Riggall-ing on the hook
Re: Satellite campuses need to grow, Jan. 23
A presentation made last month to the Business Board of the university’s Governing Council and reported in The Varsity inadvertently understated the important role that Trent University plays in Ontario’s post-secondary education system.
Trent is a leader among Ontario universities in its focus on the student experience. We note with admiration Trent’s success in a major survey of students recently published by the Globe and Mail. Trent students gave their university “A” grades in “Satisfaction with the university experience,” “Availability of faculty outside classroom hours,” “Level of interaction between faculty and students,” and “Overall quality of education.”
We also note Trent’s major contributions to Ontario’s research enterprise-including DNA profiling, forensics, automation, and diagnostics, signaled most recently by the opening of its $20 million DNA research facility.
The University of Toronto values its partnership with Trent as a sister institution and research collaborator. We look forward to continued progress in that partnership.
Catherine Riggall Vice President, Business Affairs, U of T
American rebuttal right on target
Re: By the twilight’s last gleaming, Feb. 5
Laura Phelps, can I just say thank you! Your article in this week’s Varsity basically summarized every single argument/justification that I have had to make for being American during my undergraduate career.
My nickname was not “the American” but “Buffalo” (some people didn’t even know my name and this was how they would refer to me) because of my hometown and now almost non-existent accent.
I cannot count the number of times that I have heard, “I am so glad I met you, because it completely changed my idea of Americans,” possibly because I wasn’t wearing a Confederate flag headscarf or carrying a gun.
I was beside myself when I heard about the political campaigns suggesting that Canadians wouldn’t want to be like Americans. In a country where everyone prides themselves on not being American I found this hilarious, since if you want to stop being compared to Americans, stop doing it yourselves! And how could some people continue to think of all Americans fitting one of the crazy stereotypes with the fame of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who have become some people’s only trusted place for political news?
In this article, it was like you had heard some of the arguments that I have gotten into over the past few years, so thank you!
Emily Dauria
