University of Sudbury appoints Donald Obonsawin as its new chancellor

The University of Sudbury has appointed Donald Obonsawin as its new chancellor.

Obonsawin has more than 45 years of experience in not-for-profit, public and private organizations and has served as a senior advisor for many organizations.

He also has a long history with the University of Sudbury, and attended its predecessor, Collge Sacr-Coeur, in 1964. He enrolled at Laurentian University in 1967.

"Back in 1969, I had written an article in the student newspaper, Lambda, promoting the creation of a French-speaking university for Ontario," he said.

"In those days, we were starting to see the development of Francophone high schools across the province and I had penned an article that spoke to the rationality of having a university, which was a Francophone university for the province."

In April 2021, after it had filed for creditor protection, Laurentian cut ties with its three federated universities: Thorneloe University, Huntington University and the University of Sudbury.

After the federation ended, the University of Sudbury announced its intentionto become a standalone Francophone university.

The institution has played a significant role in Franco-Ontarian history, and was most notably the birthplace of the Franco-Ontarian flag in 1975. Obonsawin was a founding member of the committee that raised the flag for the first time.

"I think that they have always appreciated the fact that those of us who were involved with that project have a special relationship with the university," he said.

In addition to his francophone heritage, Obonsawin also identifies as Indigenous, and is from the Odanak Abenaki First Nations reserve in Quebec.

Before its agreement with Laurentian was terminated, the University of Sudbury offered an Indigenous studies program, which was one of the first of its kind in Canada.

The institution announced in early October it would transfer its intellectual property for certain Indigenous studies online courses to Kenjgewin Teg, an Indigenous-led educational authority on Manitoulin Island.

As chancellor, Obonsawin said he would play a few ceremonial and supportive roles for the institution. The first would be to award students their degrees when they graduate.

The chancellor also acts as an ambassador for the university, and can provide advice to the president and board of directors, when needed.