Polytechnique expands scholarship program to 14 women in memory of 1989 tragedy

Polytechnique Montréal is expanding its scholarship program honouring the 14 women who were killed at the engineering school 36 years ago.

Polytechnique Montréal is expanding its scholarship program honouring the 14 women who were killed at the engineering school 36 years ago.

The Order of the White Rose scholarship was established in 2014 and had previously been awarded to one female engineering student in Canada per year. This year, new donors have stepped up to fund 14 scholarships valued at $50,000 each for female students to pursue an engineering master’s or doctoral degree in Canada or elsewhere.

The scholarships, set up to pay tribute not only to the victims but also to their families and the others injured on Dec. 6, 1989, were awarded during a ceremony at the school on Monday.

“We achieved it this year, and we’ll need more donors to join us because we’ve secured 14 grants, but four are only funded for this year,” Maud Cohen, president of Polytechnique Montréal, said in an interview. “We hope to be able to continue this mission and award scholarships over time … when you see the impact it has, it’s truly extraordinary.”

On that December day 36 years ago, a man motivated by a hatred of feminists shot and killed 14 women and injured 13 other people at the engineering school affiliated with Université de Montréal. White roses and ribbons have become the symbol commemorating the victims.

Scholarship recipients for the 11th edition of the program include students enrolled at universities in Quebec, Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

“What these scholarships do is allow them to accomplish what they want to do, to go further in the execution of their dreams, to flourish in an environment that, at the time in 1989, was perhaps not as welcoming,” Cohen said.

One of the recipients, Angéline Lafleur, completed a bachelor of electrical engineering and physics at the University of Ottawa and is pursuing a PhD at the University of Waterloo in electrical and computer engineering, specializing in quantum technologies.