Human Rights Office Marking 20 Years

This article originally appeared in the Queen's Alumni Review Magazine

When Irène Bujara was appointed to take charge of a Human Rights Office (HRO) at Queen’s in 1993, she never dreamed the office would grow to its current scale.

The HRO was established as a response to then –Principal David Smith’s advisory committee. Bujara stresses that without the support of the advisory boards that have supported the office, it would not be celebrating its 20th anniversary this fall.

Originally established to deal with issues related to race, the HRO now works in collaboration with the ­Equity Office to address topics of harassment and ­discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic ­origin, sexual orientation, discrimination, disability and gender identity.

The corridor walls of the HRO, located in Mackintosh-Corry Hall, are filled with colourful paintings by renowned artist, Leo Yerxa. Bujara, who directs both the HRO and the Equity Office, feels that art is a powerful medium through which human rights initiatives can be highlighted. Thus the staff has come up with the idea of celebrating the HRO’s anniversary by using art to comment on issues of social injustices.

Says Stephanie Simpson, Artsci’95, Ed’97, MEd’11, the HRO’s Associate Director, “Marking an anniversary for this kind of operation is a strange idea. Initially, we sat around a table and puzzled over how we can celebrate it. It’s not as if clients who’ve come to us would come back. It’s not going to be cakes and balloons and reunions.”

This painting by renowned artist Leo Yerxa served as the starting point for the Human Rights Office's mosaic project. All artists were invited to collaborate and create a piece of art that represents women empowerment and survival using this image as their starting point of inspiration.

In order to draw interest from the Queen’s community and to shed light on human rights issues, the HRO decided to create a mosaic by calling for various artists’ interpretations of women’s strength in the wake of ­gender based violence. All the accepted pieces will be incorporated into a large display that will be exhibited at a reception on campus on September 24. There will also be a speaker who will discuss the ways art can be used to create awareness of social issues.

Bujara says, “Even though Queen’s and the HRO have come a long way, we still face challenges, given the fact that the University’s principalship changes every five to 10 years. Any new principal takes time to get ­familiar with pertinent issues.”

Today, the HRO staff includes Catherine Wells, PhD’01, the Special Projects Coordinator, and Margot Coulter, who is the Human Rights Advisor with a focus on sexual harassment prevention. They, along with Simpson and Bujara, say they are looking forward to this fall’s anniversary celebrations and to future campus initiatives that will promote awareness and positive action on human rights issues.

Restoring the “Suzie Q” and Other Treasures

This is an article that I wrote as News Reporter for my university's Alumni Review Magazine. 

Alumnae who were on campus back in the 1950s and 1960s will remember Suzie Q. “The Golden Girl” was a regular at the games of the women’s varsity basketball and volleyball teams. She wasn’t very big- in fact, Suzie Q was less than a metre tall- but whatever she lacked in size, she more than made up for in school spirit.

However, in the late 1950s, when organizers of the Women’s intercollegiate Athletic Union outlawed team mascots- after Suzie Q was kidnapped at a women’s basketball tournament in Toronto, and an uproar ensued- the tattered, kilt wearing mascot was “retired” to a trophy case in the athletics centre. There she sat for more than 40 years. Until recently.

Staff from the Queen’s Archives work with students from the Master of Art Conservation (MAC) program to restore some valuable artefacts belonging to the university and to the City of Kingston. Their latest Queen’s projects include a restoration of Suzie Q and a football signed by players of the 1922 varsity championship football team, the year the Tricolour won the first of three consecutive Grey Cups. The deflated ball was found in a trophy cabinet at Summerhill, the campus home of the Department of Alumni Relations.

To restore and preserve the ball and Suzie Q, Margaret Bignell, ArtsSci ’75, MAC ’77, the Principal Conservator at Queen’s Archives, last fall enlisted the help of students from the MAC program, which is the only one of its kind in Canada.

Corine Soueid, MAC ’13, set to work restoring the football. She said the project took almost eight months of painstaking effort. Soueid carefully cleaned the football so the players’ signatures were legible again, and because the ball’s rubber bladder had disintegrated, she filled the space with polyester felt.  Says Soueid, “Conservation is fragile work. I had to be extra careful to ensure that the ball was restored to its original state and then I created a customized box to preserve it.”

Suzie Q received similar special treatment. The doll was in sad shape, and work on her, initiated in January, is ongoing. So far a team of students has restored Suzie Q’s clothes and has reattached her hands. Suzie Q travelled to the U of T, and that’s where she was kidnapped. When she was rescued, she had an ink tattoo on her back that reads: ‘STOLEN-Mar 2/57 TORONTO.’ The Archives staff reported that the tattoo will not be removed because it is now an important part of Suzie Q’s history. 

University Archivist Paul Banfield, MA '85 says, "The collaborative efforts of the Archives staff and the MAC students enables Archives to restore artefects, books, and city property tax assessment rolls, while the MAC students get to work on projects that let them put their theoretical knowledge to practical use. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

Image courtesy: Queen's Alumni Review Magazine