I, and many others, recently received an email distributed to Memorial University alumni about the activities of an “Ad Hoc Committee of Senate on the Ode to Newfoundland”. The email included a link to a page on the MUN website that contains the minutes of the 29 committee meetings held to date and an invitation to be involved in a one hour consultation session. I responded to this with an expectation that I would be heard. On the contrary I received no reply either at that time or when I subsequently followed up.
I now feel the need to try and get some light shone on this travesty of a process. I am convinced that the appointment of this committee and the dragged out process is just a way to kick the can so far down the road that people will have forgotten about it when they finally announce, if they ever do, a pre-ordained conclusion. What follows is the body of a letter I have sent to the Committee and to other senior MUN officials.
As the “Ad Hoc Committee on the Ode to Newfoundland” seems strangely reluctant to hear from alumni (two one hour sessions planned, with participants selected by the Committee) and the general public (no input at all) and because the promised questionnaire/survey has yet to appear, I am choosing to anticipate the questionnaire in this letter.
Question #1 What does the Ode to Newfoundland represent to me?
The Ode to Newfoundland was the national anthem of the Dominion of Newfoundland almost from its first appearance and became embedded in the psyche of its people in the dark days of World War One as it was played and sung on battlefields and in cemeteries throughout the war torn lands of Europe and the Middle East. As Newfoundland and Labrador transitioned into a province of Canada the Ode continued to be our provincial anthem, including being recognized as such by an Act of the provincial legislature in 1979. To me and to the vast majority of the people of this province, it is a symbol of our pride in this place, in our history and the natural beauty of our varied and rugged landscapes. It underlines the long history of this place prior to Confederation with Canada.
Question #2 Do you believe that the Ode to Newfoundland should be included in Convocation Ceremonies at Memorial University of Newfoundland?
Yes, it should be played and sung. Memorial University is the only university in Newfoundland and Labrador and, along with Grenfell, the Marine Institute, the Labrador campus etc., has entered the lives of a very high percentage of the adult population of the province. MUN is “of” this place, the name of the university “Memorial” is part of its history as was its founding as a memorial to the horrific losses of World War One. The Ode is also a part of that history and has been part of the lives of the people of this country and province for 120 years. Yes, it doesn’t mention Labrador but there are many talented musicians in Labrador and I’m sure an appropriate new verse can be added.
In the meantime, not including the Ode in convocation ceremonies is disrespectful of the people Memorial was created to honour. It is disrespectful to the living people of this province who support it financially and socially. It is a violation of the “Values of the University” in many ways but I would point specifically to the stated values of Integrity, Responsiveness and Responsibility to Place.
Question #3 Is there anything else you would like to add?
Yes, far too much probably. I would start with the way this whole issue arose in the first place. The Ode was banned arbitrarily, without consultation or discussion with anybody outside the President’s office or possibly the Vice-President’s Council; accounts at the time varied. This move was highly indicative of the way in which the senior members of MUN faculty and administration are disconnected from the Newfoundland and Labrador community at large.
The lack of consultation, the lack of awareness of how this was going to look to the general public and the lack of respect for the general public (the taxpayers who pay most of the costs associated with MUN) is evident. The fact that this “Ad Hoc Committee” has been created and is operating in the same secretive manner just underlines the disconnect between the senior levels of university staff and the public. In the descriptive terms coined by British journalist David Goodhart, the senior faculty and administration of Memorial are “Anywheres”, highly educated, highly mobile and self sufficient (and self satisfied) within their academic bubble.
The decision to drop the Ode was arrogant, condescending and patronizing. A shameful exercise in “progressive” thinking that has and will cost MUN dearly in financial support (think donors disgusted by this) and public support, which can easily translate to lost financial support from taxpayers. As a member of the Board of Regents for six years and chair of the Finance Committee for five of them, I was involved with the attempts to minimize the painful annual funding cuts imposed by the provincial government and with the efforts to “cut the cloth” to accommodate the financial cuts while maintaining the core teaching and research services of the university. I now wonder why I bothered.
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador are, in Goodhart’s term, “Somewheres”, people with a connection to their homeland, their history, their distinct culture and the community at large, rather than the self identifying and self isolating “communities” into which we all too often slice and dice our population. In reading through the minutes of the meetings of the “Ad Hoc Committee” and recent articles about MUN I see references to colonialism and “decolonizing the institution”.
I find it quite interesting that the “Anywheres” dominating the university administration and the “Ad Hoc Committee” are so lacking in self awareness that they don’t realize that they are the new colonialists, with their desire to impose their own mindset and beliefs (whether real and sincere or adopted in the desire to advance their careers) on a population confident in its history, in its culture and its sense of place. To repeat, shameful.
Robert Bishop, B.Sc. ‘73
Board of Regents, 2015-2021
