Contribute to Indigenous student award in Lyn Davis's memory
Celebrate the life of former HSD faculty member Lyn Davis by contributing to an award she established to support Indigenous students.
Davis, who died on Oct 24 last year, after a brief illness, was a long-time faculty member in HSD, starting her teaching career in Nursing in 2002, with a stint in Public Administration, before finishing her teaching career in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, where she taught from 2012 to 2017.
Known as a generous teacher and mentor, in 2014, Davis won the HSD Teaching Excellence and Educational Leadership Award. Davis’s focus while teaching in PHSP was in the undergraduate program. In those five years, Davis said she learned much more than she taught.
In 2018, Davis established the Dr. Charlotte Loppie Award to honour Loppie's work in teaching and service, both at UVic and in Indigenous communities. The award is given to Indigenous undergraduate students in PHSP, with preference given to mature Indigenous women.
Davis’s wish for award recipients was to feel seen, accepted and a part of the School of Public Health and Social Policy.
Originally from the United States, Davis came to Canada in 1988 from the American South after a long and successful career as a self-described policy wonk and consultant. She said she discovered a different way of life here: one where people can talk about their differences and work together to resolve them. And one where Davis, a butch lesbian, was accepted and provided full human rights.
In her obituary, Davis also was remembered as a published poet and short-story writer. She participated in many lesbian feminist groups throughout her life, financially supported a wide variety of progressive causes, and for more than two decades, hosted Big Broadcast at CFUV. She was a proud crew member of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival for 17 years.
A celebration of her life took place in Victoria on May 19. To donate to the Charlotte Loppie Award, please visit UVic Giving.