Honour the experiences of residential school survivors at a University-wide event to commemorate the day. The event is hosted by the UTM, UTSC and institutional Offices of Indigenous Initiatives, First Nations House Indigenous Student Services, and Hart House. 

Please register to view the event online. 

Official Program | 10:00 - 11:30 am

Land Acknowledgement

Jay-Daniel Baghbanan, Vice-President of Student Life, Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association, and Student, Classical Voice Performance, Faculty of Music

Welcome

David Kim, Warden, Hart House

Remarks

Meric Gertler, President, University of Toronto

Remarks

William Gough, Acting Vice-President, University of Toronto, and Acting Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough

Keynote Introduction

Benji Jacob, 4th Year Psychology Student, University of Toronto Mississauga

Keynote Address

Shirley Cheechoo, Canadian Cree Actor, Artist, Filmmaker and Founder of Weengushk Film Institute

Closing Remarks

Wesley J. Hall, Chancellor, University of Toronto

Jay-Daniel Baghbanan (He / Him)

Jay-Daniel Baghbanan is a student at the Faculty of Music under the tenure of Dr. Darryl Edwards. Studying Classical Voice, he uses music as a means to connect and inspire. Prior to dedicating his life to the pursuit of art, he was heavily involved in activism and equity work, particularly in his school's Indigenous Solidarity Committee and Gender-Sexuality Alliance. When not practicing or responding to emails, he enjoys listening to old records and watching animations.

Dr. Shirley Cheechoo C.M. (She / Her)

Dr. Shirley Cheechoo C.M. (Cree) was born in Eastmain, Quebec on the eastern shores of James Bay.

The Founder and Artistic Director of Weengushk Film Institute, Shirley is an accomplished and award-winning artist, actor and filmmaker, and has been working in the Indigenous community for over 30 years. She is the proud recipient of numerous awards both for her own work and for recognition of her profound contributions to arts practice throughout Ontario, including her installment to the Order of Canada. This multi-award-winning filmmaker is the first person from a First Nation to write, produce, direct and act in a feature-length dramatic film in Canada; Bearwalker had a market screening at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Shirley began directing films in 1998, after working as a playwright, actor and director of notable plays. Her directorial debut is the award-winning short film Silent Tears, in which she chronicles the events of one harsh winter trip with her parents to a northern trap line when she was eight years old. It was screened at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and was also awarded the Telefilm Canada and Northern Canada Award for Best Canadian Aboriginal Language Program.

As a respected visual artist, her paintings have been exhibited worldwide. Her commissions include Christmas cards for UNICEF, Amnesty International, The Ontario Native Women’s Association, and the Hospital for Sick Children. Her works can be found in many private and public collections.

Shirley’s play, PATH WITH NO MOCCASINS, gave her an opportunity to speak about her life and the struggle to retain her identity and Cree heritage. She continues to teach drama workshops to Indigenous youth and young learners across Canada. In 1984, Dr. Cheechoo founded De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, located on Manitoulin Island. This touring company has become one of the foremost and respected independent Indigenous theatre companies in the world. In 2002, she founded the Weengushk Film Institute (WFI), a charitable non-profit, artist-focused film and television training centre. Dr. Cheechoo is an alumna of Sundance Film Institute, Women In the Director’s Chair, the Banff Centre, and the Canadian Film Centre.

Meric Gertler (He / Him)

Meric S. Gertler began his term as the 16th President of the University of Toronto on November 1, 2013. Prior to that, he served as Dean of Arts & Science—the largest faculty at the University—from 2008 to 2013, where he championed many important innovations in undergraduate teaching and learning.

He is Professor of Geography and Planning, the Goldring Chair in Canadian Studies, and a member of the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. His research investigates the role of city-regions as sites of innovation in the global economy, and the foundations for local economic success and prosperity.

Professor Gertler has advised local, regional and national governments in Canada, the United States, Singapore and Europe, as well as international agencies such as the OECD and the European Union. He has authored or edited nine books, including The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography. He has held visiting appointments at Oxford, University College London, UCLA, and the University of Oslo.

Professor Gertler is a director of the MaRS Discovery District and a trustee of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. He chairs the Presidential Steering Committee of the U7+ Alliance of world universities and serves on the executive table of the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s Business Council of Toronto. He previously served on the International Advisory Board of Uppsala University in Sweden and on the Expert Panel on Business Innovation in Canada for the Council of Canadian Academies; the Ontario government’s Highly Skilled Workforce Planning and Partnership Table; the Singapore Ministry of Education’s 11th International Academic Advisory Panel; and as past chair of Universities Canada and the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.

A graduate of McMaster University (BA), the University of California, Berkeley (MCP) and Harvard University (PhD), Professor Gertler holds honorary doctorates from Lund University, Sweden, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and Université de Montréal. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He has received the Award for Scholarly Distinction in Geography from the Canadian Association of Geographers, the Distinguished Scholarship Honor from the Association of American Geographers, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in December 2015.

William Gough (He / Him)

Professor Gough is currently serving as Acting Vice-President, University of Toronto and Acting Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough after serving as Vice-Principal Academic and Dean (UTSC) from July 2016 to June 2024. Professor Gough earned his Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University, Montreal. Professor Gough is a leading researcher of climate change in the Eastern Arctic, South-Western Ontario and Toronto; including studying climate change impact assessment, numerical ocean and climate modeling, and air quality. The Canadian Association of Geographers recognized him for Excellence in Teaching, and for Service to Geography, in addition to receiving numerous research funding awards.

Wesley J. Hall (He / Him)

Wesley J. Hall began his term as the 35th Chancellor of the University of Toronto on July 1, 2024. He is the Chairman and Founder of WeShall Investments, a private equity firm with a diverse portfolio of companies supporting racialized and other entrepreneurs.

The University of Toronto conferred the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Wes in 2023, in recognition of his accomplishments as an entrepreneur and innovator, his leadership as a prominent anti-racism advocate and his contributions as a philanthropist. Wes has also received five other honorary degrees, from the University of the West Indies, the University of Ottawa, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queen’s University and York University, as well as the Medal of Distinction from Huron University College.

For the past 20+ years, Wes has received many awards and accolades for his leadership and influence. In 2021 he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce; he was named Canadian Business Leader of the Year by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in 2022; and he received the 2023 Nation Builder’s Award from the Empire Club of Canada. He was recently recognized as one of the 40 most influential figures on Bay Street by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business, January 2024 edition, and has been inducted as a Knight of The Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen. Wes is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of Huron University College, is a member of the Ontario government’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, serves on the SickKids Foundation Board of Directors and chairs its Governance and Nominating Committee.

A dedicated philanthropist, Wes is committed and passionate about helping the needs of those around him and uplifting communities. His responsibility as a prominent change leader prompted him to establish the BlackNorth Initiative to help end systemic anti-Black racism in corporate Canada. He has partnered with the Rotman School of Management to introduce a new course in Black Entrepreneurship and Leadership, which is the first of its kind in North America.

Wes authored his bestselling memoir, No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot, which was a finalist for the 2023 National Business Book Award. He launched a podcast in partnership with the Toronto Star, Between Us with Wes Hall, and is well known as a Dragon on the hit CBC series, Dragons’ Den.

Born in rural Jamaica, Wes was one of several children supported by his grandmother, who instilled in him the values of hard work, industriousness and ambition. In 1985, he immigrated to Canada, and this was the start of his determination to become the successful business leader he is today. His curiosity, intelligence and ability to spot opportunities drove his objectives to turn a $100,000 mortgage against his home to start his first business, Kingsdale Advisors, which today is Canada’s preeminent shareholder advisory firm.

Wes is often featured as a guest on BNN Bloomberg and is a sought-after executive leader for many speaking engagements and opportunities on various topics globally.

Benjamin Koshy (Benji) Jacob (He / Him)

Benjamin Koshy (Benji) Jacob, a fourth-year psychology student at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), has deepened his understanding of Indigeneity since arriving in Canada as an international student. Since his first year, Benji has been dedicated to advancing the University of Toronto's Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action Report, focusing on Indigenous public art and peacekeeping. As the founder of Studio X, a collaborative art club at UTM, he designed a community mural titled Leave Your Mark in response to the Anishinaabemowin phrase Maanjiwe nendamowinan. This project fostered dialogue among the diverse, primarily non-Indigenous student body about the phrase's translation across languages and cultures.

Most recently, he spearheaded Walks With Reclamation, an installation that transformed the UTM Grand Hall’s staircases with Woodland-styled art depicting the Credit River and native animals. This initiative empowers Indigenous student artists, honours Indigenous history and resilience, and encourages reflection on environmental stewardship and reconciliation. Benji attributes his growth to the conversations and friendships he has built at the Indigenous Centre and is deeply grateful for these experiences.

David Kim (He / Him)

David is currently Warden for Hart House at the University of Toronto. His previous roles at U of T were in the area of residence and student life where he had oversight for the admissions, student services, and residence life operations for several of the residences on the St. George campus. David holds a PhD in Higher Education from OISE, where he is a sessional lecturer and coordinates a student internship program in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education. David comes from an immigrant family and is a settler of Korean ancestry on Treaty 13 territory in Toronto. He has had a long commitment to equity work through his time as a graduate student (his doctoral thesis was focused on the experience of first-generation students) and as a member of the University of Toronto community.

Previously, he was Chair of the Positive Space Committee on the St. George Campus and a Co-Chair for the staff working group of the Anti-Asian Racism Working Group at U of T. He was also very recently part of a small team within Spaces & Experiences that developed a framework for an EDI action plan that included the administration of a survey and several focus groups that were focused on developing a better understanding of the experience of employees within the division through an EDI lens.

Accessibility and Additional Information

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