Saturday, October 09, 2021

 October 1, 2021 – Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ont.

Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell has been named Lakehead University’s next chancellor.

The announcement was made by President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Moira McPherson, who served as Chair of the University’s Chancellor Electoral Board, on Friday, Oct. 1.

The chancellor is the titular head of the University, conferring all degrees and diplomas, as well as representing the University on other ceremonial occasions and participating in outreach and philanthropic initiatives.

Dr. Deverell will be formally installed as Lakehead’s 10th chancellor at convocation in 2022.

She has worked as an academic, broadcaster, television producer, journalist, and theatre artist. Dr. Deverell has received numerous awards, including two Geminis and the Black Women’s Civic Engagement Network Leadership Award. She is the first person of colour to serve as Lakehead University’s chancellor.

Dr. Deverell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2005 for her pioneering work in broadcasting, and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the Lakehead Orillia Convocation ceremony in 2017.

“I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me to be a worthy symbolic head of Lakehead University,” she said.

“Symbols are important: some will see a Woman, following in the outstanding footsteps of ninth Chancellor Lyn McLeod and fifth Chancellor the Rev. Dr. The Hon. Lois Wilson. Others will see a Person of Colour.

“Still others will see an artist, a teacher, and a member of President McPherson’s Committee on Truth and Reconciliation. You can’t be what you can’t see, and I will do my best to represent Lakehead University to all its many past, present, and future communities and stakeholders.”  

Known for breaking barriers for women and people of colour, Dr. Deverell is a scholar and a founder of Vision TV. She was the first woman to lead a journalism program in a Canadian university, and concluded her term as News Director at APTN in 2005 where she mentored her Indigenous successor.

“On behalf of Lakehead University’s Board of Governors, I would like to welcome Dr. Rita Deverell as the new chancellor of Lakehead University,” said Angela Maltese, Chair of Lakehead University’s Board of Governors.

“Dr. Deverell has been a pioneer and barrier breaker throughout her distinguished career in broadcasting, journalism, and theatre. Her commitment to advocating for an inclusive post-secondary education aligns well with Lakehead University and the Board’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The selection process for Lakehead University’s chancellor involved inviting the public and University communities to submit nominations. Candidate nominations were reviewed by the University’s Chancellor Electoral Board, which then recommended the appointment of Dr. Deverell.

President McPherson served as Chair of the University’s 26-member Chancellor Electoral Board.

“We are so proud to welcome Rita as Lakehead’s chancellor, and I want to thank those who were involved in the selection process,” Dr. McPherson said.

“I very much look forward to working with our new chancellor, and relying on her wisdom and experience throughout the initiatives she will be involved in. I would like to offer my deepest thanks to current Chancellor Lyn McLeod, who we have been so proud to have as our chancellor since 2017.

“It continues to be an absolute honour and pleasure to have her as part of our Lakehead University community as her presence and insights bring grace and dignity to everything she is involved with, and she has inspired our students and staff alike,” Dr. McPherson added.

Biography: Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell

Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell (BA, Philosophy, Adelphi University; MA, History of Religions Columbia/Union Theological Seminary; EdD, OISE/U of T) is a theatre artist, television producer/director, scholar, and a founder of Vision TV.

She was the first woman to lead a journalism program in a Canadian university, and concluded her term as News Director at APTN in 2005 where she mentored her Indigenous successor.

Dr. Deverell’s awards include two Geminis, the Black Women’s Civic Engagement Leadership Award, the Order of Canada, and an Honorary Doctorate from Lakehead Orillia. 

In 2018, she was named the Woman of the Year for her contributions to arts and activism by the Alliance of Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists (ACTRA). Her book American Refugees: Turning to Canada for Freedom, University of Regina Press 2019, is in bookstores now.

Dr. Deverell and the acting company in her play “Who You Callin Black Eh?” were winners of the Teen Critics Jury Award at the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival, and in 2021 a Canada Council grant will facilitate a “pivot” digital version of the play, complete with web-based interactive study guide.

She currently is a Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC/SRC), an Adjunct Professor of Women’s Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, and of Education at Lakehead.

For 29 years Dr. Deverell and her husband, who grew up in Orillia, have made the home they always return to in Oro-Medonte.  

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

 JUST PUBLISHED!

NEW PICTURE BOOK 

BY REX DEVERELL

ILLUSTRATED

by

SHELTON DEVERELL 

 


Muddle in the Park

 

A child roams through a city park. So much to see! So many animals squabbling and climbing and flying and fleeing and peeking through the trees and along the trails. But there,  deep in the park what do we see? To our surprise, a puddle of water and all the animals drinking together. A beautiful lesson about how differences can be overcome and how we can all gather around the same pools for sustenance.

 The book, for early readers and preschool children, was based on a child’s observation and written by award winning writer, Rex Deverell. It is gorgeously illustrated in watercolours by artist, Shelton Deverell.

Muddle in the Park

 

A child roams through a city park. So much to see! So many animals squabbling and climbing and flying and fleeing and peeking through the trees and along the trails. But there deep in the park what do we see? To our surprise, a puddle of water and all the animals drinking together. A beautiful lesson about how differences can be overcome and how we can all gather around the same pools for sustenance.

 

The book, for early readers and preschool children, was based on a childs observation and written by award winning writer, Rex Deverell. It is gorgeously illustrated in watercolours by artist, Shelton Deverell.

 

This picture book began on the front lawn of a public library. We had put out acall for neighbourhood children and grown-ups to join our theatre project. Weasked them to tell us stories about their town by Lake Ontario. Muddle in the Park” was inspired by one of those stories.

The library was in Mimico a little town that has been swallowed up by the big City of Toronto. In the end we made a play together with music and art work and laughing and fun.

And then I wrote the words for this book and Shelton Deverell painted the pictures

Thanks to all the Mimico people who were part of this wonderful project. Thanks to Mimico Public Library, Lakeshore Arts, and Mixed Company Theatre fo rmaking it all possible.

And thanks our friends who read the book in draft helped us to get it into print: Cynthia Reyes, Pat Brennan, Greg Watson, Grace Morton, and James Morton.

 


 



The softcover book is available  at A Different Booklist in Toronto, and Manticore Books in Orillia.  

We will also mail it directly to you, if you contact us by email. 

The digital version is also available online here :https://www.blurb.ca/b/10367838-muddle-in-the-park

 Or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08SVVFMH6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Muddle+in+the+Park&qid=1610574547&sr=8-1

Tuesday, August 06, 2019




June and July have been a blast for Rita


We are grateful and thankful for the successful run of Who You Callin Black Eh? at the Toronto Fringe Festival July 4-14, and deeply honoured to have been awarded the Teen Jury Critics Prize (TeenJur).



Please check out this review of American Refugees: Turning to Canada for Freedom.




And this interview which aired July 4 on CBC TV Toronto, host Dwight Drummond:

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

"

 

Rita Deverell's Book "American Refugees" to be published.

American Refugees: Looking to Canada for Freedom 
is slated for publication in April of 2019 by University of Regina Press. 
 When it became clear that Donald Trump would become the new US president on election night in 2016, the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada crashed. It was overwhelmed by Americans afraid that the United States would once again enter a period of intolerance and military aggression. In American Refugees, Rita Deverell shows that from the Revolutionary War to the Underground Railroad through to McCarthyism and Vietnam, Americans have fled to Canada in times of crisis. Many still flee. All have sought better lives, while helping to shape Canada into the country it is today.


It can be pre-ordered from Amazon. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Rex Deverell's

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE II


At the Hamilton Fringe Theatre Festival July 20-29, 2018



Monday, April 23, 2018

Bird plays Hildegard: Anima Felix

News update:

Rita named ACTRA  Woman of the Year!
Press Release

Photographic Evidence II
   An extended version of Rex's play about Geraldine Moodie will be performed at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this summer. (July 19 - July 29)