On Saturday, at the annual Royal Roads University President’s Gala Dinner, Strandlund announced he was putting up $100,000 as an endowment fund dedicated to assisting First Nations students.
Details of the fund and its operation are now being worked out.
In an interview, the founder and president of Fisgard Capital Corp. said assisting First Nations peoples is an impulse that goes back to his own birth and upbringing — French-speaking Métis in Southern Saskatchewan surrounded by Cree communities.
Strandlund, 68, said his aunts were teachers to Cree children and he practically grew up in their communities.
Also, after being appointed chancellor of Royal Roads University in 2014, Strandlund said he read over the founding charter of the university and found within it a written mandate to assist First Nations peoples with post-secondary education.
“The reference to aboriginal education in that charter is very important and very clear,” said Strandlund.
“And I wanted to do something positive and something material to assist Royal Roads to advance that particular mandate in its charter.”
Also, last week saw the installation of a totem at Royal Roads to commemorate its 75th anniversary: 55 years as a naval and military college and, since 1994, as a civilian university.
Commissioned by Strandlund and completed by Tsawout artists Tom LaFortune and his nephew, Howard LaFortune Jr., the totem is the first piece of First Nations art to be installed at Royal Roads.
Unusual for First Nations totem work, the piece has been given a name, Harmony.
Strandlund said it was as if everything came together to signal that it was a good time for him to do something positive, such as funding the endowment.
“I couldn’t think of a better time to throw in a few bucks and create an endowment,” he said.
“It was really a nice experience for me, a very joyous experience, because it brought so many of my impulses together.”
