Bidding a Fond Farewell

Bidding a Fond Farewell

by William Robins

Once again, I am looking out from the window of the President’s Office in Northrop Frye Hall, contemplating the trees and the grass along the driveway that winds between Old Vic and Emmanuel College. The campus is in its full June beauty. The view from my desk gives onto the vibrant heart of campus life, easily prompting an attitude of reflection. This time, that attitude is especially pensive, even wistful.

For 26 years I have worked in Northrop Frye Hall—19 years on the second floor as a Victoria College fellow, and the past seven years on the first floor as president of Victoria University. After I pass the reins to Dr. Rhonda McEwen as Victoria University’s next president, I will resume my role as a fellow and faculty member.

My pensive reflections today are characterized above all by an immense sense of gratitude. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most passionate students, most dedicated teachers and most thoughtful staff in the country, on a shared mission of real value.

I enthusiastically took on this role in 2015 because I felt that, during my time as a Vic fellow, I had received so much more from Vic than I had been able to give back. When my family and I arrived in Canada in 1996, Vic provided an ideal community for my areas of research and for my hope to provide students with transformative academic experiences. Now, after seven eventful years as president, I feel even more keenly that I have received much more from the Victoria community than I could ever give.

When I recently addressed the Victoria College class of 2022 at their graduation, I quoted from the TV show Dr. Who: “There is no such thing as an ordinary human,” meaning that every single one of us has unique qualities and attributes that make us special, valuable, remarkable, and I believe that this idea sums up the distinctiveness of Victoria’s vision of higher education.

This notion is something more than the premises which are (or should be) table stakes in a democratic society: that individuals are equal before the law, that all persons are to be accorded universal rights, that all are to be treated fairly and with dignity. The idea that no human is ordinary points not only to the conception that each person is equal in an abstract sense, but also to the insight that each person you encounter is extraordinary in their own particularity. Each of the students in this graduating class is a unique embodiment of sensation and imagination, ideals and contradictions, hopes and dreams.

At Victoria, such depth of imagination in each of us is celebrated. We guide students to discover what excites them, to connect their passion to the world’s issues, and to create something new. At Victoria, students also live into the awareness that everyone else is similarly gifted in extraordinary ways. As Northrop Frye explained, education is about finding one’s own gifts, yes, but it is also about understanding and respecting the creative imagination of others.

Transitions are occasions for creativity and renewal, and I salute the graduating students who are embarking on their new adventures. Looking out my window, I sense the reality of the transition I will soon make. I am excited for this moment of leadership renewal, with the arrival of Dr. McEwen, and the wonderful next chapter it will add to Victoria University’s distinguished history.

Early in my term I set out four presidential priorities—inclusive excellence, intercultural dialogue, undergraduate research, and readying students for their life after University—with some key milestones. As the stories in this issue detail, these milestones have by and large been achieved, thanks to the brilliance of the Victoria team and the support given by all parts of the University. That’s why it is a good time—both for me personally and for the institution—to pass the leadership baton. It is also why at this time I am overcome with gratitude, wanting to express my deep thanks to all the Victoria staff, faculty, students and alumni. Victoria has never rested on its laurels, and I am excited to see what new initiatives the future holds.