Mary Wells, U of G dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, co-authored an op-ed in the Toronto Star on remembering the victims of the Montreal massacre and celebrating the survivors. Suzanne Kresta, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, co-authored. The opinion piece appeared in the newspaper on Dec. 6, the 30th anniversary of the massacre.
The deans wrote of the vivid memories of the tragedy among women who graduated from engineering schools around the same time as the shootings. They remembered their reactions on hearing that 14 young women were murdered that day. At that time, women in engineering were pioneers who “entered engineering in spite of being told they would not get admitted or that they would fail.”
Some things have not changed, they wrote. Women in engineering schools still find themselves the only woman in a classroom and still question whether they belong. Engineering deans across Canada have a common goal to attract an engineering student population that reflects the communities they serve, they add.
Wells and Kresta initiated the 30yearslater.ca project.