Congratulations are in order

Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard was recently inducted as a member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

Dalhousie can once again point to a distinguished member of the family taking the "big walk" up the red carpet to accept the nation´s highest civilian honour - the Order of Canada. Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, Director of Dalhousie´s School of Social Work was inducted as an Officer on June 10th.

"It absolutely validates and affirms the work," says Bernard as she reflects upon the experience of receiving the award. "I was just really humbled by the fact that someone - whoever initiated this remains a mystery to me - really saw such value in my work that they nominated me and I´m so appreciative of all those people who were asked to write letters, people who have been watching and working with me." Dr. Bernard received a medal, pin and certificate to mark her induction to the Order. The ceremony itself made a significant impression on her: "The investiture was quite moving, a very positive, emotional kind of experience," she says. "Part of that emotion came during the actual ceremony itself because in the Governor General´s speech she talked about the general humility amongst Canadians and she noted that many of you, when you got notice of being as recipient you probably said why? Why am I getting this? And that was me exactly. Why am I getting this? I never thought I would."

An educator, scholar and social work practitioner, Wanda Thomas Bernard is a model of tolerance, understanding and compassion. Director of the Dalhousie School of Social Work, she is highly regarded for addressing racial and cultural diversity in social work education and in the community. She is a thoughtful leader who has generously shared her expertise in family and social development with local, provincial and national organizations, notably as a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers. With courage and integrity, she has empowered the community at large to combat racism throughout all levels of society.
- Order of Canada Citation

She goes on to say there were other issues that made her think differently as a result of the honour. "Something that stood out for me was most of the other recipients were older, kind of looking back on their career and one of the first things I said was I´m too young to be here! I always envisioned it as an end of career marker, but this is not the end of a career, my work is far from over. There is too much that needs to be done. My work on race and racism, social work and social work education in the community more broadly - that work is clearly not done, there´s much much more that needs to be done." She points out that this is really about her work over the years and so she feels that the award should be going to all the people she´s worked with over the years. "I´ve never worked alone," she emphasizes. "I´ve always worked with others. This award is about my work with people for change."

Perhaps more than anything else, the honour has made her think about what the future holds. She has decided to offer for a second term as Director of the School of Social Work and she is thinking a lot about her role and how it can affect change. "It made me think more about the responsibility I have. I feel more responsible and that´s a bit frightening because I have been feeling responsible for the world since I was probably a baby. I feel a responsibility to keep fighting and working for change. I´ve been thinking about all the people on whose shoulders I stand every single day just to keep going and some of them are still here and some are not. My work has moved from just focusing on issues of race and racism. It´s already moved to looking at other forms of oppression and looking at issues of power and privilege and how when you´re in a position of privilege, how you can use that to affect change. You say to yourself, (The Order of Canada) is an enormous privilege, so what are you going to do with it?"

Among the things she intends to do with this momentum is to focus on helping Dalhousie become a leader in diversity issues. "Dalhousie has exemplary leadership in so many areas, but we have a position which we could take a bit more assertively in terms of leadership on diversity issues. One of the things I will be doing in the next little while is working with our employment equity officer and senior administrators to engage in some discussion about how we move these things forward."

Dr. Bernard has made Dalhousie proud of her achievement and the years ahead are sure to be full as she blazes forward, embracing her new challenges with an "OC" after her name and an increased sense of responsibility to the community she serves in her heart.

The Association of Black Social Workers is hosting a Night of Recognition in honour of Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard on July 28, 2005 at 6 p.m. The event will be at the Citadel Inn on Brunswick Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Tickets are $25 each and can be obtained from
The School of Social Work, Phone: 494-3760;
The Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers, Phone: 429-7799;
The Black Educators Office, Phone: 424-7036 and
The Black Cultural Centre, Phone: 434-6227.