‘Starting a special year with a renewed commitment to belonging’

Dear Concordians,

Welcome to the 2024-25 academic year!

A few days ago, Concordia officially turned 50. On August 24, 1974, Loyola College and Sir George Williams University merged to create the university we’re privileged to be part of today.

There’s a lot to celebrate in the year ahead. Concordia was recently named the best university in North America under 50 years old and one of the top 100 young universities in the world.

It’s great to be able to share that success with you and with all the people — faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends — who’ve worked throughout its history to make this university the terrific place it is.

If you were on a digital detox the last few months, you might have missed the following summer highlights:

• A master’s student and research assistant conducting zero-gravity experiments with NASA
• Concordians making their alma mater and country proud by competing in the Paris Olympics
• A recent grad becoming the second Concordian to receive the prestigious Schwarzman Scholarship
• Volt-Age continuing to revolutionize decarbonization and electrification research

(Volt-Age will soon announce plans to recruit more than 250 PhD students in electrification. Stay tuned!)

But as we get set to honour Concordia’s landmark anniversary, we also need to acknowledge that universities across the country are coming off a very difficult and painful year in 2023-24, not least because of the traumas and tensions associated with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

We’re a big, tremendously diverse community at Concordia, which is one of the traits that makes our university so special. It’s normal for members of our community to have different perspectives on local and global issues as well as on topics related to equity and injustice. It’s also imperative that universities foster dialogue across diversity and protect the right to express diverse views.   

Equally, it’s incumbent on all of us — students, faculty, staff, administrators — to commit to a respectful return to campus this fall. Together, we need to ensure all members of our community, regardless of their identity, beliefs and views on the world, feel welcome and in no way excluded. This means ensuring everyone is free to be and express themselves with dignity, assured in their right to participate and be included in campus life.

This was the impetus for creating the STRIVE Task Force, which means Standing Together Against Racism and Identity-Based Violence. The task force and its subcommittees will soon lead community consultations to identify and design productive pathways toward making Concordia even better as a place of inclusion and belonging. STRIVE is meant for everyone and is a great opportunity to contribute to improving life on campus by sharing experiences and ideas about issues that deeply matter to all of us.   

Given the challenges we faced last year, we all need to take a few moments to review the standards of conduct, as outlined in the Code of Rights and Responsibilities, that are expected on campus. Equally, we should all be aware of the supports and resources the university provides to individuals who feel they’re being harassed, ostracized or discriminated against. To simplify things, we’ve gathered those key policies and guidelines, with the relevant contact information, together in one place.

These policies and guidelines serve a dual purpose. They exist to help us navigate the right to free expression and to the exploration of diverse, conflicting ideas and perspectives. They also help ensure our collective responsibility to maintain the psychologically and physically safe environment necessary to engage constructively with one another.

Throughout its history, Concordia has found success by prioritizing accessibility, diversity and excellence, by fostering creativity and innovation, and by making a positive difference in the lives of our students and the world they go on to shape. Whatever challenges lie ahead we, as a community, can only reach our full potential by continuing to draw on these values and by doing our utmost to be welcoming and supportive of each other.

The anniversary festivities will be a great opportunity to come together and show the spirit and pride that has allowed Concordia and Concordians to accomplish so much over the last 50 years.  As always, in mid-September, Shuffle 35 will raise scholarship money for students. We’ll also celebrate Concordia’s 50th at an Anniversary BBQ and at a very special alumni Homecoming.

As we mark Concordia’s 50th, there will also inevitably be challenges ahead. We need to take on these challenges as moments to learn and to grow — which is all the more reason not to lose sight of why each of us has chosen to be here, at Concordia, in the first place.

Universities hold a very special place in society. They offer the opportunity to learn and develop new skills, but also to meet people who are different from us, make friends, explore personal interests and passions, experiment, discover, enjoy new experiences, and ultimately to grow as individuals eager to contribute in a positive way to the society of which we’re all part.

It’s our choice to be here together as part of this university. This choice matters. Let’s make the most of it and emerge from the year ahead even more compassionate, connected and wiser as a community.

All the best for the semester ahead!

Graham Carr

President and Vice-Chancellor