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WILLIAMS
LAKE – Advanced Education Minister
Murray Coell joined Rick Hansen, Thompson Rivers University officials and
community members today for the official opening of the institution’s new
$15.2-million campus in Williams Lake, providing space for more
than 1,000 students.
“Government’s investment in this new campus improves
access for students in the region and provides more opportunities to get the
education they need for the future,” said Coell. “The students attending this
campus can learn, live and work in Williams Lake, building the local economy
with vital skills like nursing, child and youth care and the trades.”
The
Ministry of Advanced Education provided $12 million and TRU contributed the
additional $3.2 million to build the nearly 7,000 square-metre campus, which is larger than a football
field. It houses a new library, 13 additional classrooms, science and computer
labs, seminar rooms, large workshops for trades training and 40 faculty
offices. The campus in Williams Lake helps TRU continue to provide regional
education opportunities as part of the mandate it was given in the 2004
transformation from a university-college into a teaching-focused university.
“The new campus is a first-class post-secondary
facility that will meet the needs of learners in the Williams Lake community
and the region,” said TRU
president Roger Barnsley.
The
grand opening of the wireless campus was celebrated with a
number of official speakers, a blessing by the local First Nations and the
conferral of an honorary doctor of letters on Rick Hansen, president and
CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation.
“I
am truly honoured to be a part of this exciting day. Thompson Rivers
University’s new campus is an exciting opportunity for Williams Lake and for
thousands of young Canadians that will study here in pursuit of their dreams,”
said Hansen, who was born and raised in Williams Lake. Twenty years ago this
week, Hansen wheeled through his hometown on his Man In Motion World Tour – a
dream that continues to fuel his work today to improve the lives of people with
spinal cord injury and related disabilities and advance research towards a
cure.
In the past five years, the Province has
provided more than $1 billion in new funding for capital projects on campuses
across B.C., and has allocated almost $800 million more in capital funding by
2009 to support post-secondary education. Government has also funded more than
17,000 new seats at B.C. universities, colleges and university colleges.
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Communications Manager 250 952-6400 250 812-7977 (cell) |
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