Peter Gzowski College

Aniin. She:kon. Tansi. Boozhoo. Koolamaalsii. Welcome! Peter Gzowski College is in the big yellow building named Enweying.  Enweying translates from Nishnaabewin as "The way we speak together." In other words? We play well with others, including the First Peoples House of Learning, with whom we share the building.  Made up of a collection of dedicated and passionate students, Gzowski College is a place meant to unite the community’s roots with the new members who will define its future.

Our college is named after Peter Gzowski, a Canadian journalist and broadcaster who made his living engaging in dialogue about Canada.  Students at Gzowski College pursue their passions in the same way their college namesake followed his passion for Canada, its culture, the north, the Aboriginal people and the environment.

Environmental sustainability, fair trade and indigenous ways of knowing are some of the themes that guide us.  Watch for annual events such as a trip to the Curve Lake Pow Wow, a Ten Thousand Villages craft fair and the Rail Jam snowboarding competition. We also collaborate with our other neighbours in Enweying (the Departments of Indigenous Studies, Economics, Mathematics, Business Administration and the Office of Research) to bring you speakers and events.

The colours of the building are derived from the four colours of a medicine wheel:  yellow, red, black and white.  The design team used the vision statement developed by the First Peoples House design honouring the land, creating a respectful community and acting as a beacon.  The ground floor of the building is open to create a sense of sitting gently on the land.  The Atrium (lower level of Gzowski with the "Red Lights") is open to students to sit and study, grab a bite, and check out the latest in Gzowski news. It’s also where you’ll find classrooms and the First Peoples House of Learning, including the First People’s Lecture Hall, the Nozhem Performance Space, the Ernie and Florence Benedict Room (Gathering Space) and other ceremonial spaces indoors and out.  The Gzowski Student Cabinet office is also located on the lower level.

Get excited about joining the Gzowski community! First year residence students who share a strong passion for “thinking globally” and “acting locally” can also apply to be a member of the Environmental Sustainability Living Learning Community in Gzowski, gaining leadership experience and helping organize educational initiatives and programs in residence and in the college as a whole.

Whether you are on campus or off campus, if you have an idea and you want it to grow, we can help. Gzowski College is young, open to new ideas, and interested in promoting a sustainable and energized future.  See you soon!

Gzowski Facts

• The colour of our building has a specific name: Ochre Number 33.
• Every September, we officially welcome new members to our college by presenting them with a Gzowski College scarf.  Our scarves are beautiful and unique! We are the only college without a “crest”: instead. a beautiful image of a loon serves as our logo, taken (with permission) from a print by Roy Kakejamic.
• Our scarves also do not have our College motto on them because it is pretty long: “Nendimowinan e-niigaanbidegin zhidchigaadenoon nongwa - The minds of the future are made great beginning today."
• Gzowski College is pronounced Zaaa-ski (zaaa as in Pizza!)