Almost 50 years after she arrived at the University of Toronto as an Arts & Science graduate student in linguistics, University Professor Keren Rice says there is an increased urgency to donate to students facing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We've got a lot of graduate students that are really struggling financially these days and they need to have their basic financial needs met,” says Rice, the preeminent expert in Dene languages at the Department of Linguistics.
“It's really important that we think about ways of supporting them, so that they can finish their degrees, rather than be overwhelmed by the need for funding.”
She gets special satisfaction from donating to any initiative that helps graduate students doing field work with Indigenous communities.
“For me, that's the most rewarding one, but I'm happy to support whatever kind of research these students are doing. That's my favourite thing.”
Rice started at U of T in 1971 as a master’s student and finished her PhD in 1976. She spent several years working for the federal government in Northern Canada studying Dene before she was hired by U of T in 1984.
She earned the rare University Professor designation in 2008, one of U of T’s highest honours, conferred upon less than two per cent of tenured faculty. She was also the first director of the University’s Aboriginal studies program — now called Indigenous studies.
“One of the things that makes U of T special is it’s the kind of place where, if you have a vision about something that doesn’t yet exist, you can make it happen if you’re willing to put in the work,” she says.
“Another thing that makes it special to me is the quality of the students, both undergraduate and graduate. I find it really rewarding to teach here.”
Rice typically donates to the Department of Linguistics and the Centre for Indigenous Studies, but she also recently donated to the Pamela Gravestock Memorial Fund. The fund was named in memory of the former director of teaching support and faculty development at Arts & Science, who died in August 2020 and was a champion of career initiatives for students and alumni.
“She was such a role model for anyone interested in teaching.”