Sunand Sharma: A Gryphon Championing Campus Diversity

Sunand Sharma came to Guelph to attend a college in a city not different from his hometown, St. Catharines. It was a safe place, one in which he could learn, grow and go on to develop a career as a rising star in student leadership, citizenship and engagement.

Four years later, when he stepped off the convocation stage with a Criminal Justice and Public Policy degree in hand, little did he know that his racial identity -- something that was uncomfortable for him at first -- would enable him to change the lives of thousands of students.

As Associate Dean of Community Citizenship and Student Leadership and Engagement at Sheridan College, Sunand has engineered some remarkable student support programs in Ontario’s college campuses. What’s different in Sunand’s leadership is that each of his initiatives draws from his own intimate experiences as a racialized person. That’s why sometimes he is short of breath when he speaks about programs that he has initiated. They are close to his heart.

Changing the narratives of and about international students is high on Sunand’s leadership agenda. Forty percent of students at Sheridan are international, with the majority of those international students hailing from India. Further, in the Peel Region where two of Sheridan College’s three campuses are located, 40 percent of the population has roots in India or South Asia.

“I pride myself on learning about the diverse cultures of our students, but for the first time in my life, having knowledge of the rich Indian culture is an asset,” says Sunand. “Many of the clients I serve happen to be from my culture and being one of them is finally a value. My unique blend of lived experiences helps, because I have experience from the day I was born what it means to be an Indian and Canadian.”

Just like Sunand’s dad who came to Canada in the 1970s to build a better future for Sunand and his siblings, many international students endure agony and sometimes exploitation for the sake of a better tomorrow. They carry what Sunand describes as “pressure of future generations on their backs.”

One of Sunand’s priorities at Sheridan is to instill citizenship values among its students. But for international students, who may be grappling with food and housing insecurity, and lacking a sense of belonging in their communities, citizenship can sound like an empty phrase.

The programs developed under Sunand’s leadership help address some of these underlying issues. For example, The Be a Good Neighbour Program focusses on teaching new renters tenant rights and responsibilities. Sheridan’s food support program provides eight weeks supply of non-perishable, culturally appropriate South Asian meals like dhal, channa, and rice for newcomers embarking on ambitious journeys. In 2023, Sheridan’s food program delivered over 75,000 pounds of quality meals.

Sunand also helps international students find their first home in Canada. Many students are unfamiliar with the Canadian housing crisis and can fall prey to bad deals, losing thousands of dollars or forced to live in unsafe housing. Those kinds of nightmares trickle down to students’ learning experiences and stymie their dreams. Sheridan’s initiatives like pre-arrival help, orientation to community, and legal advice tackle everyday international student issues directly.

At Sheridan, Sunand developed the Dare to Care bystander program - an initiative designed to encourage student leaders not to wait until someone asks for help, but rather, proactively reach out to others. The program was inspired from his early experience at the University of Guelph.

“I was standing on the steps of Creelman Hall, and I watched a student with a visual impairment walk across Johnston Green, heading towards what was the women's dorm at the time. I watched him walk directly into a wall. And to this day, 25 years later, I don't know why I didn't help him [avoid the wall],” Sunand says.

Sunand says CIRCLE’s e-Pals initiative shares the same goal as his Dare to Care program, that is, engaging peers to teach cross-cultural knowledge more organically. “The amount of scholarly research, the important things Indians are doing nationally, globally - why not India? So, congratulations to whoever the brainchild is behind this!” Sunand talks more broadly about CIRCLE’s initiatives.

Sunand believes in higher education’s transformative power. And after completing his graduate studies in leadership at Royal Roads University, he was convinced that a career in higher education administration can have a life-long impact on students’ lives.

“I’m grateful for my opportunity to help students. I'm reminded of where I was, who I was then,” he says. “And those life experiences allow me to shape, shift, and direct students’ lives repeatedly on a daily basis.” He recalls lectures on restoration and punishment at U of G, and how that helped him get through the initial years in campus judicial affairs, his first higher ed job.

A dad of two, both born during the pandemic, most of Sunand’s leisure time now is spent with his kids.

In closing, Sunand has a clear message to all students: Be a champion for each other.

“Regardless of challenges you encounter, it's a reminder of why you're here and that you will persevere,” he says. “There may be challenges, but your differences are what make you special. The same perseverance, the resilience to leave your home country, your support network, your family indicates the strength within yourself.”

Dilshan Fernando is a student writer for CIRCLE. He is in the fourth year of his PhD at the University of Guelph.

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