My daughter is in her final undergraduate semester at UNBC. My wife and I had expected to be excited and proud in equal measure, as had she. Instead, we are disappointed at UNBC's administration and staff for failing her and her classmates.
To be clear, she and her classmates are not failing academically. Rather, they are being morally failed by those they looked to for education, training, guidance and support. Some teachers at UNBC have posted course notes on line and continue to confer with students informally - for this we thank them and their professionalism.
We recall our own time at university with fond memories. Every university student should. Certainly there are trials, there are challenges, there are successes and there are defeats. But overall there is a memory of a unique moment in a life where one's focus was on drinking in as much new knowledge as possible, on forging lifelong friendships, on feeling prepared to move on with anticipation to the next chapter of life. That is what is really in jeopardy here.
As president, Daniel Weeks leads UNBC - that is the essence of his job description. To the extent that graduates of UNBC succeed proudly, you share in that. To the extent they fail, are embittered or spiritually impoverished by their experience rather than enobled, that also rests with you. Please lead UNBC out of its current paralysis so that today's students have the positive memories that are their right and that will cause them to proudly send their children to your doors.
Brian Palmquist
Vancouver
