Jeremy & Carolyn Webber Fund for Awards in Law (Jeremy & Carolyn Webber)
Professor Jeremy Webber was Dean of Law at the University of Victoria from 2013 to 2018, during which time the JD/JID program was developed with his active support. He also taught Transsystemic Property in Gitxsan and BC Common Law in the program’s second year (2019- 2020). Carolyn Webber was a research scientist in biochemistry and immunology and, in a later career, a librarian, archival technician, and genealogist. She was also an indispensable partner throughout Jeremy’s time as Dean – a source of advice, wisdom, perspective, and attention to their common familial responsibilities.
They wish to affirm the great value of a scholarly endeavour in which Indigenous legal orders are recognized, studied with dedication, treated as an indispensable source of knowledge, and taught with the rigour, imagination, and critical spirit that a great law school brings to the study of a legal tradition. They seek to support students who share that commitment, especially those who have shown determination, resilience, contribution and compassion in their lives before and during law school. Those are qualities that make for a fine lawyer – indeed, a fine contributor to any society. They are fully as important as academic attainment. This award is therefore designed to assist students who manifest those qualities, especially those who may not have been honoured in other ways.