President Steenkamp: Caring close to home and around the world

This week we heard the wonderful news that Assistant Professor Athena Madan is the winner of a CUFA BC 2021 Distinguished Academic Award for her work on work on global public health, social accountability, humanitarian intervention and her “commitment to peace, justice, and the development of strong global institutions.” Congratulations Athena! We are so proud to have you as a member of our Royal Roads community.

The importance of this kind of work was dramatically underscored this week by news of the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. In my video this week, I extend our condolences to all those affected by this crisis, and a message of support to members of our community from India or with close ties to India. While problems of this magnitude can make us feel powerless or small, there are so many ways to help. You can donate to the Canadian Red Cross to support their work with Indian Red Cross. Sewa International is working to supply oxygen concentrators, and Doctors Without Borders is working to help treat patients and buy PPE for Indian health care workers.

I would like to thank our international and student services teams who are working hard to support our students and partners in India. For Royal Roads students needing support at this time, you can book appointments with our counsellors online by emailing RRU Counselling, or for 24/7 mental health support, all BC post-secondary students can use Here2talk.

We will get through this together.