Indigenous prof resigns in protest over lack of Aboriginal faculty, curriculum
HALIFAX — An Indigenous professor at Saint Mary’s University is resigning in protest over what she calls the Halifax university’s failure to “indigenize the academy” and confront the legacy of colonialism.
Sandra Muse Isaacs says she’s quitting her job as an Indigenous literature professor over the lack of progress on the recommendations outlined in a report by a task force on Aboriginal students struck in the wake of a student’s murder.
Loretta Saunders, a 26-year-old Inuk student researching missing and murdered Indigenous women, was killed in 2014.
Her murder appeared to serve as a catalyst for change at the small university. The task force recommended hiring Indigenous faculty and expanding Indigenous curriculum to “enhance the indigenization of the academy.”