The first of three public events involving Dr. Don Markwell, Trent’s 2010 Ashley Fellow, took place at Champlain College on Tuesday February 2 before a standing room-only crowd of students, faculty and staff who gathered to hear about “The Value of University Residential Colleges.”

Beneath a banner showcasing the coats-of-arms of Trent’s six Colleges sat a panel of esteemed professors who would each respond to the lecture. Head of Colleges Dr. Robin Lathangue welcomed the crowd and introduced Dr. Markwell and the panel that included:
Thomas H.B. Symons, founding president of Trent University; John Fraser, master of Massey College, University of Toronto; Julia Harrison, Trent professor and director of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, and Susan Wurtele, professor of Geography and a Trent University alumna

The Value of College Life

“The value of College life is in the integration of learning and living to enrich the education of students,” argued Dr. Markwell. He emphasized that “A College as part of a university must consider itself a provider of education, a significant ‘enricher’, not simply a provider of accommodation.

“College is defined as a community: a group of people, not a physical facility. Such a group of people would ideally include scholars at different levels, students, faculty and administration with diverse backgrounds.”

According to Dr. Markwell, residential colleges at universities can contribute to the education of students by providing a sense of belonging and identity, opportunities for mentoring and academic support, encouragement of success in extra-curricular activities, social and intellectual development through informal interaction and the development of leadership and community contribution.

One of the challenges of a successful residential college system noted by Dr. Markwell is that positive interactions do not happen by chance. Damages can be done when values go askew. Leadership is required.

More to Learning

Professor Tom Symons was the first in the panel to respond to Dr. Markwell’s words. “I rejoice in the use of the word community throughout the lecture. Community is fundamental to great higher education. Reflective research is immensely productive in a community environment. Students learn most of all from one another.”

John Fraser, Master of Massey College at U of T concurred. “There is more to learning than what you’re specifically doing to get your degree.”

In closing, Dr. Markwell pointed out that the current visioning process taking place at Trent provides an opportunity for dialogue in the community about the future of Trent.

Dr. Don Markwell is the eighth warden of Rhodes House at Oxford University and is the first warden to hold the position as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to assuming the warden’s role, he was deputy vice-chancellor (Education) of the University of Western Australia.
From 1997 to 2007, he served as warden of Trinity College, University of Melbourne, and was a professorial fellow of that University in political science and public policy. He assumed his duties as deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Western Australia in January 2007.

He arrived at Trent on January 25, to begin a three-week fellowship at Trent University as the 2010 Ashley Fellow. This lecture was the first of three, free public events Dr. Markwell is involved with. Upcoming events include:

• Ashley Fellowship Panel - “The End of Liberal Education” on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  Otonabee College Commons, Trent University

• Ashley Fellow Colloquium - “The Future of Financial Disasters”
  Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  Showplace Performance Centre, 290 George Street North

The Ashley Fellowship is funded by a bequest from the late Professor C.A. Ashley, long-time friend of Trent University and an enthusiastic proponent of the role that informal contacts of college life can play in the academic pursuits of the University. The Ashley Fellows, therefore, are visiting scholars who reside at one of Trent's residential Colleges for part of the year, delivering lectures and meeting with faculty and students.