Installation Address – November 10, 2018

Good morning. Bon matin tout le monde! Ca va bien?

Wow, it’s a thrill to be here and I’m just overwhelmed to be officially installed as the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University.

And it’s so wonderful that this ceremony is taking place today, during convocation, as you, our inspiring Carleton graduates, are embarking on the next chapter of your lives.

Just like you, our great students who are graduating today, I chose to come to Carleton. And I chose very carefully.

It was a decision based on values. I was looking for a community that shares my values, for a place that give students what they need and deserve.

A place that cares about undergraduate education, student success and helping people achieve self-determined lives. A place that leads to great career outcomes for our graduates.

And as some of you know, the arguably most prestigious international rankings, QS, just let us know that we made the Canadian top 10 for graduate career success, and ranked in the top 200 internationally, well within the top 1% of more than 20,000 universities worldwide.

By the way, we are also a top 5 in Maclean’s, if you follow rankings. Myself, I only follow them when we go up!

I was also looking for a place that cares about innovation, and research that matters, and making a difference in the world.

There are hundreds of examples but I will give you two recent ones:

Physics professor Manuella Vincter has been named Deputy Spokesperson for the ATLAS project at CERN in Switzerland, perhaps the most high-profile lab in the world, where the Higgs boson was discovered.

And James Milner from Political Science is leading a $3.6 million dollars partnership grant and an international team on the global refugee situation, looking for solutions.

Carleton is a place that had a real sense of community. But also a place where you can be yourself and don’t have to conform. Maybe this is striking to me because… I was at Queen’s before. It’s a joke but no kidding Carleton is a truly open and welcoming and inclusive environment.

In the four months since I arrived at Carleton, I have found the university to be all of these things, and so much more.

I was also stunned by how beautiful the campus is. When you walk along the canal and the river, you feel their power and beauty. These things matter — places have power.

Carleton has a perfect balance between the bustle of a downtown campus and the more contemplative feel of a liberal arts college. There is energy, there is action, there is vibrancy, but there is also space to think.

I see incredible potential at Carleton. This is the kind of university that’s really going to thrive in the 21st century.

We’re of considerable size, 30,000 students, but not too large. And we’re a national university in a city that matters, the national capital, Ottawa

As an institution, we’re established enough to have history and a strong culture, but at the same time, we’re young enough to have flexibility and the courage to try new things. We’re deeply rooted locally but also have national and international impact and ambitions.

This is an exciting time for Carleton … but it is also a challenging time.

Individuals, institutions, societies and the planet face significant challenges in our modern world. You can see this in the incidence of mental health and addiction issues, in the tensions associated with living together in a global world, and of course in climate change.

What we can do at Carleton to address these challenges and embrace our opportunities is something we’re going to have to figure out together as a community.

Our current Strategic Integrated Plan is coming to an end, so within a year we’ll be bringing the community together to renew that plan and map out a future for the next 5 to 10 years.

What do we need to do now to be the best Carleton we can be 10 years down the road? What opportunities do we have and how are we going to seize them? If we get this right, we will thrive !

There is something a bit surreal about standing here today ! If you told me 10 years ago that I would one day be selected, by a serious and respectable hiring committee, to lead a major Canadian University I would have thought you were either crazy or high.

We’re all on a journey, walking down the road of life as best we can. That journey is a great gift, I know that now, but I didn’t always. I want to tell you a bit about my own journey because the most original and important things we know, by definition, come from lived experience.

My journey started in a deeply dysfunctional family. And that’s a euphemism… It was a disturbing and dark place. My dad, he hurt so much from his own past that he was not able to stop hurting us.

When you grow up in that kind of environment, day after day, year after year, never safe, always tense and afraid, but at the same time so craving for love, you come to think it’s your fault. That’s where the shame comes in, and a warped self-view where you deserve contempt and pain but certainly not love or joy.

So to make a long story short, when you come out of that kind of place you don’t come out shining.

I figure I was in and out of depression, mostly in, for about 20 years. In pain psychological and physical too. Just waiting for each day to end.

There was lots of alcohol and drugs; that’s self-medication. Not so much a problem as an attempted solution to living with trauma.

I’ve only recently started to talk about this. To tell the truth about my journey. There a lot a tacit pressure in our societies not to…

It started a few years ago when I heard Clara Hughes, the Olympian, speak publicly about her own difficult childhood experiences and her own mental health issues, I could not believe it.

I remember thinking, “you can say these things out loud?”, stunned.

But you know what, Clara is so right: talking openly and honestly about mental health issues, both their symptoms and their causes, is the first step towards addressing them. Both as an individual and as a society.

I’ve been on the path to recovery for almost 10 years now. I am learning to love life and love myself again. It’s been amazing; there literally is a veil that lifts and then you see colours again!

A few years ago, when I needed it, an Indigenous healer told me: “even with seven arrows through the heart, you can heal.” He would know.

We must take heart that healing is always possible, and journey towards resilience, purpose and gratitude.

Resilience, purpose, gratitude. These three words mean a lot to me. They have come to be my core values, and also, not coincidentally, the values of Carleton.

Values matter. They define what you stand for and where you want to go. To me, the phrase “Here for Good” embodies Carleton’s values in two wonderful and complementary ways.

“Here for Good” is statement of resilience. We’re here for good – we will stand our ground! Whatever happens. Carleton is a resilient place. Standing its ground since the Second World War. Through tough times.

Life is hard. It is beautiful too, but it’s hard. Resilience is what allows us to stand tall and to come up with ways to take on the challenges life throws your way… to come out stronger and wiser on the other side.

“Here for Good” is also a statement of purpose — we are here for the greater good: social, economic and the common good. We’re here to contribute. That’s purpose.

Purpose gives meaning to an individual life. Resilience will make it possible to bear suffering, but purpose justifies it and makes it worthwhile. If you are lucky, on a good day, it will lead you to gratitude.

Higher education, the University with a capital U, is my life. It has given me resilience, and it has given me purpose. It’s given me everything, much more than I can give back, and I am grateful.

I am so honoured, and humbled, to be installed as President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University.

I am excited to see where all of you, our graduating students, will go from here, and excited to see how you will contribute to our task eternal of trying to make the world a better place.

In closing, a few very sincere thanks: First to my parents who have passed away now. To our Senate and to our Board, in particular our Chair Nik Nanos, for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to serve. To my predecessors who lead Carleton so well and on whose shoulders I stand, in particular Alastair Summerlee, Roseann Runte and Rick Van Loon.

To my leadership team who has been so supportive and simply outstanding. To our Faculty and Staff for all that you do for Carleton every day, and for the warm welcome. Our alumni of course, here and around the world. Our Indigenous community; thank you for our partnership. And lastly to all our students: you make Carleton great!

Congratulations to all of today’s graduates, and thank you very much for welcoming me into the Carleton family with open arms, open minds and open hearts.

Merci tout le monde! Felicitations!

Congratulations again. Thank you and have a wonderful day!