Doing Better for Students: Principal McGowan

As St. Michael’s Principal Mark McGowan reflects on his second stint in Odette Hall, he says the remainder of his time in office will be focused on enhancing student life. McGowan, who was St. Mike’s Principal from 2002 to 2011, agreed in 2020 to return to the Principal’s Office in an interim capacity. He will wrap up his duties at the end of this academic year to return to the classroom.

A continued passion for McGowan is the experience of international students. At a time when universities are increasing their emphasis on mental health and wellness, he says it’s far too easy for students—and especially international students—to feel isolated on a campus as large as the University of Toronto. Helping students to feel welcome and connecting students to the right services, for example, counsellors familiar with various cultures and the international experience, is one way to look out for students who live outside the country.

“Thirty-eight per cent of the incoming class this year are international students, including people from China, Latin America, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. We need to be listening to how they are doing. Half of the students in our Book & Media studies program—both majoring and minoring—are international students. We have the opportunity to become more aware.”

Another focus for McGowan, an historian renowned for his work on the Church in Canada, is to further engage with Indigenous communities, especially in the wake of the discovery of thousands of unmarked graves on the sites of Canadian residential schools.

Pointing to Dr. Reid Locklin’s Christianity, Truth and Reconciliation course and a reading circle Locklin has started to look at Indigenous stories and histories, McGowan describes St. Michael’s as in “the infancy” of developing ways to listen to Indigenous experiences and understanding fruitful ways to reconciliation.

“As a Catholic college we have to do better,” he says.

McGowan is also working to develop a more robust research culture at the college, involving both local research and international travel.

“Some of the most rewarding teaching experiences of my life have been travelling with students to international conferences where they present their work to scholars. Often the response is, ‘I can’t believe St. Mike’s is doing this,’” he adds.

“Doing research on your own prepares you to find things you’ve never have known and helps you learn to navigate all sorts of challenges in life. It serves as a tool kit.”