"Last week I had the privilege of being with University Presidents from across Canada. In the face of many challenges related to funding, the environment, racism, ongoing health and economic concerns related to the pandemic, and a digital disruption of the delivery of education, I came away grateful: grateful for God’s provision of resilient, dedicated, gifted, and faithful faculty, staff, and students."
— President Mark Husbands
Dear TWU Community,
It is a delight to be writing you just days ahead of TWU's Fall Commencement, our first in-person graduation ceremony in two years.
This Saturday, 606 graduates will celebrate the completion of their programs at TWU.
They are 606 lives that you as faculty and staff have touched in countless ways, and their accomplishments are our shared joy.
Thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do daily, in forming graduates with thoroughly Christian minds, capable of making a profound, positive, and lasting impact upon society at large.
Universities Canada
Last week, I had the privilege of representing TWU in-person at the annual Universities Canada membership meeting. This year’s President’s meeting was framed around the theme of “Roadmap to Recovery: Renewing our Commitments to Canadians.”
Universities across the nation are striving to meet the pressing challenges faced by higher education institutions across the globe. I was comforted to know that gifted colleagues at TWU have carried out tremendously hard work over the past year-and-a-half, to give Trinity Western the best opportunity to thrive as we chart our own “Roadmap to Recovery.”
TWU's distinguishing strength
The Roman Catholic philosopher, Alasdair MacIntyre, turned the discipline of modern ethics upside down by writing this remarkable sentence:
“I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?'”
Among Canadian universities, it is clear that Trinity Western possesses this distinguishing strength: the ability to provide students with a true and enduring story—indeed, God’s story—in which to find their identity, purpose, and calling.
Recently, I met with a number of local pastors and youth ministers, and they too, have witnessed how young adults are seeking truth, guidance, direction and mentorship—the kind of life preparation that TWU can provide.
Your love, counsel, wisdom, challenge, and support for TWU students makes a world of a difference. Here, they discover that they are not alone on life’s journey. On the contrary, they are at home among a people who joyfully demonstrate the intellectual coherence, freedom and love of the Gospel. Indeed, your work and contribution at TWU is vital. Please know how encouraging it is to witness the immeasurable impact you have had upon our students and this year’s Fall graduating class.
Laurentian Leadership Centre visit
Time in Ottawa gave me the opportunity to visit TWU’s Laurentian Leadership Centre (LLC) in Ottawa, where I was welcomed by a warm, intelligent and inspiring community of students, staff and faculty. In the course of sharing a meal, bible study, prayer, and conversation, the LLC students asked excellent questions about the future direction of the University. They were as curious to know how schools, faculties and administration will all play a part in fulfilling TWU’s vision, as they were about calling, and the importance of connecting their faith in Christ to the complex needs of a world in need of God’s mercy and grace.
Faculty research
It is only two months into the Fall semester, and I am once again awed by the accomplishments of our faculty and their ongoing contributions to society in the areas of research and teaching.
Congratulations to Dr. Angela Wolff who received a Michael Smith Foundation grant to translate health research into Community Mental Health, and to Dr. Kendra Rieger for receiving the Michael Smith Foundation Health Research Scholar award to advance Indigenous perspectives and promote more equitable access to healthcare through the arts.
Congratulations to Dr. Erica Grimm, Joshua Hale, Alysha Creighton, and Patti Victor, for the opening of a significant exhibition at the Langley Centennial Museum, titled Upstream/Downriver: Walking the stɑl̓əw̓ Watershed, a collaborative research-creation project that addresses climate change at the local scale of the lower Fraser River watershed. TWU faculty partnered with experts from a wide range of science, humanities, and Indigenous knowledge backgrounds to walk the stɑl̓əw̓ Watershed, experts including Dr. Heesoon Bai (SFU), Dr. Katharine Bubel, Dr. David Clements, Dr. Tim Cooper (UFV), David Jorda
n, Dr. Maxwell Ofosuhene, Dr. Sam Pimentel, Dr. Bruce Shelvey, Annelyn Victor (Xwchíyò:m Nation), and Chief Andrew Victor (Xwchíyò:m Nation). We are grateful for your collaborative, creative and interdisciplinary work that highlights the effects of climate change within our local context.
We are grateful to many more TWU faculty and staff who are faithfully working, day-in and day-out, to research, publish, create, engage the public, instruct students, and care for and mentor others. On behalf of the entire TWU community, including numerous students and families, thank you for all the ways in which you are individually, and corporately, using God’s gifts to bless our campus and the world at large.
Listening Tour and Strategic Planning 2022
One of the highlights of this semester has been the start of my campus-wide Listening Tour. After meeting with student leaders in August, I have had the privilege of meeting with several schools and faculties through a series of “fireside chats.” I am eager to learn more, as I continue the Listening Tour with other TWU members, including Richmond campus, GLOBAL, and staff departments. I look forward to engaging with you.
These Listening Tour discussions will help inform the Strategic Planning process that is set to begin in January 2022. The Executive Leadership Team will be devoting time during the first weeks of the new year to jumpstart this process. We are pleased to welcome James Tweedy, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, as the newest member of ELT. James and his team are helping present the University to the world in the most compelling ways. James' role on the ELT will be invaluable, as we continue to share with the world our unique value and contribution, inviting the global community to experience the transformative work of God through Trinity Western University and our graduates.
Finally, as we labour together in the good work of forming hearts and minds for Christ, may you be encouraged by the words of Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
…For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
…Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves."
(Romans 12:1-10)
Grace and peace,
See also — Trinity Western University President's Update:
TWU News
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.