Giving it the college try
Stratford educator plans to establish the first new
university in Ontario in more than 50 years It is to be a
private liberal arts school inspired by Baha'i principles,
writes Vivian Macdonald
STRATFORD, Ont.—Gordon Naylor has a vision: He wants "to
raise up leaders who have wisdom."
He has come to this place in his life, he says, through his
commitment to the Baha'i faith with its focus on "service to
humanity and working to remove barriers (between people and
nations)."
With that in mind, he has a plan to establish the first
new university in Ontario in more than 50 years — in
Stratford. It would be a private, non-profit,
non-denominational liberal arts school inspired by Bahai
principles and offering courses "integrating religion,
science, reason and artistic expression," says Naylor.
"We want to create a space where people can dialogue about
life and the changes they hope to see," he explains.
"We" refers to the Breakwell Education Inc. and its board
of directors, comprising educators, medical doctors, a
lawyer, an accountant, a physical and occupational
therapist, and a consultant in the field of transportation
for people with disabilities. Founded by Naylor in 1994, the
group launched a private Stratford secondary school, Nancy
Campbell Collegiate Institute, as its first project. In
2003, a second Nancy Campbell facility was opened in London,
Ont., and in 2004, Stratford students joined the London
campus.
Within nine years of its founding, Nancy Campbell was among
16 schools rated Number One in a Fraser Institute survey of
815 Ontario high schools.
The success of the school was, in part, the impetus for
the new university.
To begin, Naylor and the Breakwell board envision a college,
the Stratford College of Liberal Arts, that would grant
honours degrees in liberal arts. In three to five years,
they would submit an application for "university college"
status and, in time, apply for university status.
As the home of the world-renowned Stratford Festival of
Canada, this small southwestern city is the ideal location
for a liberal arts college, says Naylor. "Artistic
expression is the inspiration for social change," he says,
so what better place?
The plan is to build "a learning environment that is
informed by and consistent with Baha'i-inspired principles:
- Every human being in inherently noble and this nobility
is cultivated through both material and spiritual education.
- Every human being has the right and responsibility to
pursue an unfettered search for truth with due regard for
the rights of others.
- Human progress depends upon freedom from dogmatism or
blind adherence to any sectarian perspective or belief
system, whether religious, scientific, political or social.
- Social development and promotion of human dignity
requires freedom from fanaticism, backbiting, calumny and
other related practices that promote divisiveness, factions,
discord and prejudice.
- The rich diversity of the peoples of the world must be
appreciated, celebrated and combined in a spirit of unity
aimed at achieving the long-cherished desire of world peace.
- True progress requires the recognition and the
establishment of equal rights and privileges for women and
men.
- Every child, youth, woman and man, as a global citizen,
is responsible for advancing the material, social and
spiritual progress of humankind.
Required courses on the proposed curriculum include:
learning and its applications, scientific reasoning and
investigation, approaches to religion, reasoning and
writing, communicating effectively and seminars on human
rights, global prosperity, the advancement of women.
Electives include: introduction to philosophy, media and
society, conflict resolution strategies, culture and
psychology, classical social theory, lifespan development.
Initially, the college would be housed in the now-empty
Nancy Campbell school in downtown Stratford. In its first
year, there would likely be 40 to 50 students, says Naylor,
and eventually, as many as 1,000. As the student body grows,
it is hoped that some offices and possibly classrooms could
be located at a nearby building owned by Naylor or in what
is currently the Stratford Public Library (after a new
library is built). It is also possible, he says, that a new
campus could be established on "20 acres of land from the
city."
Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson is a supporter of the project.
He talked with Naylor after the decision to move the Nancy
Campbell school out of the city. "That was partly for growth
reasons and partly because of the decision on 210 Water
St.," says Mathieson. (Naylor lost a bid for rezoning at the
Water St. site).
"There was an opportunity to turn this into something
positive," the mayor says. "(Naylor) could do it. He's an
honourable man."
The mayor has struck a committee to study the ramifications
of establishing the college here. "We have to look at
whether we can provide land or money, what we would do about
housing and about transit," Mathieson says.
The committee is expected to present its report next month .
The dream of a college, however, is not yet a reality. "We
still have hurdles" to face with regard to the application,
says Naylor. After almost two years in the planning and
organizational process, though, the Breakwell board hopes
for provincial approval by the end of November. Naylor
enlisted seven professors from Canada and the United States
to prepare the detailed application that deals with
curricula, faculty, finances, educational resources.
"You have to have your act together on all fronts," says
Naylor who holds a masters degree in educational
administration from the University of Toronto. The project
"has to be well thought out."
In May 2005, the Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment
Board, or PEQAB — "for obvious reasons," Naylor says with a
grin — accepted the Stratford College of Liberal Arts
application after much discussion, review and revision.
The board has said it will recommend acceptance to the
minister (of training, colleges and universities) and then
it's up to the minister."
There have been some objections to the application — from
York University, Ryerson University and the University of
Western Ontario. Their officials voiced concerns, for
example, about commitment to academic freedom and critical
thinking. Naylor counters with the college's policy:
Academic freedom is considered an essential source of social
good ... academic freedom is pursued for the purpose of
discovering truth and applying knowledge for the betterment
of the world ... excessive compartmentalization of knowledge
hampers the exploration of truth.
He notes that while the college program is Baha'i-inspired,
"it preserves the integrity of those who choose (another)
faith or no faith." No non-Baha'i member of the college
community, he adds, "is expected, nor should he or she feel
in any way socially compelled to convert to the Baha'i
faith."
Naylor, himself, is actually a convert to Baha'i. He comes
from a Roman Catholic background but at the age of 19 chose
Baha'i "just because it made sense (to me). I appreciate my
Catholic background; I didn't leave because I had a
problem."
In fact, his daughter Tahireh, who is a member of the
Breakwell board, attended Brescia College, a women's Roman
Catholic college affiliated with Western, after graduating
from Nancy Campbell.
"She was the valedictorian, a Baha'i student at a graduation
at St. Patrick's Cathedral (in London, Ont.), Naylor says.
"I asked my mother, who is now Baha'i, if she would ever
have dreamt she would would see her Baha'i granddaughter as
valedictorian at a Catholic college. She said: `It's a
miracle'."
It's not only Naylor and his "French-Canadian mother" who
are Baha'i. His seven siblings have also joined the faith
that values "unity in diversity."
Founded in late 19th-century Iran by Mirza Husayn Ali, known
as Baha'u'llah (Glory of God), Baha'i is an independent
monotheistic religion with 5 million adherents worldwide who
live in 236 countries and territories. Baha'u'llah is
regarded as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God
that stretches back to Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster,
Jesus Christ and Mohammed.
It was Baha'u'llah who taught: "So powerful is the light of
unity that it can illuminate the whole Earth."
Gordon Naylor is taking one small step in the hope of
casting light, rather than heat, upon the world.
Vivian Macdonal
d
is a freelance
writer based in Stratford, Ont.
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