ENGAGING STUDENTS I ENGAGING RESEARCH I ENGAGING COMMUNITY
50TH ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE
OF SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
SUMMER 2016
CELEBRATING
C O M M E M O R AT I V E
ISSUE
YEARS OF
ENGAGEMENT
TABle oF coNTeNTs
8 A ToAsT To 50 YeArs
Raising a glass to the anniversary
celebrations
11 BAck To The FuTure: sFu
Through The DecADes
Reflecting on 50 years of
accomplishments and looking
toward the future
23 sFu BY The NumBers
Adding up the University’s
most engaging stats
24 heADs oF The clAss
Spotlighting SFU’s distinguished board
of governors over the past half-century
26 BreAkiNg DowN The
ivorY Tower
History professor emeritus Hugh
Johnston explores the relationship
between town and gown
32 sFu BookshelF
Stacking up SFU’s publishing pedigree
Recognizing and respecting our
Aboriginal culture
39 BuilDiNg cAmpuses
AND commuNiTies
Exploring the foundation of innovative
education and cutting-edge research
44 sTAYiNg The course
Three decades after his passing,
Terry Fox continues to inspire
46 50 hours iN The
liFe oF sFu
Looking through the lens at
student life today
52 50 YeArs To The DAY
Reminiscing on opening day
and honouring today
54 spiriT oF giviNg BAck
Those whose generosity has been
key to the evolution of SFU
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: NIK WEST; PAUL JOSEPH; TERRy FOx FOUNdATION
34 sFu’s wesT coAsT origiNs
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coNTriBuTors
Editor
Art dirEctor
crEAtivE Advisor
Janine verreault (Ba ’95)
stesha ho
Catherine mullaly
publishEd by
contributing writErs
Kathleen almeida (Ba ’09), melissa
Edwards, ariane fleischmann
(m.Pub. ’15), Janet gyenes (Ba ’92),
hugh Johnston (professor emeritus),
diane luckow (Ba ’78), lisa manfield
(Ba ’96), anicka Quin (m.Pub. ’03),
allen tung (Ba ’15), Justin Wong (Ba ’15)
contributing Artists And
photogrAphErs
Paul duchard, greg Ehlers,
steven hughes, Clinton hussey,
Paul Joseph, dale northey, nik West,
the Peak Publication society
proofrEAdErs
EditoriAl AssistAnt
sfu contributors
melissa Edwards, michael White
danika thibault
veronica aarstad, ivana filipovic,
marianne meadahl
ExEcutivE Editors
laurie morris, managing director,
marketing & Brand management
monica Bisal, director, university
Communications
publishEr
Joanne Curry, vice-president,
External relations
AdvErtising sAlEs
Brianne harper
phone: 604·299·7311
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: NIK WEST; PAUL JOSEPH; TERRy FOx FOUNdATION
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Chairman, CEO
Peter legge
samantha legge
PrEsidEnt
PUBLISHED BY
Charlene rooke
ChiEf COntEnt OffiCEr
ExECutivE CrEativE dirECtOr
rick thibert
dirECtOr/PrOduCtiOn
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viCE PrEsidEnt /salEs
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PrOduCtiOn managEr (on leave)
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CirCulatiOn COOrdinatOr
reproduction of the contents of this issue, except brief passages for review purposes,
is forbidden without the express written permission of the publisher.
Writer/editor Janet Gyenes
(BA ’92) wrote the feature
“Back to the Future: SFU
Through the Decades” (p.11).
What I enjoyed most
about this assignment was
the chance to go deep into
SFU’s colourful history, plus all the nostalgia from
my four years at SFU. The most challenging
part of this story was trying to encapsulate
major accomplishments into sound bites. The
most important thing that SFU taught me
was to work hard and the rest will fall into place.
Photographer Nik West shot
the photo essay “50 Hours
in the Life of SFU” (p.46).
What I enjoyed most
about this assignment was
that I love shooting photo
essays. I love to roam around
with my camera in hand and try to capture
interesting moments. It’s the freedom to be
curious and poke around in places not everyone
has access to. The most challenging part
of this assignment was that because we shot
during the summer, classes weren’t in full swing,
so I had to dig deeper. You have to be patient
and roam the same areas or wait in a spot and be
ready for that unexpected moment to happen.
What impressed me the most about visiting SFU was the beautiful campuses, particularly
the iconic buildings that make up the main campus in Burnaby. I love architecture. The newer
Surrey campus is modern and very cool, as is the
downtown Woodward’s campus. There is a mix
of new and old, with classes in heritage buildings
also. It is an impressive range of spaces.
Writer/editor/content strategist Lisa Manfield wrote
“Stock Your Bookshelf with
SFU Authors” (p.32). What
I enjoyed most about this
assignment was discovering how many incredible
authors are actually SFU alumni like me. The
most challenging part of this article was
deciding which books to fit in limited bookshelf
space! The most important thing that SFU
taught me was how to apply my degree out
in the world. Doing the co-op work experience
program at SFU was one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made and one of the most valuable
components of my degree.
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VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
Ian Campbell, hereditary
chief of the Squamish Nation,
was among 14 students who
were the first to graduate
from Canada's first credited
MBA for Aboriginal leaders.
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SFU’S
WeSt
CoaSt
originS
SFU haS a rich hiStory oF commUnity
engagement with B.c.’S FirSt nationS
by Diane Luckow /// portrait by PauL JosePh
For decades, faculty members from diverse disciplines
have been working with First Nations partners to discover their
archaeological history, preserve their Indigenous languages,
cultural heritage and intellectual property, and to improve their
economic development. Here are just a few success stories and
standout initiatives that reflect SFU’s strategic vision to recognize and respect Aboriginal peoples and cultures.
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PreServing FirSt nationS
Culture through language
UniqUe eMBa HelpS alUMnUS Blaze neW trailS
S
FU alumnus Ian Campbell,
hereditary chief of the Squamish
Nation, is a visionary who has
ambitious plans for his people.
“We’re moving away from
managing welfare to managing wealth,”
he says. And now that he has graduated
with an SFU Executive MBA in
Aboriginal business and leadership, he
has the knowledge to forge ahead
with ideas for projects. These include
developing the Jericho Lands in
Vancouver and pursuing development
and business collaborations with other
First Nations.
Campbell, 41, was among 14 students
aged 32 to 57 who, in June 2015, were
the first to graduate from Canada’s first
credited MBA for established Aboriginal
leaders, entrepreneurs and others working with Aboriginal communities.
In 2013, BCBusiness magazine
acclaimed the program as one of B.C.’s
10 most significant innovations.
Campbell concurs. He was accepted
into SFU’s Beedie School of Business
program without an undergraduate
degree, but with significant career experience. He says the program “absolutely
delivered” on formal business skills and
tools while also recognizing and addressing how to incorporate traditional
Aboriginal protocols and knowledge.
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“I’m employed as lead negotiator
in intergovernmental relations for the
Squamish Nation,” he says. “We’re
engaged in significant projects throughout our territory that deal with
intergovernmental relations, business
opportunities and investment. So my
focus in the EMBA was fourfold: creating
a vision, structuring our nation’s corporate division, building capacity within the
nation and inspiring our young people.”
He says the 33-month part-time
EMBA program is very timely, and credits
SFU’s courage and foresight in creating it.
Program director Mark Selman, who
conceived and championed the program,
says it addresses an important change in
B.C.’s business environment.
“First Nations are getting access to
resources they never had in the past,” he
says. “They have money to invest, and
opportunities. Businesses are realizing
that in terms of managing their risks, they
need to work with First Nations.”
Adds Campbell, “As Canada goes
through reconciliation, we really have
to ask ourselves, ‘What are the actions
that go with that?’ The leadership SFU
exemplified in creating this program has
inspired many of our Indigenous groups
to move beyond the status quo. We’re now
in transition to recreate ourselves—not in
isolation but with the rest of Canada.”
B.C.’S 30 FIRSt NAtIONS languages are among
the most complex intellectual constructs on the
planet, but their survival is hanging by a thread,
says SFU anthropologist and linguist Marianne
Ignace.
Ignace is the director of SFU’s First Nations
Language Centre (FNLC), and is leading an
ambitious seven-year project to work with
First Nations community groups to maintain
and revitalize some of B.C.'s and Yukon’s Indigenous languages. The project is funded with a
$2.5-million grant from the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council.
“The death of each elder who speaks the language represents the irretrievable loss of specific Indigenous ways of speaking, of seeing the
world, and of communicating about the land and
the physical and social environment,” she says.
A professor of linguistics and First Nations
studies, Ignace arrived at SFU in the late ’70s
from Germany to pursue a PhD on Haida discourse and social organization.
She has since played a key role in fostering SFU’s involvement with B.C.’s First Nations,
beginning with the establishment in 1988 of SFU
outreach courses and programs in anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and First Nations
studies.
More than 450 students from First Nations
communities have since earned credentials
such as degrees, diplomas and certificates
through these outreach programs.
Along the way, she married Shuswap Nation
chief Ron Ignace and taught their eight children
the nation’s Secwepemc language. She continued to work with numerous Aboriginal groups
to document their languages, develop curriculum and create practical grammars. She also
created courses to train language teachers and
new speakers.
Her latest project has been an intensive fourmonth Haida language “boot camp” in the community of Old Massett. The 14 students studied
all day, five days a week and Ignace is encouraged by their enormous progress.
“The learners’ success gives us hope that
through hard work, supported
by research, we can together
'grow' a new generation of
adults who will continue to
develop their fluency as
they continue to document
their language, gain confidence in using Haida,
and teach it to others.”
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SFU’S aBoriginal initiativeS
FirSt
nationS
in 2007, the university established its first aboriginal strategic Plan. it aims to
create a supportive academic and community environment for aboriginal peoples
while also recognizing their values and traditions. since then, exciting aboriginal
initiatives can be found throughout the university. These include:
• An SFU Strategic Vision that identifies
“respect for aboriginal peoples and
cultures” as one of its six underlying
principles
• The Office for Aboriginal Peoples
• An Indigenous Initiatives Librarian
• An Aboriginal Steering Committee
• The Bill Reid Gallery and Bill Reid Centre 1
• A Department of First Nations Studies
• A spacious new Indigenous Student
centre 2
• A First Nations Language Centre
• An Elders Program to mentor Aboriginal
students
• New scholarships and bursaries for
graduate aboriginal students
• Improved support for Aboriginal
graduate students, including a new
indigenous coordinator in graduate
studies
• More Aboriginal faculty members
• Targeted programs, such as the Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and
Leadership
• An SFU-led Indigenous Research Centre
that fosters indigenous communitybased research, and sponsors an annual
aboriginal lecture series 3
1
• Lifelong Learning programs that prepare
aboriginal students for university, and for
jobs in the health sector
• Partnerships with local Aboriginal colleges and organizations such as the native
Education College and Nicola Valley
institute of Technology
• Cultural programming such as the Coast
salish drumming and singing workshops
• A summer camp for Aboriginal youth
• An introductory First Nations course at
sFu-affiliated Fraser international college
to introduce international students to First
nations issues 4
viSUal hiStory
The Bill Reid Centre's digital image collection
documents the resilience, creativity and vibrancy of
northwest coast First nations, from initial contact
with europeans to the present. it includes sketches
and drawings created by early travellers and explorers, and photographs dating to the mid-19th century.
The collection is also a record of the reawakening of
northwest coast cultural practices in the late 20th
century in the face of enforced policies of assimilation and cultural destruction. The centre’s objective
is to engage in community and academic conversations on northwest coast visual culture, and promote
public understanding and respect for northwest
coast First nations past and present.
2
home away From home
The spacious indigenous student centre, which
opened in September 2014 at the Burnaby campus,
represents a home away from home for more than
600 indigenous students. amenities include a smokeeater for indoor smudging, computers, a dedicated
room for the elders Program and student meeting
spaces. Planned with assistance from students
and community representatives, the $500,000
centre’s wood-and-stone finishes pay homage to the
coast salish territories upon which sFu sits.
PreP School The aboriginal university Prep Program, established in 2007, prepares aboriginal
students for university. The newly revised curriculum features some indigenous texts and works by indigenous
scholars, authors and filmmakers. To date, 45 students have completed the program, earning conditional
acceptance into sFu and academic credit toward a degree program.
4
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3
worldwide
reSearch
The intellectual Property issues in cultural
heritage (iPinch) Program is an sFu-based
international research
group. Led by sFu
archaeologist George
nicholas, the research
group oversees 15
community-driven projects and has nurtured
landmark negotiations
on indigenous intellectual property issues
between institutions
and communities globally. The group earned
the social sciences and
Humanities Research
council of canada’s first
Partnership impact
award in 2013. ■
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