Over on my substack I have been writing news stories about living on UBC's campus. All of these stories intersect with UBC in some way or other. It's pretty hard to avoid UBC when one lives on the UBC campus and writes about living here. A few of these stories cry out for an official UBC comment. Most of them simply involve a knowledgable person who may or may not be connected with UBC.
It took three months for UBC's media relations office to take note of A Campus Resident (which impressed me). This followed on the heels of a series of stories about the local eagle nest and its pending obstruction by a metal cap. Once they took note they became, for the most part, prompt and helpful.
They've offered statements like the following on woodland fire safety, for example:
With current and ongoing dry conditions we would ask that students, faculty and staff be extra careful in wooded areas on campus.
Recent small brush fires are a reminder of how important it is to safely and correctly dispose of smoking materials and refuse.
We continue to work with Environment Canada and Metro Vancouver Parks to notify of fire conditions through signage on roads to campus.
Of course, anyone who sees a fire should call 911 immediately.
On the campus there are about 40 soft landscape employees who monitor for risk, prune trees, remove dead limbs and clear out leaves, dead plants etc. As there is a level 5 drought, watering is restricted.
Anyone who is concerned about possible ignition sources too close to their space at UBC can put in a service request through Building Operation or call the Service Centre at 604-822-2173 to report fire hazards.
If you haven’t already, I would suggest you contact Metro Vancouver for information on fire mitigation efforts in Pacific Spirit.
These statements nicely drop into stories with minimal editing. They add information (but little colour or nuance). Rarely, under the media relations umbrella, do I get a publicly reportable conversations. Oh, I do have conversations, mostly me exhorting them to be more flexible and allow actual people to talk with me. On their part they patiently explain to me how this process is supposed to work. It feels like their biggest concern is about managing the narrative.
The less benign (their words) a story becomes, the more involved they get. I would think all my stories are benign. However, those in the pinnacles of power have a different view of what is benign then do I. A recent thread of stories on UBC's historical relations with First Nations produced an unexpected outcome. This topic doesn't feel, to UBC, as benign as a story on woodland fire safety or 'rewilding.'
I had asked UBC to offer a statement on the importance of the university's relationship with Musqueam. I had anticipated they would write back with something like "We value our relationship with Musqueam. Over the decades we have had many positive partnerships. We look forward to more in the future." I thought maybe they'd say something about how UBC was creating opportunities for Musqueam engagement in Campus Vision 2050. That didn't happen.
My usual point of contact passed me on to a colleague who then told me "given the importance of our relationship with Musqueam, we recognize it’s important that the university discusses any public statement relating to our relationship with them, so we’re currently waiting for their input."
As an Indigenous anthropologist who has worked for decades in community (primarily with my own, but others as well) this response raised some interesting questions for me. If a relationship is important, how hard is it to say so publicly? I've been at university meetings where the current and past presidents and the chair of the board of governors acknowledge Musqueam as the title holder to the lands UBC sits on. I've heard these same people talk publicly about the importance of respectful relations with First Nations. When I've heard industry proponents deflect like UBC has in my professional work it typically indicates something isn't going as well as the public framing might suggest. Who knows what's up, in this case I certainly don't.
I do know that UBC hasn't been shy about foregrounding their engagement with Musqueam in public press releases and interviews elsewhere. The role Musqueam played in the Gateway Building design was highlighted in a promo piece from Applied Sciences, also noted in regards to the 20 year celebration of the Indigenous medical program at UBC. Again, in reference to how "wood is also a very important material for the Musqueam people." And again, reference to UBC's relationship with Musqueam in the naming of five new student residence halls on the Point Grey campus.
In the meantime I've written two stories on the subject (one on history, the other on Campus Vision 2050 engagement) and will have a third (on a related topic) out before I am likely to get any kind of official statement from UBC.
