WHITEHORSE, YT—Wykes’ Your Independent Grocer and Yukon University are teaming up to nourish YukonU students for Thanksgiving and into the holiday season.

Starting today, Wykes’ customers are invited to help alleviate student hunger by donating a minimum of $2 at the checkout in exchange for a reusable YukonU Together We Thrive tote bag. All funds raised will go towards emergency grocery cards and replenishing the Ayamdigut campus student food bank.

“Donating just $2 for a reusable YukonU tote bag helps the environment, helps you get your groceries home and helps students who face food insecurity. I’m grateful to Mark Wykes and his team for collaborating with us to support YukonU students.” said Dr. Lesley Brown, president and vice chancellor.

Committing ourselves, personally and professionally, to the work of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples across this country is the most vital work of our time. Hearing and absorbing the truth of the ongoing and inter-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools and other colonial policies on First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada are essential to the reconciliation journey.

This summer, we were confronted with the confirmation of unmarked graves at Residential School locations across Canada. So many children who were taken and housed in these places never returned home. The grief and trauma of this truth is still felt today in every First Nations, Métis and Inuit community.

As former senator Justice Murray Sinclair said, “It is precisely because education was the tool of oppression of Aboriginal people, and miseducation of all Canadians, that we have concluded that education holds the key to reconciliation.”

WHITEHORSE, YT—Yukon University is joining universities and colleges across Canada in cancelling classes and closing campus services on Thursday, September 30, in honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day and Orange Shirt Day.

“The confirmation of unmarked graves at former residential schools this year weighs heavily on us. To achieve truth and reconciliation, it is vital we invest time this week learning more deeply about the impact of residential schools on Indigenous people and our shared history,” said Dr. Lesley Brown, president and vice chancellor, Yukon University.

“All Canadians should have the same understanding of history and its impacts if we are to understand each other. It's not about placing blame or dredging up past wrongs. We have to have a shared history to move forward together,” said Chùsi Robin Bradasch, associate vice president Indigenous Engagement and Partnerships.

$22,200 in financial support available to YukonU students; Oct. 1 deadline approaches

WHITEHORSE, YT—Yukon University students can access $22,200 in financial support from generous donors, including several being offered for the very first time. Many award deadlines are October 1, with a further $24,300 available January 31.

The $500 Andrew G. Smith Scholarship for Commitment and Vision is available to full-time students enrolled in the Renewable Resources Management (RRM) or Northern Science programs. Smith graduated from the RRM program in 2015 and has since created this award for students with drive and vision to excel.

"It's important for me to give back to the program and school that has given me so much. The leaders of the workforce of tomorrow are the leaders in the classroom today, and those outstanding individuals deserve to be recognized," said Smith.

Dear students and colleagues,

Yukon University is thrilled to be welcoming students, employees and the public back to campus this month. Despite the collective challenges of this worldwide pandemic these past 17 months, enrolments across all three semesters last year ended up on par with the previous year and heading into this new semester enrolments are up 9% over this time last year.

This semester, 60% of credit classes are in-person (or contain an in-person component) and 40% are online. A significant number of Continuing Education classes will be in-person at the main campus as well.

Science, and our lived experience of the pandemic thus far, has shown us that vaccinations—alongside other measures like masking and physical distancing—are the most effective ways to protect against COVID-19 and keep each other safe.

**UPDATED AUG 17: Effective immediately, masks must be worn by all persons present on all YukonU campuses. Masks are required in all hallways and public areas, as well as in all classrooms or meeting rooms where physical distancing is not possible. Anyone not wearing a mask will be asked to comply or leave the premises. 

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WHITEHORSE--Yukon University students can expect many of their fall semester classes at Ayamdigut campus in Whitehorse to be in-person this September. Student support services will continue to be available both in-person and virtually.  

 Joint news release with Mitacs, Yukon University, the University of Alberta North and ArcticNet.  

Research funding has been extended for another year to support Yukon’s understanding of the social, cultural, economic, environmental and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mitacs Student Internship Program, which also supports innovation-related research that will benefit the Yukon economy, was launched last year through a partnership between Mitacs, the Government of Yukon, Yukon University, University of Alberta North, and ArcticNet. 

Current research projects include a host of areas important to the North ranging from food and clean water to women’s mental health, with the potential to support other areas with research-based solutions. 

WHITEHORSE, YT—  Yukonstruct and Yukon University’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship will provide entrepreneurship support to Yukon communities thanks to a $740,512.50 funding investment from the government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre (FSC). This funding will establish the Yukon Skills Research and Engagement project and the Northern Entrepreneur Development Network aimed at helping rural Yukon respond to the pandemic and prepare for the workforce of the future.

WHITEHORSE, YT—The Yukon University Board of Governors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lesley Brown as president and vice chancellor of Yukon University, Canada’s first university north of 60. Brown takes up her new role August 16.

Brown was most recently provost and vice president, Academic, at Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary. In this role, she oversaw all facets of educational programming and research at MRU, which evolved into a university in 2009. Under her leadership, Mount Royal University experienced significant growth in student enrolment, faculty research success, and academic programming, including the establishment of a long-anticipated Bachelor of Social Work program.