Trent University Selected as Host of Inaugural Camp fYrefly Ontario
Leadership retreat for LGBTQ youth partners with Trent for summer 2017 launch
Canada's only national leadership retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning, and allied youth, Camp fYrefly, is coming to Trent University this summer, marking the first-time the groundbreaking camp will be hosted in Ontario.
Camp fYrefly’s Ontario launch is a joint venture between the School of Education & Professional Learning at Trent University and the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta. The arts-based resiliency building camp, which is currently held each summer in Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon, utilizes all areas of the arts to aid sexual and gender minority youth and their allies to build strong resilient identities and become leaders in their communities.
“As an institution with a deep commitment to social justice and diversity, Trent University is very pleased to host the inaugural Ontario Camp fYrefly,” said Dr. Leo Groarke, president and vice-chancellor. “We are happy to provide campers with access to Trent’s facilities, supports and resources, and proud to play a role in helping these young people embrace and achieve their potential.”
“Providing an opportunity for LGBTQ youth leaders to come together, express their experiences through art and build resiliency in a supportive environment is so important, and I am proud to see that the first-ever Ontario Camp fYrefly will be held here at Trent University,” said Maryam Monsef ‘03, Member of Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha. “As an alumna of this great institution, and a member of this community, I want to wish all of the participants a very successful, energizing experience.”
“My Master’s at Trent is where I began to develop my passion for community building. As an artist born and raised in Peterborough, whose practice focuses on issues of equity and inclusion it only makes sense to open the first Ontario Camp fYrefly here in my hometown at Trent University,” said Dr. Spencer J. Harrison, director of Camp fYrefly Ontario. “This proven model of an arts-based resiliency building camp for sexual and gender minority youth and their allies aligns perfectly with Trent’s guiding principles around diversity and its strong connections with Indigenous communities. The history of Trent University will provide us with the foundation to open Camp fYrefly’s first Ontario camp and the facilities will allow us to have a beautiful camp experience.”
Camp fYrefly will work closely with Trent’s renowned School of Education & Professional Learning, providing Bachelor of Education teacher candidates with the option to take part in an alternative placement with Camp fYrefly this summer.
The inaugural Ontario camp will run July 13 - 16, 2017 on Trent’s Symons campus. The camp is open to youth between the ages of 14 and 24. Applications will be available online March 6 and will close May 3, 2017. The camp will include an artist-in-residence and an Indigenous elder-in-residence.
About Camp fYrefly
Camp fYrefly is Canada's only national leadership retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning, and allied youth. The camp, which was founded in 2004 by Dr. André P. Grace and Dr. Kristopher Wells, is designed to help youth develop the leadership skills and personal resiliency necessary for them to become agents for positive change in their schools, families, and communities.
About Trent University
One of Canada's top universities, Trent University was founded on the ideal of interactive learning that's personal, purposeful and transformative. Consistently recognized nationally for leadership in teaching, research and student satisfaction, Trent attracts excellent students from across the country and around the world. Here, undergraduate and graduate students connect and collaborate with faculty, staff and their peers through diverse communities that span residential colleges, classrooms, disciplines, hands-on research, co-curricular and community-based activities. Across all disciplines, Trent brings critical, integrative thinking to life every day. Today, Trent's unique approach to personal development through supportive, collaborative community engagement is in more demand than ever. Students lead the way by co-creating experiences rooted in dialogue, diverse perspectives and collaboration. In a learning environment that builds life-long passion for inclusion, leadership and social change, Trent's students, alumni, faculty and staff are engaged global citizens who are catalysts in developing sustainable solutions to complex issues. Trent's Peterborough campus boasts award-winning architecture in a breathtaking natural setting on the banks of the Otonabee River, just 90 minutes from downtown Toronto, while Trent University Durham – Greater Toronto Area, delivers a distinct mix of programming in the east GTA.
For more information contact:
Kate Weersink, media relations & strategic communications officer, Trent University, (705) 748-1011 x6180 or kateweersink@trentu.ca