MRU launches new degree program
Dave Marshall speaks at Mount Royal on Feb. 18. Photos by Bryan Weismiller
By Bryan Weismiller
Mount Royal University announced earlier today that the institution will be offering a bachelor of education, elementary degree, starting in fall 2011.
A large crowd packed a conference room in the East Arts building to watch a short ceremony. Mount Royal representatives seemed eager to unveil the new program, which has been in the works for more than eight years.
“This is a meeting place of dreams, this is where aspirations come forward, this is where people with unlimited potential meet,” said former Mount Royal student Manmeet Bhullar, now Calgary-Montrose MLA.
Manmeet said next to the rule of law, there’s nothing more important than education in a democratic system.
“The moment public education stalls; our society stalls, our democracy stalls,” Manmeet said. “It is the great equalizer of our society.
“It is what ensures everybody has hopes and potentials, and everyone can live up to them.”
From left, Omar Munar and Kimberley Lawrence are both currently students in MRU's education university transfer program.
Graduates of the new degree program will be able to teach kindergarten through Grade 6. The program is expected to offer a more hands-on experience by requiring over 100 hours of field experience in the first two years.
“If this degree is our new baby, which I think it is, Dave Marshall is the father,” said Robin Fisher, Mount Royal provost and vice-president academic, when introducing the university president.
Speaking to the crowd, Marshall said it’s the university’s role to prepare young people to go out into a very complex world, so they understand the world is not as clear-cut as some think.
“The wise understand their lack of understanding,” Marshall said. “This degree is critical for that because — as Manmeet said — the foundation of our society and the foundation of our whole society is going to depend on a lot of young people right now who are coming through our public system.”
