We’re pleased to announce that College graduate Gurjashan Singh Dhummi has been awarded with the Gold Level Student Leadership Excellence Award for 2022 from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) – the National voice of Canada’s publicly supported College’s and Institutions. This Award recognizes an individual student that has made an exceptional contribution within their institution and within the communities it serves. See more information about the award here.
Gurjashan’s work has touched virtually every corner of Columbia College. One of the things that makes him extraordinary is the way he combines practical, grassroots action with big-picture thinking. Notable contributions and leadership roles he has held include serving as Student Representative to the OER committee, advocating for instructor awareness of student financial hardship, leadership on the College Student Association, and taking a role in communications and outreach for a local non-profit, Friends of Granville Island. Following the Kamloops findings of missing children from a Residential School, he also worked on a major art auction raising funds for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, a program for which he gave many volunteer hours.
Library Director Faith had the following to say about Gurjashan’s contributions during his studies at the College:
“He recently worked with me on two unrelated campaigns. First, he was instrumental in motivating student involvement in our programs for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. He arranged for numerous volunteers to help at events, and did extensive social media posting to encourage attendance. These events were well-attended and I am certain the student-to-student messaging was central in ensuring their success. A few weeks later, we experienced an unfortunate homophobic event on campus. While this event was dealt with through formal channels, I also approached Gurjashan to see if he had any ideas about how to combat homophobic bullying among students. He took this on completely, spearheading a poster campaign and creating a skit that was performed in a student lounge over lunch hour. Few things are as inspiring to me as when our students approach the world with curiosity and a passion for justice, and I am grateful to Gurjashan for doing this work”
Congratulations Gurjashan – we are all incredibly proud of you for receiving this incredible honour!