This issue of Western Alumni Magazine takes on some difficult and controversial subjects.
One of them is our cover story on intimate partner violence.
Another is the call to replace fossil fuels with nuclear energy, which is explored in a feature article.
On the surface, these two issues couldn’t be more different. But the connections become clearer when you consider that each affect all of global society and both are steeped in stereotypes, conjecture, wrong assumptions—and secrecy.
The complexity surrounding these topics makes them perfect for university research and scholarship.
Universities are purpose-built for challenging accepted theories. This ability applies to everything—the range of topics studied in depth never fails to amaze me.
But it’s not the university that carries out this work—it’s our community of scholars. This was articulated well in a landmark report published almost 60 years ago.
In 1967, a committee at the University of Chicago was struck to develop a position on the school’s role in political and social action. The result was a short document that has come to be known as the Kalven Report, named for its chair, Harry Kalven, Jr., a legal scholar.
The report’s basic premise is that a university doesn’t take stances on political or social matters but has a core mission to create and sustain an environment for the free-flowing exchange of ideas, discussion and debate by its community of scholars—faculty and students.
I’m continually inspired by Western’s community of scholars—and by their energetic, bold discussion and exploration of their disciplines and passions. It happens daily in all corners of the university, producing important thought and action that has a direct impact on society.
Our scholars shine a light where there wasn’t one before, coaxing out new thoughts and debating perspectives.
Importantly, that community also includes alumni, who take what they learn and experience at Western into the world to apply it in countless ways.
One of them is Diane Goodman, BA’79, a lawyer who has spent much of her career working in the human rights field in senior roles with agencies such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She’s been on the front lines with asylum seekers and refugees as they fled often appalling conditions. More recently, she has focused on prevention and response to sexual exploitation. We’re immensely proud to count Diane among our global community of scholars. She is the subject of our Alumni Q&A. We’re grateful to her for sharing her experience and insights.
I hope you enjoy this thought-provoking issue.
Alan Shepard
President & Vice-Chancellor
