As the University of St. Michael’s College kicks off the new school year, President David Sylvester extends a warm welcome to all new and returning students, faculty, and staff.
Here we are again, at the outset of a new academic year. We all know this experience, the nervous energy that accompanies new beginnings, whether we are first-year students fresh off Orientation Week, or seasoned staff and emeriti faculty who have plied these waters for many years.
Many of the familiar signs of this new season are timeless: the lingering morning mist on the Quad; the colours turning on the oaks on Elmsley Lane or the vines that cling to More and Fisher Hall; and the inevitable purging of waning summer greenery from the Brennan Hall rock gardens in preparation for the inevitable snowfall to come. But I am way ahead of myself!! Now that classes have begun, a more intentional gait is obvious as we all move about campus, and the pastel t-shirts are slowly being replaced by a more somber palette presented by sweaters and jackets. And so it goes, year after year.
But hold on a moment—as St. Michael’s sets out on a new academic year animating its educational mission, one that challenges all its members to “exercise transformative leadership in service…” it’s worth reflecting on what, if anything, is different in this, our 173rd year.
The complexities of this moment are pretty apparent to anyone who pauses to reflect on the state of things. Yes, this has become a time of deep division: of disturbing intolerance and discrimination; of personal, domestic and international discord and violence amplified by deliberate misinformation; of an erosion of a common understanding of what it means to be human and what we are capable of achieving together. In more than a few ways, this is a most challenging time.
But there are also emerging signs of hope in this new season: public voices calling out the incivility, the astounding disinformation and recently naming those individuals and organizations that benefit from the calculated chaos. Universities cannot be passive observers to this moment and have a historic mandate and responsibility to engage in this project by educating critical minds that can sort through the noise to champion the search for truth in all things, academic and otherwise.
For our part, St. Michael’s is purpose-built to take on these challenges. What we teach, how we teach it, and how we imagine community are powerful antidotes to this malaise and the personal and collective search for wholeness. A holistic pedagogy invites comprehensive, not simplistic solutions. A deep regard for each other calls us to convene difficult conversations while modelling the foundational principles of meaningful engagement—an openness to others and their ideas and a critical but empathetic approach to dialogue. An institutional commitment to “build the common good” demands that we seek solutions that elevate people and the world, not simply ourselves or those with whom we are aligned. And at the root of it all, we have always been and are called anew to be a community of hope, one that looks to each other in all our beautiful differences. In more than a few ways, this is a St. Mike’s moment.
So, welcome back to campus as this new academic year unfolds. My wish is that the familiar signposts of this season and its new challenges are a comfort and a catalyst to many new beginnings for you, and for St. Michael’s. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you—students, staff and faculty—are, in fact, the agents of hope that bring life to this campus, to the lives of others, and to the world. That’s no small calling, and I can’t think of a better reason for us to be back together as we head into the new year. I, for one, will be looking to each of our interactions, our gatherings, our celebrations, and your accomplishments in the coming year as signs of this life-giving hope, and for all this, I give you thanks in advance.
Bring on the snow!
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