The Director of the Department of French Studies at Université Sainte-Anne has died.
Associate Professor of Language and Literature Jean Wilson passed away suddenly on Friday at the age of 60.
He taught at the university for over 30 years. Director of the Alumni Association and friend Hughie Batherson described how the students saw Wilson.
“If you looked at Jean through the perspective of a student, he was everywhere, very likeable and very engaging. He was great with kids, with university and college age students, his colleagues and everybody in the community.”
He says Wilson was very involved in student life.
“He was very unique and I don’t there’s anybody else in Canada at a university that can check off the boxes like him. He was very involved. He played on the university hockey team with the students, he did theatre with the students, he was leading poetry readings with the students,” says Batherson. “We considered him, when I was a student, like a rockstar.”
Batherson says since the news of Wilson’s passing, people have been reaching out across the world to share their stories about him.
Wilson was also the editorial secretary of the Dalhousie French Studies: Review of Literary Studies of Atlantic Canada and published a collection of poetry in 2013, Grand Vent de Storm.
Wilson was among professors who walked off the job almost two weeks ago in protest of the closure of the student cafeteria and represented the group when speaking with reporters.
From left to right : Aldéa Landy, Jessica Wilson, Jean Wilson, Allister Surette and Hughie Batherson.
