Posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
The Honourable Murray Sinclair, participating Tuesday in an Algonquin College Speaker Series event hosted by Pembroke Campus, issued a call to action to individuals aspiring to play a part in reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations.
“I speak often with groups who ask me ‘What can I do? Is it too big a problem for me?’” Sinclair said. “I say it isn’t too big for you. You can do this very easily. You need to first of all make yourself aware of Canada’s history and what it’s done to you. Understand how it’s effected your thinking and work hard to change the way you think about Indigenous people and Indigenous issues.”
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Posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2021
When Algonquin College Board of Governor’s member, Audrey Lawrence, was a young woman attending teachers’ college, she received a bursary that changed her life. Now, she is returning that long ago favour by establishing a new bursary in her own name.
The Audrey Lawrence AC Online Bursary, which will be awarded to full-time and part-time learners in financial need, is being established thanks to a generous gift of over $15,000 from Lawrence.
The bursary, which was announced this week, is one of the first of its kind in Ontario and represents five separate bursaries. Two $6,000 bursaries will benefit full-time learners, with one preferably directed toward an Indigenous student. Three $1,000 bursaries will also be awarded to part-time students.
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Posted on Monday, April 19th, 2021
Acts of kindness are always important, but in today’s climate, they may be more difficult to accomplish. On Monday, the Algonquin Board of Governors recognized a group of students who came together to raise funds to purchase health and wellness supplies for Inuit youth in Kugaaruk and Resolute Nunavut, and received the Changemaker Award for their efforts.
The five Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and one Bachelor of Commerce (e-Supply Chain Management) (Honours) student created the Indigenous Youth Health and Wellness club in the Fall of 2020 at Algonquin’s Pembroke Campus.
Since then they have collaborated with nursing stations in remote northern communities and worked with Canadian North Airline to deliver the supplies to remote isolated communities. Read more >
Posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2021
For many students, leaving family and loved ones behind to attend college means leaving a support network and family traditions. Luckily, Indigenous students at the Pembroke campus have the opportunity to interact with a supportive grandmother-figure who is ready and willing to engage with them.
Annie Parker is the Pembroke Kampus Kokum. A Kokum is an Algonquin Anishinaabe word for Grandmother. On campus, her roles to provide cultural and traditional insight, support and personal consultation for our Indigenous students.
It’s a new role for the College, and for Parker, and one she has embraced. “It’s a real honour,” she said. “I see it as being able to be open and honest with the students, I don’t have all the answers but I have a willingness to find the answers, to be approachable, and students can come to me. In short, develop relationships.” Read more >
Posted on Friday, January 15th, 2021
Pembroke Campus has kicked off activities in conjunction with the First Moon, First People Indigenous Culture Celebration. The month-long event will include a series of activities in collaboration with the Circle of Turtle Lodge that celebrate Indigenous Culture.
“This is the fourth year of this annual event,” said Jodi Bucholtz, Marketing, Event Planning and Recruitment Coordinator. “Through these programs, we are able to expose students and employees to learn more about indigenous culture.”
Events are aligned with course curriculum to allow for wide interest and participation. All students and staff are welcome to attend.
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Posted on Monday, December 21st, 2020
Ron (Deganadus) McLester, Algonquin’s Vice President, Truth, Reconciliation & Indigenization, and Jeff Turner, Algonquin’s Partnership Development Specialist, were featured on CBC’s All in a Day recently to discuss the College’s announcement of its COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative, and the expansion of its YouthBuild program, two initiatives that help Indigenous youth acquire job-readiness skill while expanding their education.
“We just saw an amazing opportunity here to provide positive impact to Indigenous youth, and it’s been really successful to date,” said Turner of the Rapid Response program, which gives Indigenous youth on-the-job training and employment skills related to the impact or effects of the pandemic . Read more >
Posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020
Algonquin College and Ottawa Tourism celebrated the launch of Indigenous Tourism Entrepreneurship Training, which will support Indigenous entrepreneurs in the creation and development of their own business and tourism ideas.
Thanks to funding provided by the Canadian Experiences Fund, this partnership will see the creation of 10-week training modules, which will prepare Indigenous learners with the skillset to develop their business and tourism plans, and prepare them to pitch their idea to founders, as well as apply for funding through various agencies.
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Posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2020
The Coronavirus Information site has been redesigned to improve navigability and help spotlight and organize resources for both students and employees.
Visit the new home page and special subsections devoted to Students and Employees.
Visit the new FAQ page, where you can find a variety of FAQs for students as well as a general FAQ for Employees and FAQ for faculty on Academic Continuity. New FAQ content includes Spring-Winter Term FAQs added to the Registrar’s Office FAQ located here.
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Posted on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019
The Algonquin College community is invited to attend an Indigenous ceremony in Ishkodewan Friday as the DARE District courtyard is readied for winter.
Horticultural Industries students will assist in preparing the courtyard garden for winter starting Friday. This entails weeding plant beds, deadheading perennials, and generally getting the garden in shape for winter’s onset – The Big Sleep, as Jeff Turner, Partnership Development Specialist for the DARE District, puts it.
Ahead of this work, Jackie Tenute, Aboriginal Counsellor for the Mamidosewin Centre, will lead an early morning ceremony in Ishkodewan to say ‘thank you’ to nature for its beauty and bounty, including the more than 1,000 plants – flowers, shrubs, and trees – that make up the garden.
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Posted on Tuesday, October 1st, 2019
Algonquin College’s Students’ Association was honoured Tuesday for its $1-million investment in providing Indigenous artifacts and architecture for the DARE District.
The investment was announced in August 2017. The College and its students invested $5.4 million – including the SA’s $1 million over five years – into capital projects incorporating Indigenous identity and promoting Indigenization, all with a view to furthering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action. “It is our fervent hope that this will encourage the expression of (Indigenous) history, culture and arts on campus,” then SA President Victoria Ventura said at the time.
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