Continuing its Indigenous student outreach, Queen’s Law will be participating in two key upcoming events hosted by Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre. On November 11, the Faculty will once again join in the annual Graduate & Professional Day for Indigenous prospective students who want to learn more about advanced studies at Queen’s. The 18th Annual Indigenous Research Symposium, taking place November 11–12, will feature a keynote address by Mark Dockstator, President of First Nations University of Canada. 

“This outreach is very important because many students have questions about coming to Queen’s – are there people there like me, will I be successful, will I fit in? – and about other fears that anyone can have when entering a new community,” says Ann Deer, the Indigenous Access Recruitment Coordinator for Professional Programs. “It is important to let them know that there is a community of Indigenous people at Queen’s who have been successful and who can offer their support. Indigenous students have always been present at Queen’s.”

The two-day event kicks off at the Aboriginal Student Centre on 146 Barrie Street. After a welcome from Mary Ann Spencer, the Four Directions Elder, the information fair will run from 10:00–11:30 am. Participants will have an opportunity there to talk to admissions staff from Queen’s Law and other departments. 

Following lunch, interested students will be able to tour the law school and have a closer conversation with current law students, the Manager of Recruitment and Admissions, Aimee Burtch and the Assistant Dean of Students, Jane Emrich. “We have a room reserved in Macdonald Hall, where alumni and any incoming students or current students can come,” says Deer.

The symposium, “Indigenous Knowledge: Responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC),” will open a dialogue on the TRC’s Final Report and consider new visions of reconciliation and how it can be achieved. President Dockstator will speak on possible ways to develop a better relationship between Indigenous peoples and all other residents in Canada and how this might look in a post-secondary setting.

Students, scholars and Indigenous business professionals will speak on other topics, including Indigenous law and governance and recolonizing grassroots activism. Natasha Beitman Brener, Law’17, will participate on a panel to speak about making Indigenous legal education courses mandatory for Canadian law students.

“These events are really important,” says Lisa Doxtator, Aboriginal Community Outreach Liaison at Four Directions. “When I go to Indigenous communities I see students who don’t feel that attending a university like Queen’s is attainable. However, some of our programs, including Law, have Aboriginal admissions policies designed to attract Aboriginal students. It is crucial to put that out there to those communities. We aren’t there yet, but it is a good start.”

Visit the Four Directions website for more information and to register for the Graduate & Professional Day and to learn more about the Indigenous Research Symposium. 

By Anthony Pugh