Encompassing a wide range of topics and interests, ProvTalks highlights the diversity of thought within our Providence community. This year, an unofficial throughline uniting all presentations was the value of questioning our biases and shifting our perspective in order to see things in a new light.
On Friday, October 18th, Providence held its annual Harvest Festival banquet in the Reimer Student Life Centre. Thank you to all those who supported this event through volunteering, donations and sponsorships. Over $64 000 was raised this year for the Providence Fund.
“I want Providence to experience a little bit of what Indigenous communities do together,” said Jolly. About the teepee-raising that took place in 2023, she shared: “There were a whole bunch of us from different nationalities raising these teepees. What a beautiful picture of reconciliation; of working with each other for a common purpose.”
It’s September, which means that the 2024-2025 academic year has officially begun at our Otterburne campus. Providence is excited for all of its new and returning students, who have already moved into residence and begun classes.
A total of $63 760 was raised this year to support students through the Providence Fund, which is designated to help students with the cost of their studies through scholarships and bursaries.
Providence is creating new pathways for students to choose from – including its Centre for On-Demand Education (a.k.a. “CODE”). To help meet the need for skilled workers and to serve adults who want to earn credits towards a post-secondary diploma or degree, CODE offers Competency-Based programming that focuses on proficiency rather than time spent in a classroom setting.
The theme of Black History Month across Canada in 2024 is “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build,” and Dr. Olukoju is definitely an example of one whose contributions ought to be marked and celebrated.
On Thursday, November 16th, Providence hosted its annual Prov Talks event, where faculty and staff presented a variety of “ideas worth pondering.”
Highlighted throughout the Symposium was the idea of ambiguity. However, instead of seeking to “pair down, zero-in, declutter and reduce” the voice of God that one finds in the biblical text, the encouragement offered by Wall-Bowering was to make space for more instead of less. “God sounds like the whole Bible all at once,” said the professor. “What God sounds like is a question of style. God’s voice has range. It thunders AND whispers. It’s a ‘more’ that overtakes us. And this ‘more’ does something; it moves somewhere…it veers towards mercy.”
It is support from events like the Harvest Festival Banquet that allows Providence to continue its mission to teach people to grow in knowledge and character for leadership and service – something that this institution has had the privilege of doing for nearly 100 years.
