This coming week, McGill celebrates its 200th birthday! Our Bicentennial anniversary marks a huge milestone for the University and everyone in our vast community. Over the past two centuries, we’ve built a strong legacy of innovation and achievement, and this occasion affords us the opportunity to both reflect on the past and look to the future of our University.
To commemorate McGill’s Bicentennial, a number of free events have been planned for the coming weeks, which you can learn more about here. These events are, of course, virtual. Though it would have been wonderful to celebrate in person, it also seems fitting that we mark McGill’s 200th birthday during a time when all of us have risen to immense challenges and kept our community strong and engaged despite the rapid shift to remote learning. Certainly, our University’s resilience has never been more apparent.
I encourage you all to join in the festivities and register for the events on Wednesday, March 31. Celebrate 200: Launching Our 3rd Century is an exciting, interactive event hosted by NFL player and frontline healthcare worker, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, MD’18, as well as student reporter and head of the Black Students Network at McGill, Heleena De Oliveira, BA’21. A Roadmap for Greater Food Security and Autonomy kicks off the “Providing solutions to global challenges” Bicentennial conference series, and will feature interviews, conversations, and panel discussions on how we can work toward greater food security and autonomy in Quebec and Canada. I hope to see you there!
Lastly, if you’re a student who has persevered through challenges or been part of a community engagement project, consider applying for a Forces Avenir award. The deadline is March 31—learn more here.