This is a bimonthly newsletter featuring community updates from Capilano University President and Vice-Chancellor Paul Dangerfield.
April 2025
Goodbyes are important, and last week I was grateful to celebrate the end of my time at Capilano University during the Chancellor Circle’s dinner—our annual fundraising event, hosted by Chancellor Yuri Fulmer. At a time when higher education faces significant headwinds, it lifted my heart to be surrounded by our loyal and generous supporters as they came together to help launch the new President’s Entrance Award. This is CapU's first donor-funded $1-million+ endowment that will attract and support promising students for generations to come.
And after almost a decade at the helm—through the stormy seas of a global pandemic and a rapidly shifting political landscape—I can say with confidence that our reputational excellence has been built one collaborative relationship at a time. All along the North Shore and Sea-to-Sky, we have supported our communities beside our mayors, schools, businesses and First Nations, helping each other wrestle big challenges like housing affordability, child care, transportation efficiency and climate resiliency.
Working together, we envisioned a more robust and relevant learning environment. We expanded our presence in North Vancouver and opened a much-needed new campus in Squamish. We launched the gold-standard Fulmer Family Centre for Childhood Studies, revitalized the beloved Blue Shore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts and created the Eat Care Share Fund to ensure food security for our most vulnerable students.
In our current cultural climate, polarized all-or-nothing thinking is a crippling problem. I believe we must commit to collaboration, a core value that was strengthened when CapU accepted the magnificent 30-foot-long canoe created for CapU’s 50th anniversary by Squamish Nation Master Carver Ray Natraoro. The first time we put Skw’cháys in the water, Ray warned us that it was going to be very important to paddle as one even though we didn’t know quite what we were doing. It’s a common-sense lesson that stands the test of time: faced with uncertainty, it’s critically important to pull together. Stay true to your purpose and don’t get distracted.
Despite the challenges ahead, I’m optimistic that we will find our way through the muddle. A lot of my hope comes from the students I have been so fortunate to work among. I am always inspired by their determination to forge ahead in pursuit of their ambitions, no matter what is going on in the world around them. And I also applaud the young managers, directors and deans who now account for the majority of CapU’s workforce. They are sharp, inclusive and unthreatened by differences of opinion. We need more of these open, adaptable folks across all sectors.
In just a few days, I will be transferring the leadership reins to Laureen Styles who will serve as interim president while the hiring committee chaired by Chancellor Yuri Fulmer does its good work. As for me, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop learning, exploring and serving my community, and to that end I have agreed to become the newest board member of the YP Heung Foundation—a charitable organization that supports youth engagement with arts, education and health initiatives across British Columbia.
I owe so much to so many, but most of all to my beautiful family. Thank you for paddling with me on this amazing journey.
Until we meet again,
Paul