On October 18, the Ban Righ Foundation celebrated the achievements of women from the Queen’s and Kingston communities at their event “Inspiring Women – An Evening at the Isabel.” The event featured a panel discussion, poetry and musical performances and the inaugural presentation of awards recognizing two local women for their achievements as mentors and leaders in the community.

Queen’s professor Kathrine McKittrick (Gender Studies/Cultural Studies) was one of two community leaders to receive the first annual Ban Righ Foundation Award in recognition of her mentorship of students at Queen’s and across Canada. She was joined by community choir director Georgette Fry, who will be recognized for her leadership and community service.

“The Ban Righ Centre staff and board members are proud to celebrate the achievements of women at Queen's and in the Kingston community,” says Carole Morrison, Director of the Ban Righ Foundation. “The two award recipients are exemplary in their dedication and deserve high praise for the contributions they have made and continue to make in our community.”

Inspiring women to reach their goals

For her continuing mentorship of students at Queen’s and across Canada, Dr. McKittrick was named the inaugural recipient of the Ban Righ Foundation Mentorship Award.

Recognized for “giving women a voice”

The inaugural recipient of the Ban Righ Foundation Leadership Award, Georgette Fry has helped women from across Ontario find their voice as part of the Shout Sister! Choir. Started “on a whim” in 2002, the choir now has 23 chapters across Ontario.

“The choir started out as just me thinking it would be lots of fun to get together some women and have them sing songs that there weren’t necessarily arrangements for,” says Ms. Fry. “It was something that was designed not to be stressful. I started out with about 125 women and from there it has started to spread across Ontario. The music is fun, and I think it helps the women relax and be more self-confident because they’re part of a large group of women who are equally unskilled, but nobody cares about that. We care about the message in the songs we’re singing.”

A Juno Award-nominated vocalist in her own right, Ms. Fry’s leadership created an opportunity for others without a music background to perform in a safe and supportive environment with like-minded peers. Performances by the choir have also helped raise funds and awareness for local community groups, including the Food bank, the Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, and the Sisters of Providence, amongst others. Ms. Fry says that the spirit of community and giving extends to the members themselves – describing how members have stepped up to help colleagues in need.

“The women are finding support from within the choir because we’ll be there,” she explains. “It seems to be the kind of choir that is as much if not more about the community as it is about the music. It’s been absolutely amazing the connections that have come out from simply opening your mouth at choir – If you’re sick, members offer to help out until you’re back on your feet. Someone who needs an apartment finds out someone else has a room to rent.”

Ms. Fry’s latest project involves providing northern Indigenous communities with the resources to start youth music and choir programs. Calling on the nearly 2,000 Shout Sister! members across the province, Ms. Fry has been able to provide musical instruments, choral arrangements and other education resources to communities in northern Quebec. Ms. Fry is quick to highlight the contributions of the choir members to providing the necessary tools.

“I might be the so-called leader of the choir, but it’s the women who are making this happen,” she says. “They brought out guitars and keyboards and banjos and mandolins, as well as non-musical supplies to help teachers and students. I’m less of a leader than I am a lightning rod.”

The Ban Righ Centre is a unique on-campus resource centre – the only one of its kind in Canada – that provides mature women students with advice and financial assistance, a lunch program with speakers and female faculty mentors, and quiet spaces to study. Founded in 1974, the Ban Righ Foundation (the Centre’s volunteer board of directors) is made up of Queen’s University alumnae, students, staff, faculty and community members. For more information on the Ban Righ Foundation, please visit the website.