Together, let us build a better community: The President’s Installation Address

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On November 16, 2015, David H. Turpin was officially installed as the 13th president of the University of Alberta. During the installation ceremony, he gave the following address:installed as the 13th president of the University of Alberta. During the installation ceremony, he gave the following address:

Eminent Chancellor, Your Honour, Premier Notley, Mayor Iveson, Acting Board Chair Wilson, Distinguished guests, colleagues, friends, and family:

Thank you all for coming.

To colleagues from institutions across Alberta, Canada, and around the world: I want to thank you for honouring me and our university with your presence today.

To the members of my family who have travelled great distances to be here: I want to say a special thank you.

To my parents, Marilyn and Howard: Thank you for a life time of love and encouragement.

To my brothers, John and Bruce: Thank you for the friendship, the great humour, and endless kidding of our mother.

To my son, Josh: Thank you for your unwavering support and your kind and caring spirit. I’d also like to acknowledge my daughter, Chantal, who isn’t with us today.

To my wife, Suromitra: I want to thank you for all of your love. You are a true partner, my biggest supporter, and most engaging mentor. Thank you!

Finally, to the many faculty, staff, students, members of governing bodies, alumni, friends and partners of the University of Alberta: Thank you for being here and participating in this rite of passage for our institution.

You have so warmly welcomed me into this community and I am honoured to serve as your 13th president.

Indeed, I accept this responsibility with humility and with enormous appreciation for this great university and its traditions . . . . and for the colleagues, students, and community with whom I will strive to lead this university to a new level of national and international prominence for the benefit of all Albertans and all Canadians.

This university has been served by some of Canada’s finest leaders in post-secondary education. Over my years at Queen’s University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria, I have had the privilege of knowing all four of the University of Alberta’s living presidents emeriti: Myer Horowitz, Paul Davenport, Rod Fraser, and Indira Samarasekera. Three of them are here today.

Myer, Rod, Indira: The impact of your leadership is evident in every corner of the University of Alberta, from the focus and attention paid to teaching and enriching the undergraduate student experience . . . . to the careful and ambitious development of an internationally recognized professoriate . . . to the expansion of University of Alberta’s research leadership and influence in key regions of the global academy — most especially China and India.

Underscoring all is the deep commitment to excellence that characterized your work as presidents and shaped this university in its aspirations and its achievements.

It is that tradition and historical record of excellence that drew me here.

Created through one of the first acts of the provincial legislature, the University of Alberta has played an essential role in the social, cultural, and economic development of Alberta. University of Alberta alumni have formed the backbone of Alberta’s key public institutions. They have founded 70,000 organizations and businesses around the world, creating one and a half million jobs, nearly 400,000 of which are here in Alberta.

Today, University of Alberta researchers are world-leaders in fields as diverse as virology, literature and history, agricultural genomics and proteomics, paleontology, and energy and the environment.

Alumni stories, from the earliest decades on-wards, share a common thematic arc. That arc tells of students being inspired by exceptional professors to pursue excellence, to embrace opportunities and stretch themselves in new ways, and take on the responsibilities of public service and leadership.

In that way, thousands of “apparently ordinary” graduates have made extraordinary contributions.

I think of Richard Taylor, who arrived here from Medicine Hat, by his own report “not an outstanding student”, who went onto discover quarks and earn the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1990.

Or Beverly McLachlin who went from Pincher Creek to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada by way of the Faculties of Arts and Law.

Or Willie Littlechild from Ermineskin reserve, a residential school survivor and star University of Alberta athlete whose work as a lawyer and advocate led to his playing an instrumental role in drafting the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Universities — as these stories illustrate — are the great opportunity equalizers. They are society’s educators, generators of new ideas, and engines of social, cultural and economic prosperity.

Clark Kerr, one of North America’s most influential university administrators of the 20th century, once observed that there are only about 75 public institutions in the western world founded before the Reformation which are still around, doing much the same things they always have.

Of those 75, sixty of them are universities. The others include the Roman Catholic Church, the parliament of Iceland, and . . . a handful of Belgium breweries.

What a powerful testament to the role universities play in society.

What is it that explains their value and endurance?

Universities endure because of their unique role.

Universities hold us all to account.

No other institution in society has as its ultimate purpose the search for truth and knowledge.

No other institution has the freedom to undertake curiosity-driven research, research that may have no apparent utility but from which we know all major social, scientific, and technical innovations flow.

No other institution has the license — indeed the responsibility — to pass on the value of such pursuits to the next generation, so that they can become critical, creative thinkers, citizens, and leaders able to deal with our ever-changing and uncertain future.

Universities endure because they reflect and champion fundamental democratic values of intellectual integrity, freedom of inquiry and expression, and the equal rights and dignity of all persons.

The events of this past weekend remind us of how fragile these values can be and how vitally important it is that universities protect and sustain a space where free thinking is championed above all.

In doing so, universities maintain the public trust. With that come important social responsibilities that few other institutions are afforded — to question accepted truths, refute tired assumptions, and re-imagine the possible.

Universities endure because, at their best, they mirror the diversity, multiplicity, and complexity of nature and society. Biology has taught us that mono-cultures always fail — resilience, adaptation, innovation, and development does not occur in a homogeneous environment.

So too in human cultures — resilience, adaptation, innovation, and development come out of communities where conflicting perspectives, experiences, approaches, and truths can flourish, clash, adapt, transform, and connect.

That is the university and that is why universities endure.

When I was young, my parents often took my brothers and me outdoors to introduce us to nature’s beauty and diversity. We were taught how to ride horses. We went to livestock fairs and interacted directly with producers. Years before the 100 mile diet, we learned exactly where our food came from.

We also learned where our family came from. I am a 7th generation Canadian. Both my grandmothers are prairie stock, one from a Saskatchewan wheat farming family and the other from a southern Alberta ranching family.
When I consider my paternal grandmother, I think of the incredible span of her life. As a baby, she migrated in the late 1800’s with her family from Ontario to Saskatchewan, living their first winter in a sod hut. Over the course of her life, she saw such amazing technological and social change — and through her actions and words, she conveyed to me the best of Canada: hard work, adaptability, compassion, and caring.

I have had the good fortune of living in several different regions of this country, in large cities, small towns, and far off the grid. Each place has its unique features and each place has taught me that my Canadian experience is one among many — none of which fully encapsulates the whole.

Through family, friendship, and partnership offered to me by so many in Canada’s First Nations communities, I have had the privilege of hearing stories and learning from them about the history of and our obligations to the land on which we live.

Through my wife, Suromitra, who was born in Germany, and came to Canada with her family from India in the 1960’s, I have also been exposed to stories of immigration.

Your story, I know, will differ from ours.

And yet, Suromitra and I share a common love for this country and a desire to make it stronger, more just, open, and prosperous. Our experience of Canada — and between us we have lived in Sudbury, Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston, Vancouver, Calgary, Victoria, the Discovery Islands, and now Edmonton — suggest that many others feel as we do.

We feel that commitment here at the University of Alberta — and we knew that in coming here, we would have an incredible opportunity to do work that matters to both of us and to Canada.

The pride and passion we see here in Edmonton and the Province of Alberta for post-secondary education and the University of Alberta are unlike anything we have ever seen.

Our City Council has declared Edmonton the City of Learners. The University of Alberta sits at the centre of a differentiated but integrated system of post-secondary institutions, providing learners with multiple, increasingly connected, pathways to achieve their individual goals and aspirations.

Our new provincial government’s third bill — enacted only six weeks into its mandate — reinvested in Alberta’s post-secondary sector and reaffirmed its commitment to education and research. Thank you, Premier Notley!

Thought leaders from among University of Alberta faculty have been tapped to lead key committees and councils addressing the major challenges facing the province.

There is no doubt that the University of Alberta matters to our city and our province. There is also no doubt that Alberta — with its tremendous assets — matters to our country and the world. We face challenges but I, along with so many others, recognize that Alberta has an unprecedented opportunity to play a national leadership in building a better Canada.

Let me begin by asking what a better Canada looks like.

A better Canada would have one of the highest levels of educational attainment in the world, closing the education gap that is so apparent between some groups in our society.

A better Canada would engage countries around the world not for self-interest but for our common interest.

A better Canada would be innovative and in the forefront of the global knowledge economy.

A better Canada would strengthen its commitment to ensuring that people of diverse backgrounds feel welcome, safe and accepted and able to give back to their communities regardless of their station.

In short, a better Canada would be one of the most socially, culturally, economically, and environmentally prosperous of nations.

Today, I ask you to join me with common purpose. Let us provide leadership in research, teaching, community engagement, service, and international partnership — leadership that results in a stronger, more vibrant Canada.

How can the University of Alberta achieve this?

We will do it through our steadfast pursuit of global excellence — excellence that we can then mobilize to help municipal, provincial, national, and international communities address major challenges.

To our municipal partners: We will work with you to tackle major goals on poverty reduction, homelessness, downtown revitalization, infrastructure renewal, and transportation.

To our provincial partners: We will work with you to strengthen a post-secondary education system that serves the needs of all Alberta’s learners;

we will seed, fuel, and drive economic diversification;

we will contribute to the development of sound, evidence-base policy in key areas of social justice, such as reconciliation with our First Nations and protections for minorities;

we will provide research to sustain-ably develop Alberta’s wealth of natural resources and improve Albertans’ health and wellness.

To our national and international partners: we will continue to work with you to address the grand challenges facing the world today, such as ensuring access to clean water, food security, and sustainable energy; finding and disseminating treatments for chronic and acute disease; and helping to advance global peace and security for all people.

And we will continue to work with you to make discoveries fundamental to our knowledge of humanity and our universe’s basic components.

In addition to this important work, the University of Alberta will achieve its purpose of building a better Canada through our students — whose impact will far outweigh any other.

And so we must continue to pursue excellence in teaching and learning and attract outstanding professors who can inspire our students to be their best — to pursue and use knowledge for the “uplifting of the whole people.”

We must ensure that they gain the capacity for good judgment that is rooted in a liberal arts education. I speak of scientific, historical, philosophical, aesthetic, and value judgment.

Equipped with these, our graduates are empowered to observe, question, and interpret the world and evaluate how their actions affect others.

Our students deserve to have an educational experience that reveals and nurtures their talents and prepares them to lead the renewal of our society and economy — an educational experience that is rich with experiential learning and links to business, government, and community organizations, through internships, co-ops, and international opportunities.

An enriched learning environment grows out of our ability to attract a diverse and broad community of learners to all of our campuses. Let us draw students from every corner of Alberta, every region and community in Canada, and from countries around the world to Edmonton and make them feel at home.

In my experience, students succeed best when they form deep and abiding connections to each other and to the university — each student needs a powerful reason to return to campus each day, each week, and each term. We can do more to help nurture that bond.

Let us begin by recognizing that our university must do more to meet the needs of our First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students and to respond to the calls issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Home to Canada’s only Faculty of Native Studies and with many successful initiatives in faculties across the university, we have a strong foundation from which to move forward. We must now work to realize the University of Alberta’s long-standing dream of creating an Indigenous gathering place on our north campus.

Today, I announce our intention to build the Maskwa House of Learning — a place of welcome, support, connection, and reconciliation for all students, where they can learn, honour, and celebrate our shared history. The Maskwa House of Learning will be a space, where Indigenous students can find and create a home on campus, and access the supports they need to become full participants in their educational journey.

I am honoured that we are supported in this quest by the Grand Chiefs of Treaties Six and Eight along with many others. With this strong support in place, we have formally submitted our proposal to government, in the spirit of working in partnership to answer the legacy of residential schools with substantive acts of reconciliation.

Let us also deepen the experience of all of our first year students with the benefits and rewards of living on campus — especially those students coming from other communities and provinces. Studies tell us that living in residence leads to higher levels of student engagement and academic success.

Beginning next fall, I am pleased to announce that every first-year student admitted to the University of Alberta will receive a guaranteed place in residence.

And to all of our students currently living in residence, on your own, or at home:

I want you to know that with I am working with the presidents of all of Edmonton’s post-secondary institutions to pursue ideas for sharing services and facilities across our city, just as we have already done with libraries and IT networks. Our goal is to create an integrated, inter-connected experience for all. Edmonton is, indeed, a City of Learners!

Inter-connection — this has been one of my underlying themes. Nothing I have outlined today can be accomplished by one person working alone — to move the University of Alberta forward and build a better community, province, and country we must work together.

Whenever Suromitra and I have the chance, we retreat to our cabin in the Discovery Islands. It’s remote. Off the grid. Judith, our only year-round neighbour on the island, is a half hour walk away. Over the years we have all come to rely on one another — from providing water taxi services to working on each other’s construction crews. With another 75 year old neighbour, Max, we built a 90 step staircase from the beach up to our cabin.

That’s a real accomplishment when the nearest Home Depot is a one-day barge trip away.

But we did it together — one board, one nail, one swing of the hammer at a time. By the time we had finished, we had done more than build a staircase, we had built a friendship and deepened the bonds of community.

I have a passion for building things — for working with others to achieve a common goal. I stand before you today because I felt an immediate connection to this community. A shared sense of purpose.

Universities endure. They maintain the public trust. They lead because they are fundamentally humane institutions — made of communities of people linked by the conviction that the pursuit of knowledge, truth, and excellence is the well-spring of a healthy, prosperous, open, just and caring society.

To this end, we work together with common purpose. Thank you for placing your confidence in me. I likewise place mine in you. The venture that formally begins today, we undertake together.

Together, let us continue to pursue scholarship, research, creative activities, and knowledge translation for the public good in all sectors of communities.

Together, let us find new ways to strengthen our students’ connections to each other and help them become the lifelong learners, citizens, and leaders our society needs.

Together, let us propel this great institution — the University of Alberta — to a place of unprecedented leadership, and in common cause, build a better community, a better province, and a better Canada.

Thank you.