by Shanleigh Brosseau, Editor in Chief
Mathew Dueck, a third-year student in Indigenous Social Work and student leader on campus was announced as one of the 10 students awarded the 3M National Scholarship.
The award was first introduced by 3M in 2012 to honour Canadian undergraduate students who have demonstrated qualities of outstanding leadership, and their vision to enhance education with problem-solving skills.
Dueck is the first student at Laurentian University to have received this award, and he said it is a great honour.
“This is a great [opportunity] for me, it is [also] good for the University to have a 3M Student Fellow,” Dueck said. “This is a testament to how the Laurentian community has allowed me to be successful and I thank them for that.”
Dueck said that this award is also a reflection of the Indigenous Social Work program, and highlighted the supports available for students in the program.
“I would not be here today without the support of the faculty and staff of that program,” Dueck said.
Dueck credits the award to his leadership style, which he called “relational but [also] behind the scenes.
“My conceptualization of leadership is that of a round dance,” Dueck said.
“Just like in a round dance, we are all moving around with the same goal in the understanding that there should not be a hierarchy.”
Dueck said that these initiatives sometimes go unrecognized, but that he doesn’t strive for recognition as much as inciting change on campus.
“My ultimate goal will always be to [make] a difference,” Dueck said.
“A big part of this award is giving back [and] I take this as a responsibility.”
Nominees were asked to submit an essay highlighting current issues in education and possible solutions to those issues. Dueck focused on three areas in his essay including mental health, accessibility and Indigenous recognition.
In the fall, Dueck worked with other student leaders and Laurentian alumni, staff and faculty to develop stress kits for students with a Giving Tuesday initiative that raised $56,593.
Dueck also worked with the university’s Equity, Diversity and Human Rights office to update an accessibility policy. Dueck has also worked on policy development for the Indigenous Student Affairs office.
“The Indigenous voice is really important and it has been significantly underrepresented in post-secondary education,” Dueck said.
Some of the solutions that Dueck focused on included open access to textbooks and the establishment and support of safe spaces.
“When talking about ideas that are controversial and challenging, we need to make sure that we have the resources there to support marginalized students,” Dueck said.
“Censorship is a taboo topic in education right now,” Dueck said. “We should be able to talk about ideas that are controversial and have an open dialogue to question [ideas] and challenge them.”
“I’m not talking about hate speech or incorporating that [but] I think we should analyze provocative standpoints because if we don’t, we are pretending that they are not there,” Dueck said.
“Academia and higher education [are] under threat [because of] huge financial pressures at Laurentian and other universities,” Dueck said. “We need to have innovative solutions that are going to bring transformational educational experiences.”
Each of the awarded student fellows receives a $5,000 award, registration at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLE), and will have the opportunity to participate in a conference that will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba this June.
Dueck said that in June he is looking forward to working with other students to begin planning a year-long project supported by teaching fellows and 3M.
“It is a significant opportunity for me to network and collaborate with other student fellows and teaching fellows,” Dueck said. “It is a way to collaborate on different projects and look at ways we can improve post-secondary education.”