Terry Lavender
Inspire: Building a Strategic Plan for UBC
Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Four Seasons Hotel, Vancouver Thank you, Robert, for your kind introduction. Good afternoon, and thank you everyone. It’s an honour to be with you today. I’d like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish people, the Musqueam, the Squamish […]
Lunar New Year 2018
Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre Thank you everyone, and thank you especially to Iggy Chong. We are so lucky at UBC to have alumni – and friends – like Iggy, who works so hard on our behalf as Chair of our Hong Kong Alumni UBC Leadership Council. And now, as if we needed further proof […]
Inspire: “This is our moment”
Last week, I had the privilege of presenting a draft of Inspire: the strategic plan of the University of British Columbia (UBC) to the UBC Vancouver Senate. Later this week, I will present it to the UBC Okanagan Senate. It will go back to the Senates next month and, following that, to the Board of […]
Getting closer to where you want to be
Welcome to 2018! I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday break and is refreshed and ready for the new year. A new year means different things to different people. To me, a new year means a chance to reflect on the year that’s gone by and to think about what I hope to achieve in […]
Best wishes to Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
On behalf of the University of British Columbia, I am delighted to extend best wishes to The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C. on the occasion of her retirement as the Chief Justice of Canada. Chief Justice McLachlin was the first woman to hold the position of Chief Justice of Canada and she retires from […]
Looking back on 2017, looking forward to 2018
Dear friends: December is traditionally a time to reflect back on the year that was and to look forward to the year to come. Looking over my blog posts over the past year, I’m struck by UBC’s many accomplishments in 2017: We began work in earnest on the new strategic plan. The planning process – […]
Freedom of Expression: Where do you stand?
Dear members of the UBC community: Freedom of expression continues to be a major topic of discussion at higher education institutions around North America. Here at UBC we have been encouraging discussion about our own homegrown statement (which can be found on the VP Academic website). As our academic community grows and diversifies, it is […]
The Blue & Gold campaign: Change their world so they can change ours
Earlier this year, I wrote in this space that we need to support the UBC students who are determined to make a better world. As I wrote at the time, “Thank goodness for the dreamers among our world’s youth. It is because of them that I remain hopeful about the future of Planet Earth.” But […]
Going global: Our future depends on it
Is Canada prepared for the challenges that lie ahead? That was the question that I – and the other members of the Study Group on Global Education – asked ourselves this year as we looked at Canada’s approach to global education. Our conclusion: Canada is not ready. Our young people are not ready. And we […]
Freedom of Expression Matters: Join the Conversation
As follow-up to my September 5th letter to the UBC community, I received a draft statement on freedom of expression from an internal working group convened by Professor Neil Guppy, Senior Advisor to the Provosts on Academic Freedom. The working group, comprising ten faculty and staff members, worked through several iterations of a statement. Input […]
Building a better Canada
As Canada’s 150th anniversary year draws to a close, this is a good time to reflect on this country, its history and its future. Canada has much to be proud of – our contributions to both global peacekeeping and defence against tyranny, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our welcoming of Syrian refugees, our scientific […]
Overcoming the stigma of mental illness
Recently I spoke at a TEDx event about the need to support young people struggling with mental health issues. To mark World Mental Health Day, I have decided to adapt my talk into a blog post. Please also see the joint Globe and Mail op-ed piece that University of Toronto Chancellor Michael Wilson and I wrote about […]
UBC’s Next Century — the next phase of engagement
Dear members of the UBC community: I am pleased to confirm that we are now entering the next phase of UBC’s strategic planning process. Over the last few months we have conducted a series of events and consultation activities: from open houses on our Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and other learning and research sites, to […]
Supporting the dreamers
Dear friends: As we get caught up in the day to day activities of a busy September, it’s hard to believe that it was just two weeks ago that we welcomed thousands of new students to our campuses at UBC Create and UBC Imagine. They were joyous occasions. But there were some sobering moments, too. […]
Imagine UBC 2017
Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, UBC Vancouver (Click here to see a video of the speech) Thank you! Well, I’ve been waiting for today for several months. People have been working really hard trying to choose you. As you probably know, there are about 30,000 people who applied to this institution to have the privilege […]
Looking ahead to 2017-18
Dear members of the UBC community: Welcome back for the start of the 2017/18 academic year. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the summer. Today, UBC is welcoming thousands of new and returning students to our campuses and learning sites. As we embrace the energy and excitement that comes with this, I […]
Times Higher Education World Academic Summit 2017
Modern graduates: citizens of the world or citizens of nowhere? Topic of this panel is one that is very pertinent to the University of British Columbia. What is the role of a major research university in an increasing connected world? What is our obligation – to our community, to our region, to the world? No […]
Hate is antithetical to UBC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion
In recent months we have all sadly witnessed incidents of hate, racism and xenophobia across the globe. Tragedies such as today’s attack in Barcelona, and the unrest in Charlottesville, only serve to remind us that we cannot and must not tolerate hatred and racism. These incidents are antithetical to the very fabric of a just […]
Summer at UBC
I love summer at UBC. The sunshine, the luxuriant foliage, the mountains and the ocean, the historic buildings – it all reminds me how lucky I am to work at this amazing institution. Another thing I like about walking or cycling through the campus on my way to work at this time of year is […]
Executive Profile: Vice President, Human Resources
Executive Profile Vice President, Human Resources, The University of British Columbia