Editor's note: President Alastair Summerlee welcomes comments on his column at president@uoguelph.ca.
January is Citizenship Awareness Month at U of G, and I can't think of a more fitting celebration for the first month of the new year.
Our students are planning numerous campus events designed to increase awareness of the importance of civic participation and to inspire people to reflect on their roles as citizens.
There will be voter registration drives, an all-candidates forum, a multicultural celebration and most exciting a Jan. 19 lecture by Justin Trudeau, one of this country's foremost advocates of youth and volunteerism and the son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau is travelling around the country promoting initiatives that encourage people to become engaged citizens and to discover the contributions they can make to Canada and to the world. We are extremely fortunate that he is making Guelph one of his destinations.
Like his father, Justin Trudeau is passionate about inspiring people to explore what it means to be Canadian. His pending visit has, in turn, inspired me to carefully ponder timeless questions about the meaning of citizenship.
I believe these important issues are more relevant now than ever and that all of us faculty, staff and students have a significant role to play as citizens of a larger global community.
Our roles will be highly varied, ranging from taking part in humanitarian missions halfway around the world to getting involved in local politics and volunteering in the community. But all these efforts will have a ripple effect that resonates far beyond the University, the city and even our country.
Allow me to elaborate.
A few years ago, Martha Piper, president of the University of British Columbia, came to campus to deliver the annual Killam Lecture. She talked about how the foundation of our civil society, which she defined as a society based on mutual respect, tolerance and trust, was at risk because of events such as Sept. 11. She said education and knowledge were crucial to stopping the erosion because they enable people to better understand themselves and the roles they play as citizens.
But knowing who we are is not enough we must also understand others, she said. For if we are to live in one small interconnected world, we must assume and fulfil our responsibility as global citizens.
Those words rang true for me that fall day in 2002, and they are even more applicable today with all that has happened in the past year.
Martha Piper's philosophy is very much adhered to at Guelph, where we have made a concerted effort to help develop a sense of caring and community interest in our students, starting from their first week on campus when we send them into the city as volunteers. We have faith that they will emerge from the process more level-headed, respectful and tolerant, and with an understanding of how and why citizens can make a difference.
And the students continue to make a difference. Nearly 70 per cent of them volunteer in the community on a regular basis, a contribution that equates to more than $6 million annually.
They do it not because it's required or expected of them, but because they've learned of the self- satisfaction that volunteering and making a difference can bring.
But students cannot learn by osmosis alone.
We need to find ways to include citizenship alongside more traditional subjects such as mathematics, biology, reading and history. A good place to start would be expanding the educational curriculum from elementary school all the way to university to focus more on critical issues of citizenship, democracy, ethics, leadership and good government.
We must make exploring our responsibilities as citizens both of Canada and of the global community an inherent part of the learning process, and that means considering ways of granting such activities credit along the way.
Nourishing ideas about democracy and good citizenship in our youth, such as Justin Trudeau is doing through his efforts, is a great place to start. But it's not enough. The upcoming federal election and the release of the Gomery report in November have shown us that there has never been a more relevant time to re-engage all Canadians in these important processes.
It is also essential that people in positions of leadership remember the importance of being good citizens by taking a role locally, nationally and internationally and becoming champions of integrity, honesty and ethical behaviour.
I am not speaking only of elected officials. Leaders come in all shapes and forms: parents, university presidents, student government leaders, union representatives, municipal workers, journalists and so forth. Each has the responsibility to be an active member of the global community.
For its part, the University will continue to involve its faculty, staff, alumni and students in local and global efforts, including Citizenship Awareness Month and humanitarian efforts like those that started after the 2004 tsunami and hurricane Katrina. I have said many times that the generosity of the community never ceases to amaze me, and indeed, the U of G response to the people adversely affected by the most recent natural disasters was swift and abundant.
By encouraging such involvement, we will continue to cultivate awareness of the need for and the purpose of change. For helping different people, cultures and communities leads to an understanding of the shared goals and aspirations of people from all walks of life. It also helps people become compassionate, virtuous, engaged and visionary citizens.
