UNB students create Heart to Heart program to bridge gap between Indigenous, non-Indigenous students

An initiative launched by two University of New Brunswick students is making learning spaces at the university safer and more inclusive. UNB students Shilin Pentz and Arnab Mehfuz Taranga created the Heart to Heart program, which is modeled after the Building Bridges program at the University of Saskatchewan. The program is focused on bridging the knowledge gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Pentz and Taranga worked together to develop the groundwork for the program during the 2022-23 academic year. “The most important thing for us was to make sure that we didn’t base our perspectives on outdated information,” said Pentz. “There were times when we would find information in a book, but then two pages later would realize that it was problematic.” Next year, they plan to engage more people in the program.