Panel Highlights UVM Collaborations with Abenaki
The university’s longstanding education and research partnerships with Vermont Abenaki and other indigenous peoples was shared with attendees online and in person:
The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Vermont hosted a panel discussion on April 16 in the Silver Maple Room of the Davis Center to highlight the collaborations between the university and the four Vermont Abenaki tribes and other indigenous people. The event, titled “Highlighting Abenaki: UVM Collaborations that Bridge Communities,” was moderated by Dean William Falls of the College, who welcomed attendees and read the university’s Land Acknowledgement, which he noted was created in collaboration with Abenaki leaders. Dean Falls also reminded those in attendance of the university’s principles of academic freedom, stressing that academic freedom is not solely a right or privilege of the faculty, but is the fulfillment of the obligation on the part of the university to provide an atmosphere in which intellectual growth may take place.