What began as a dream of a culturally sensitive post-secondary institution has turned into a nightmare.
There are many tales yet to be told about the intricacies of the troubled First Nations University of Canada (FNUC), but already the future looks grim. With funding from the province removed, and the likelihood of further troubling information almost certain to emerge in the days and weeks ahead, FNUC appears to be on its deathbed.
It shouldn't have been this way.
FNUC was formed as part of a long-term vision to better the lot of many of this nation's aboriginal students. The success of the venture would have served to highlight the potential of aboriginal peoples, and would have stood as a stepping stone to other concepts - even, perhaps, providing a discussion point for the merits of aboriginal self-government.
Hence, the shadow currently lingering over FNUC affects far more than just the institution, for critics of First Nations self-government will be certain to point to the failure of FNUC in their arguments (neatly overlooking, one may assume, the fact other post-secondary institutions have also failed or struggled in the past.) Nonetheless, there is no small irony in noting that FNUC will, in its struggles, serve as fuel for the very fires it ought to have helped extinguish.
No matter what happens now, the ever-sharp optics of hindsight will cause all those who have attended or who currently attend the institution to suffer greater scrutiny. Will a degree or diploma from FNUC hold as much sway in the world as a degree from some other institution? Will the current challenge affect past graduates? And what of those students currently taking courses at FNUC ? What will become of them, their dreams and their educational futures?
The current state of events now is far removed from the visions and dreams held when FNUC was born.
The founding visions and dreams at the heart of FNUC must not be tarnished because of the failings of individuals responsible for its management. Just because this attempt at fulfilling a dream of an aboriginal-owned and managed university has failed, does not in any way diminish the merits and nobility of the original dream.
We hope that FNUC will survive its crisis, or alternately, that lessons learned from this attempt will go to help pave the way for a more successful enterprise.
