citizenry – all of us, through our democracy – we have to do the shaping.”
Saul acknowledged that wouldn’t necessarily be easy. “It’s going to be hard work … to rebuild the reality of the engaged citizen who believes in the shared public good, and hard work to build new coalitions of engaged citizens,” he said. “In other words, exciting times, demanding lives, high risk. All of that to say, I envy you.”
Arnold Auguste reflects on career spent sharing marginalized voices
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By Lindsay MacAdam, communications officer, YFile
At York University’s Spring Convocation ceremony on the morning of June 20, an honorary degree was presented to Arnold Auguste, president and publisher of the newspaper Share, which has been serving the Greater Toronto Area’s Black and Caribbean communities since 1978.
Born and raised in Trinidad, Auguste always had a fondness for Canada, so when he had the opportunity to move to Toronto in 1970, he didn’t hesitate. Two years later, a friend asked him if he would be interested in writing a column for community newspaper called Contrast, which covered issues affecting the Black community. And although writing was not something he had ever contemplated or felt capable of doing, he agreed. That was 52 years ago.
Pictured, from left to right: Chancellor Kathleen Taylor, Arnold Auguste, President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton.
“Today, I am proud to say that I’m a journalist,” said Auguste. “But this profession found me; I didn’t go looking for it.”
Growing up in Trinidad, Auguste naturally gravitated towards news media. He had access to three daily newspapers and three weekend tabloids, and he read every one. “I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would ever write for one – let alone own one,” he admitted.
As Auguste became more involved with Toronto’s Black community, he learned that people were raising funds to provide university scholarships for ambitious youth. He felt a pull to pursue that path, to gain the skills necessary to help him tell the stories of his community in the most compelling way possible. “I felt that if stories needed to be told, they needed to be told well,” he said. “So I entered university to study journalism, where I had the privilege of learning from some of the best people in the business.”
After completing his studies, Auguste worked briefly as an editor at two Black community newspapers, before differences of opinion led to a parting of ways and to Auguste’s eventual decision to start his own publication. Looking to provide a forum where important issues affecting his community could be discussed and debated, he launched Share.
“I never wanted to own a newspaper,” he said, “but if I was to continue working in the Black community, I didn’t see another option.”
Before long, Share took over the market, and the other two publications went out of business.
Auguste was adamant that his newspaper would be free; that it would only publish positive news; that it would not accept any advertising that wasn’t in the best interests of its readers; and that it would not accept government funding. “If the paper was to be successful, it should be supported by the readers,” he believed. And supported it was.
Over the years, Auguste has considered closing his paper several times, but each time that decision has been met with resistance from its steadfast supporters. Last year, he decided again that, after 45 years, it was time to cease publication. This time, he didn’t tell anyone – “I thought I would just sneak out the back door and nobody would notice,” he said.
After the first few weeks, people started calling to find out why they couldn’t find the paper anywhere. Then, the number of calls increased. Eventually, people began offering financial support, thinking that was the reason for the shutdown. Others said they were willing to start paying for the paper that had been free for 45 years. The community had spoken: Share wasn’t going anywhere.
“This experience has instilled in us a renewed sense of Share‘s relevance,” said Auguste, finally realizing how critical his publication is to his community.
With people of colour now working in important positions in Canadian media, academia, the labour movement, police services, the medical profession, as lawyers and judges, at every level of government and in just about every walk of life, Share‘s role, Auguste explained, is to honour those who sacrificed to make that happen.
“As a dear friend reminded me,” said Auguste, “if our history is not written, it is as though we did not exist. Share proves that we existed.”
To conclude his speech, Auguste left graduands with some sage words of advice.
“You have been educated by one of the top universities in the world,” he said. “You are ready to take your place among the movers and shakers. Accept the challenge. Go forward with confidence in yourself and in your training. Be good people. Be honest people. Be kind. Be generous of spirit. Live a life of purpose and help make this world a better place.”
