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(Wolfville,
NS) - Acadia University’s Centre for the Study of Ethnocultural
Diversity (ACSED) today pledged $6,000 in support of the Black
Loyalist Heritage Society to help reconstitute its twenty-year
genealogical project, largely destroyed when its Birchtown office
was deliberately set on fire on March 31, 2006.
“The work being
performed by the Black Loyalist Heritage Society is doing a great
deal to advance an understanding of ethnocultural diversity in
Atlantic Canada,” said Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottlieb, Acadia University
President and Vice-Chancellor. “I’m delighted that Acadia, its
students and faculty can contribute in a significant way to this
initiative which combines the mission of the University to engage
students in transformative education and the mission of ACSED to
promote ethnocultural understanding. Our faculty knew instantly that
we had to help the Society reclaim records lost in this tragic fire,
and I applaud them on their quick response.”
In addition to the
$6,000 contribution, two senior students will be hired through ACSED
to work full-time on site over this summer to assist in this vital
reclamation project. Acadia’s prompt response was facilitated by the
existence of its community research partnership between ACSED and
the Mugomeh Conference. The Mugomeh Conference, developed through
the leadership of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, is a
coalition of African Nova Scotian community organizations and
academic researchers, in which Acadia faculty members are active
participants. Acadia’s Dr. Robert Pitter is Co-Chair of the Mugomeh
Conference and Acadia’s Dr. Jan Marontate is a member of the
Conference Board. Both are also active members of ACSED which is
directed by Dr. Jim Sacouman, a professor in Acadia’s Department of
Sociology.
Acadia University, in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has long been recognized as one of Canada’s
premier undergraduate institutions. With its nationally and
internationally recognized research initiatives, small class sizes
and technology-rich teaching and learning environment, Acadia offers
students an experience that includes academic achievement combined
with personal growth and development. For more information about
Acadia, visit our website at
http://www.acadiau.ca
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