2024 Fall Welcome from MRU President Tim Rahilly
Transcript
Hello everyone and allow me to officially welcome you to the 2024-2025 academic year.
MRU has a new Land Acknowledgement and it seems fitting for me to start off the first video of the academic year with part of it.
On behalf of Mount Royal University, I want to acknowledge the relationship to the land and all beings and the songs the stories and the teachings of the Siksika Nation, the Piikani Nation, the Kainai Nation, the Îethka Stoney Nakoda Nation consisting of the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney Nations, the people of the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Métis.
I encourage you to learn more about MRU's new Land Acknowledgement at mru.ca/LandAcknowledgement.
I hope you've been able to take some time away this summer to relax and catch up with family and friends. As some of you are aware I have been away for the past few months on a short sabbatical.
In my absence provost and vice-president academic Chad London stepped in to serve as acting president and I thank him for taking the lead during this time. Of course this also includes the teams from our offices and other senior leaders who have made adjustments as necessary. Thank you so much.
It was important that I take time to reflect on my first term as president and I'm so glad that I did because I am back energized and ready to start my second term at Mount Royal.
My focus for my second term as president will be to share the story of Mount Royal University. I know and you know about the incredible students. They are driven and determined to complete their programs and make an impact on this world. And it's our faculty and staff that teach and connect them to resources that help ensure they are successful.
As president, I want to make sure everyone else knows what we value and what we are working together to accomplish. I plan to do this by getting out and strengthening our connections to the community and making new ones.
It is a privilege to be an ambassador for MRU and I hope you will all join me in your own way as we invite the Calgary community to campus and bring MRU to the community so people will see first-hand what we are all about. And as always I will continue to advocate strongly for MRU within the postsecondary system.
We have so much to be proud of and some might say I am biased but a university like MRU is critical to the prosperity and future of the City of Calgary.
Students seek our stellar programs and contribute to this city in many ways during their studies and long after they graduate and become alumni.
This world needs more universities like Mount Royal and I'm happy to let everyone know what makes us so special.
Someone else who has been a champion of this University is our chancellor, Dawn Farrell. As MRU's first chancellor, Dawn has been an enthusiastic supporter of students and has proudly shared our accomplishments with the community.
And as she starts to wind down her term we have been busy preparing to announce who will step into the role next. Please look out for this exciting news in the coming months.
Along with all of this I look forward to catching up and connecting with students and employees around campus this year. There is nothing better than witnessing the start of a student's university journey, so I'm excited to welcome students at orientation this week.
Breakfast with the President is a chance for me to share a meal with a small group to better understand different perspectives at MRU and for them to ask me any burning questions.
This year I will be hosting employees on October 15 and students on March 10, and I know it is still technically summer but all Mount Royal employees can mark their calendars for a holiday celebration on November 28.
And we'll be holding two Leaders' Dialogues. The first will be this semester on October 23 and the second in the winter term on February 12.
I am truly looking forward to everything that is ahead this year. Thank you! Have a wonderful semester, take care and see you soon.