Today marks the historic opening of UBC’s Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre

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To: Faculty and staff in Vancouver and the Okanagan

At 10:00am today, UBC will mark the formal opening of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, on our Vancouver campus.

I hope you will join us in witnessing this historic event — either in person or online. For those wanting to attend in person the details are below:

10:00am

Koerner Plaza
1958 Main Mall
Vancouver campus

The opening ceremony will be outdoors, so please dress appropriately.

If you are not able to attend in person, the event will also be webcast. You can view the event live at https://ceremonies.ubc.ca/irshdc-opening/. Faculty and staff on UBC’s Okanagan campus can also watch the event live (online) at the University Centre Ballroom (UNC200).

The webcast will remain online for those unable to take part — and will be promoted via the faculty and staff newsletter UBC Today.

In addition to the official opening, today’s ceremony will also include a statement of apology — on behalf of UBC — for its role in the system that supported the operation of the Indian residential schools.

The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre aims to capture the long trajectory of Indigenous and Canadian relations, and ensure that the history of Canada’s Indian residential schools will never be forgotten.

As members of the UBC community, I hope you will take the time to pause and reflect with us today.

Professor Santa J. Ono
President and Vice-Chancellor