Last fall, the University of Ottawa launched the reIMAGINE campaign. This was a pivotal moment, both for the university and the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. The campaign aspires to fund uOttawa’s transformation by reimagining the very role of a university in society. To rethink not just what is possible, but also how we address challenges and inequities, how we work together, and how we can build a better society. The Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, is an integral part of this transformation.
Common Law alumnus Perry Dellelce, JD ’90, Chair of the reIMAGINE Campaign, excitedly says that “we look to the future with confidence, ambition, and vision.” He views the reIMAGINE campaign as an integral step to completing uOttawa’s metamorphosis into a global university.
Mr. Dellelce is not only leading the campaign cabinet, his family has also recently donated $5 million to the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, aimed at “creating an inspiring space that will attract the best educators and students from every part of our society, so they can all thrive.”
In addition to reimagining the student experience and state-of-the-art infrastructure for the University, another campaign priority is to reIMAGINE transformative research. One example is that uOttawa’s research community is devoted to understanding COVID’s societal impact, and the ways in which our society has changed, and will continue to change, in the shadow of the pandemic. In the Common Law Section, researchers are examining, among other things, how the pandemic has affected the privacy and civil liberties of marginalized populations, particularly racialized and indigenous communities.
Associate Professor and Co-Director of the UOttawa Public Law Centre, Vanessa MacDonnell, has lent her voice to the campaign, saying: “While COVID-19 is a public health issue, how the response has happened has involved important public law questions. We need to have a more sophisticated conversation around these issues.”
Over the next few editions, we will share with you other examples of how we are working towards reIMAGINING legal education and leading legal research to build a better society.
To explore the reIMAGINE campaign further, please click here.