Giving Stories

Indigenous high school students get inspired at UBC

Indigenous high school students get inspired at UBC

This past May, the Verna J. Kirkness Science and Engineering Education Program and UBC hosted 31 Indigenous high school students, where they immersed themselves into campus life, including enjoying quality time in science and engineering labs doing hands-on research. In addition to being mentored by professors and graduate-level students, the grade 11 and 12 students […]

Bell Family Legacy Supports First Nations House of Learning

Bell Family Legacy Supports First Nations House of Learning

June 5, 2018 – Retired Canadian diplomat and Corporate Director, John P. Bell, a graduate of UBC Commerce class of 1962, recently provided for a gift in his will to support the First Nations House of Learning at UBC, which is housed in the First Nations Longhouse. His father, businessman and philanthropist Jack Bell, was […]

Program gives Aboriginal secondary students up-close look at university science studies

Program gives Aboriginal secondary students up-close look at university science studies

May 26, 2017 – Imagine the excitement of being a grade 11 student from a small community immersed in a major Canadian university environment doing actual science lab research for one week. This is exactly what Keden Cole and Susan Silvey got to do from May 15 to 19 at the University of British Columbia. […]

Chief Wilton Littlechild gives inaugural talk at UBC lecture series

Chief Wilton Littlechild gives inaugural talk at UBC lecture series

March 24, 2017 – Dr. Wilton Littlechild, Honorary Chief of the Maskwacis Crees and Commissioner with Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, was last fall’s inaugural speaker at the Global Indigenous Rights Lecture Series at UBC. The lecture, presented by UBC’s Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies in partnership with CBC Radio One and the Laurier Institution, and […]

UBC alumnus creates new entrance award for Aboriginal students

UBC alumnus creates new entrance award for Aboriginal students

October 26, 2016 – “I think education is foundational for building a community, city, or nation,” says Barj Dhahan, UBC alumnus (BA 1983) and CEO of the Sandhurst Group, above. “Education leads to equality. It leads to opportunities for all.” Barj, who describes himself as “interested in a bit of everything,” comes from a family […]

$1M fund to open doors for Aboriginal women studying business

$1M fund to open doors for Aboriginal women studying business

September 22, 2015 – A $1-million gift from the family of Warren and Maureen Spitz will fund a new awards program at UBC’s Sauder School of Business benefiting Aboriginal women pursuing business studies. The Spitz Fellows Program was created in collaboration with the philanthropic Toronto-based family and accepted its first student this month. “Our hope […]

John Ralston Saul talk raises funds for FNHL bursary

John Ralston Saul talk raises funds for FNHL bursary

February 2, 2015 – The First Nations House of Learning’s student bursary recently received a generous donation resulting from John Ralston Saul’s appearance at the UBC Longhouse on November 6, 2014. Saul was speaking about his latest book, The Comeback. The author and the organizers of his appearance, the Laurier Institution and UBC Continuing Studies, […]

Overcoming the past, seeing a new future

Overcoming the past, seeing a new future

A tuition waiver is opening up a whole world of fresh possibilities for current and former youth in care When Jess Boon first found out that UBC was offering tuition waivers to current and former youth in care, she was filled with emotion. “I remember just sitting in front of my computer crying tears of […]

Supporting Students: as a Teacher, Volunteer, and Donor

Supporting Students: as a Teacher, Volunteer, and Donor

Since graduating from UBC’s first teaching class in secondary education in 1958, Thelma has demonstrated an overwhelming compassion for young people striving to better themselves through education. Her ongoing efforts as a volunteer and donor have opened doors for countless students.