Construction of Aboriginal student centre at uSask on track

The Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre at the University of Saskatchewan is on track for completion in 2015, reports the StarPhoenix. When completed, the 1,884-square-metre building, designed by famed Aboriginal architect Douglas Cardinal, will house the Indigenous Students’ Council and the Aboriginal Students’ Centre. The building incorporates Indigenous symbolic elements into the surrounding architecture of the university, including representation of the 4 directions and seasons. Cardinal told the StarPhoenix that he “felt like the project came from the students and the elders, because they defined their needs and what sort of vision they had for the future as well … It is very much turning out the way I envisioned, and I feel good about it.” uSask reported a 12% increase in Aboriginal enrolment this past fall, bringing the total number of Indigenous students on campus to almost 2,000. Cardinal also recently designed Ojigkwanong, the new Aboriginal Centre at Carleton University. StarPhoenix