Dr. Marni Stanley: Educator, Advocate, Mentor

By Alyson Winks

A quick glance around Dr. Marni Stanley’s office is all it takes to learn a great deal about VIU’s outgoing Dean of Arts and Humanities. The space is full of significance; a precious gift, a meaningful book, reference material for a course, or a souvenir from a trip. It is approximately 28 years of accumulation, demonstrating a rich life, hunger for knowledge, eagerness to teach, and desire to make a positive impact. Also present in the office is Dr. Stanley’s vibrant sense of humour matched with her piercing intelligence.

It is also now time to start dismantling it.

The first step – gifts.

“I’m giving away most of the books,” she says. As an Arts and Humanities Professor who taught a wide range of courses, primarily in Women’s and Gender Studies and English literature, the books are plentiful in number and topic. Her wife is adamant they can’t all come home, so finding new and appreciative homes for the precious titles is currently a work-in-progress.

Dr. Stanley came to Malaspina College in 1994 as a sessional instructor. At the time, she was also a sessional at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. She had a decision to make and chose VIU.

“Almost immediately, I was happier here. The smaller campus had a stronger community, and it’s so beautiful here,” she says.

Dr. Stanley’s classes have since become renowned on campus for their quality – while students may have thought they were signing up for a Gender Studies course, they received that and so much more. Pushing students to explore their self-efficacy, authenticity, and originality while developing their critical thinking skills and providing a wide-range of perspectives through carefully curated course material. She taught her last course – Queer Theory – in spring 2022. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Stanley has watched the generational trends and changes of students with a keen eye.

“Marni is a brilliant intellectual with a wide range of interests,” says Dr. Ross MacKay, Associate Vice-President, Academic and Dr. Stanley’s predecessor as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. “Her cultural knowledge is extensive – books, art, film, Marni can be relied upon for not only having read or watched much of what is available, her opinions are profound and thought-provoking.”

Dr. MacKay’s description of Dr. Stanley is resonant of what she loves about working at VIU.

“It’s the conversations with people – planned and unplanned – that happen throughout the day. Working at a University is the everyday joy of being in a living wiki—surrounded by people who know all sorts of things; it’s a perpetual delight.”

While Dr. Stanley has a deep love for VIU, it wasn’t all fascinating and delightful conversations. As an out, queer professor, she has received  inappropriate comments and abusive behavior from students and employees alike.

“I worked here when gay marriage became legal in Canada and there were both students and employees who vocally opposed it,” she says, citing one example.

Dr. Stanley during her recent Colloquium Series talk in a Pride jacket she created.

While she does not use the term ‘courageous’ to describe her actions, she has long taken public stands against all forms of bigotry, misogyny, hate, marginalization, and racism.

She and her wife, who she met at VIU, are major donors to the VIU Foundation. They created a fund that has raised about $120,000 over around two decades. The scholarships and bursaries it supports six in total, provide funds to students who are in Studies in Women and Gender (2), English (2), and two for students with hardship. To raise the funds, she and Kathryn make jewelry, dolls, lavender bags, Christmas ornaments, and other textile items that they sell each holiday season. The sale has become a well-supported annual tradition at VIU.

“Both Kathryn and I loved this form of art and had been giving people gifts for years. We donated some stuff to a sale for a colleague’s fundraiser and thought ‘why not do our own’,” she explains. “I’m not sure how many items we have sold over the years, but I am grateful to every single person who has made a purchase,  whether it was a $5 bag of lavender or a $90 gemstone necklace. This money has made a direct difference to students.”

What she doesn’t articulate is how her and Kathryn’s time, materials, and own funds have underpinned the success of the sale and subsequent donation.   

However, Dr. MacKay does.

“­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Marni is one of the most thoughtful and generous people I know. Colleagues, friends, children of colleagues and friends – all have been on the receiving end of her amazing generous spirit. The jewelry sale is an enormous act of generosity – she and Kathryn provide all the supplies and labour for countless hours producing remarkable creations, all for a scholarship fund,” he explains.

Dr. Stanley’s sense of justice and ability to lead by example has provided a deep well of inspiration for students and other VIU community members. She shares a story of a former student from many years ago who recently reached out, thanking her for being out and providing that example.

Chris Yeast, the Chair of VIU’s Positive Space Alliance, shares the same perspective.

“Marni’s commitment to being authentically herself has had a huge impression on me,” he says. “In the majority of my work experiences, I have typically been the only queer person in the departments or areas I have worked in. At a point in my life when I was still a semi-closeted, shy gay person, I came across the sentiment to “be the queer person who you needed to see when you were younger.” This really helped me in coming into certain parts of my identity. Marni is really the personification of this idea. I think about her recent Arts & Humanities Colloquium speech she presented where she came on stage in a rainbow fringe jacket (which she made herself). To see Marni on stage, representing her community, is a delight to me. For some young people, where coming to university is their first opportunity to start expressing a queer identity, her representation is more than a delight. Instead, it is a powerful statement that you belong here, that you can be successful, and that you are worthy.”

And that gets to heart of what it seems Dr. Stanley has built her life and career at VIU around. Wherever a student or employee is starting from, she has done her best to provide a safe, enriching space, that challenges the people she is guiding, whether as an instructor, a Chair, or a Dean.

“Marni is a friend and a colleague, someone I depend on for advice and counsel. I always have in mind the question ‘what does Marni think?’ or ‘what would Marni do?’. In our work at VIU helping to navigate the pandemic I depended on her keen understanding of what the campus community was going through emotionally,” Dr. MacKay shares.  

These qualities of compassion and sense of justice are the driving force behind Dr. Stanley’s upcoming retirement date.

“I always said one term,” she explains. “I feel quite strongly about generational inequity. As a Baby Boomer, I'm aware of the wealth inequities that my generation benefited from but also carry forward if we don't retire and don't make room for younger people to get secure positions. I've talked about that for a long time, so it would be hypocritical of me not to retire.”

However, she admits that there is much she will miss. The obvious things – the students, colleagues, the daily conversations, and the “wiki” atmosphere. But also the crows.

“Everyone who has an office in the top part of the campus knows about the gathering of the crows. Every night they gather on the campus just before dusk. In the winter, especially in November through February, I am still at work. They fill the big trees outside my office window, and line the building rooftops,  gathering by the hundreds. Then when they hit a certain number, and the light hits a certain quality and they all fly off to the big rookeries on Mount Benson. It's quite amazing and sometimes you'll see people standing there near the art gallery just watching these trees, these big fir trees, fill with crows.”

Her retirement plan is authentically Marni – lots of reading and making. Textiles, jewelry and painting are currently on the list.

As for the content of her office.

“The (VIU) Library is going get my graphic narrative collection—lots of fiction, but also graphic journalism, graphic medicine and other genres, and works by artists and authors from around the world. They will  be receiving over 1,000 books."

And her parting gift to students is some sound advice:

“My advice to students is to give your brain lots of exercise, and that means learning to enjoy the difficult and the challenging and the frustrating. The art of acquiring knowledge is not to seek safety, but to seek challenges and be courageous, regardless of your field. Keep an eye out for what isn’t there, as well as what is,” she says.