Christ child a model for young educators by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University I was admiring a friend’s potted plant recently when she noted that I had just missed the flowering. “I forgot to water it,” she noted, “and it just bloomed.” It turns out that it isn’t unusual for plants to flower [...]

Christ child a model for young educators by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University Of all the stained glass windows we have at St. Mary’s University in Calgary my favourite may well be an image of the Christ child with the “doctors” of the temple (Luke 2:41-52) which is installed in our library, St. [...]

Seeing is believing straight from the heart by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University For many of us of a certain age, “Who Are You?” by the Who is a seminal song, made popular again as the theme music to the TV show CSI. Pete Townsend reputedly wrote the anthem after an exhausting day [...]

Voice of the wounded is essential for healing by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University Recently I read a wonderful LinkedIn entry by Aron Laxton about the U.S. Navy’s efforts to study and reinforce aircraft based on planes that had been damaged from the front. Engineers studied and mapped the bullet holes that peppered [...]

There’s plenty of gain from this pain by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University Recently I experienced a rather serious injury. The official version is that I fell off a 15-foot ladder while rescuing a child from a burning building. The first part of that story is true, and the latter part should quietly [...]

‘Soft’ approach triumphs by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University I always look forward to the spring. It is when our university celebrates convocation, and while this is usually an all-consuming, logistically complex event, come the day this is feel-good all the way. To see the faces of the graduates and their families, and [...]

Yes, a little tenderness can change the world by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University It is rare to laugh out loud when listening to a news item, but recently this is exactly what happened. Listening to the Calgary Eyeopener, a morning radio program, I was charmed by the story of a six-year-old boy [...]

There’s a light ahead in our Lenten journey by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University During Ash Wednesday Mass on the St. Mary’s University campus, professor of psychology, Fr. Peter Doherty, offered an inspiring homily. He spoke of the importance of the Lenten journey and the need for us to reach out and to [...]

Books mark the many pages of our lives by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University I was recently tagged on a Twitter post in what has been called the Book Challenge. If invited, the recipient is asked to post a cover of an all-time favourite book, with no explanation or description of the choice. [...]

Resolving myself to a Year of Depth by Dr. Gerry Turcotte, President, St. Mary’s University It is fashionable for columnists to devote the first column of the new year to resolutions — those kept and those broken. For the record, I’ve done both. It is just as fashionable to review the year that was, focusing [...]