A UNIVERSITY FOR NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

FOR GENERATIONS, Northerners have experienced long-standing, generational inequities in access to university education. Due to the lack of local university options, Northern learners have always travelled significant distances to southern locations and universities to pursue an education. For many students, leaving their home, culture, communities and lands is undesirable and insurmountable; and those who leave often experience significant emotional, mental and financial stress from being away from home, coupled with the difficulties of navigating new places, university systems and programs and systemic barriers, all of which negatively affect student success and retention.

The situation in Labrador is no different. While Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador has a more than 40-year history of work and partnerships in Labrador, there have been limited opportunities to pursue university education in the region. Understanding the tremendous individual- and community-strengthening capacities of place-based university education, Northern and Indigenous governments, communities and leaders have long advocated for increased commitment from Memorial University to meet its special obligation more fully to the peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In response, the Labrador Institute and Memorial University began a multi-year process in 2016, working with members of the Innu Nation, Nunatsiavut Government and NunatuKavut Community Council; municipal, provincial and federal representatives; Labrador communities, organizations and businesses; and students, staff, faculty, alumni and administrative leaders from all campuses of Memorial University, to envision the future of the Labrador Institute. This process culminated in two historic milestones: the creation of the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies in July 2020; and the establishment of the Labrador Campus of Memorial University in January 2022.

The School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies is the newest academic unit of Memorial University, and the first in Labrador. Its core mission is to develop and deliver, in partnership with Indigenous knowledge holders and Northern leaders, place-based, Indigenous-led and Northern-focused undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate degrees, diplomas, certificates and micro-credential opportunities focused on meeting the needs and priorities of Labrador and the North. This means people can live, study and pursue diverse educational offerings without leaving Labrador.

On Jan. 20, 2022, Memorial University announced the creation of the Labrador Campus, a full Northern-created, Northern-focused and Northern-inspired campus. The Labrador Campus will continue to expand its educational programming through the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, strengthen its research activities, grow the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems, transform its governance structure and develop its overall infrastructure with a direct mandate to respond to the pressing issues of the region and the North.

This is a momentous occasion for both Labrador and for Memorial University. The establishment of the Labrador Campus is region-building and life-transforming. University campuses make significant, generational changes wherever they are located, and the Labrador Campus will be no different. The Labrador Campus is foundational to the continued growth and success of Labrador, the province and the North. It will drive economic development and draw people to the region. It will be a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation, creativity and inquiry. It will be a place where people can see themselves and their cultures reflected in the curriculum, the research and the programming. It will decrease social, cultural, economic, geographic and educational inequities and injustices. It will support generations of learners who can lead Northern self-determination and enable the region to flourish. It will provide the opportunity for people to come together to dream diverse futures, based on Northern needs and priorities.

The Labrador Campus will truly make Memorial University the university for both Newfoundland AND Labrador.