TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Decades after he was expelled due to his Mi’kmaq heritage, Bob Phillips comes back with a PhD to address new grads,
Bob Phillips was once a familiar face in his high school principal’s office.
Eventually, the bad behaviour saw him kicked out of school. But half a century later, the school’s current principal welcomed him back with open arms to speak at commencement.
In between those two appearances with his principals, Phillips finished high school in Acton, Ont. And after stints in real estate and driving a cab, he studied fine art at the University of Toronto. Last year, at age 71, he graduated with a PhD in indigenous studies from Trent University.
Phillips firmly believes he faced discrimination in the classroom because of his Mi’kmaq heritage, a claim impossible to prove decades later. But whatever the reason for his expulsion, he received a warm welcome back to Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, now a school for adult learners. At the end of his com- mencement speech, the class of 2016 gave him a standing ovation.
“To have him come back, I think it’s a symbol of the reconciliation that’s happening in our schools,” said local trustee Chris Glover.
Phillips spoke with the Star about returning to his old high school for a graduation ceremony he never had.
Why were you expelled?
A teacher . . . booted me out. At one point in detention, he yelled at me and said ‘You step back, you step back,’ (from his desk) and he said ‘Don’t you tower over me.’ I was never allowed to come back to the school. How could he be throwing somebody out for being too tall?
Were you a good student?
My marks were up and down. I believe that was for being identified very early as a native person and therefore not encouraged to be heavily involved with academics . . .
A number of times I was told I should be in manual training, I should be in reform (residential) school.
How did you feel at that stage in your life?
I was very, very confused. When I was thrown out by that . . . teacher, I thought it was because I was stupid or that I had terribly offended the man one way or another. It was only as an adult and chatting with other native people that I came to realize that it was probably the result of the social attitude at the time toward native people.
How did it feel to come back to Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute after all these years?
It felt like it was my graduation after 55 years — honest to God. All of a sudden, it was almost like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. After that business of ‘You’re stupid. You’ll never amount to anything,’ I wound up on the stage at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate as the only doctor there, 55 years later. So somebody was wrong.
What did you tell the graduates?
First of all that as far back as I can remember, I had been identified as a native — or the term used back then was “Indian.” The result was that I had difficulties in the education system all the way through . . . I didn’t go back to school until I was 51, and today I hold a PhD. In other words: Never give up. You don’t know what the future will bring.
What do you make of the irony that you were invited back to a school that once rejected you?
In terms of irony, that almost judges the people involved. Rather than judge the people involved, what I see is a change in social attitudes . . . The understanding that native people are equal is not complete yet, but things are looking up a great deal. This interview was edited for length and clarity.