‘I pledge to be the best ...’

TORONTO:

Her three-year term officially began on October 10, but five days later Jamaican Canadian Donette Chin-Loy Chang, an international communications leader, public affairs strategist and philanthropist, was installed as the sixth chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and its first alumna to hold that position.

The installation was held at the Fall Convocation of The Creative School, Faculty of Community Services, at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto on October 15.

Janice Fukakusa, the university’s fifth chancellor, was conferred with the title chancellor emerita by Mohamed Lachemi, president and vice-chancellor of TMU, before Tony Staffieri, chair of the board of governors, conducted the installation.

In her inaugural address, Chancellor Chin-Loy Chang advised the graduands to seek their passion and purpose, and to be courageous and understand that everyone they meet will impact their life in ways they could never imagine.

She encouraged them to stay focused because distractions abound, and that while they will fail multiple times they should persevere.

“My TMU experience has marked a seminal moment in my life, taking me on several decades-long journeys into media, communications, business and philanthropy.”

Chin-Loy Chang is an alumna of the journalism class of 1978 and has received honorary degrees from TMU in 2021, and The University of the West Indies in 2018. She was also a member of the renaming advisory committee for Ryerson University, now TMU.

Chin-Loy Chang reconnected with the university almost 25 years ago through her late husband chancellor emeritus G. Raymond Chang whose love for the university is well-known. He served as its third chancellor from 2006 to 2012.

“Our vision of transforming lives through education, healthcare, social justice and the arts still endures,” she said.

The new chancellor said TMU’s leadership, vision, values and heart are aligned “always punching above its weight and always challenging the status quo with bold and innovative action, responding to the needs of learners in an ever-changing world, always doing the right thing.”

“In my role as chancellor, I take on the responsibility of being an ambassador and an advocate for Toronto Metropolitan University. I pledge to be the best ambassador I can be and to take on the challenges wherever I am needed, to engage with communities, partners and all stakeholders.”

CHILDHOOD MEMORY

Introducing herself to the gathering, Chin-Loy Chang said she was born in Jamaica and her grandfathers immigrated to Jamaica from China in the 20 century for a better life.

Her grandmothers were born in Jamaica. “When my grandfathers left their village in China and embarked on the long journey to Jamaica, they had no idea that what lay ahead would be language, racial and cultural barriers, and many more challenges.”

She said they survived and thrived through perseverance, noting too that her parents migrated to Canada in the early 1970s at the time of political unrest in Jamaica.

Chin-Loy Chang said she experienced culture shock when she entered grade 13 in Toronto and saw students smoking and necking on campus. This was surprising because she attended Immaculate Conception High School, an all-girls Catholic convent school in Jamaica.

“My parents were self-made, independent entrepreneurs; they worked hard and long,” she said while acknowledging the presence of her 91-year-old mother, Daphne, and other relatives.

She said her family was not wealthy, but rich in family and community. She related a childhood memory which she said has had a profound effect on her. It was that a young man from an inner-city community visited her father’s business place for a job. “The first question my dad asked was ‘Have you eaten?’ My parents’ kindness became the best example for me and my siblings around caring for each other and those in our community.”

Chin-Loy Chang said her family owned a renowned studio in the middle of Kingston, Jamaica, where she and her siblings met icons like Bob Marley. This gave them a great appreciation and a bigger perspective on the plight of the struggling artistes honing their craft.

Her career has included being a reporter and producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio, consulting with US public relations firm Ruder Finn & Rotman and founding Donette Chin-Loy and Associates, a leading communications agency in the Caribbean and LaGrassa Chin-Loy Communications, in Toronto, Canada.

She sits on the board of directors of the BlackNorth Initiative and the Toronto International Film Festival, and on the advisory of the Onyx Initiative and Anti-Asian Racism organisation founded by former TMU chancellor, Dr. Fukakusa.