Hardev Shergill played a crucial role in the formation of North Island College during the 1970s. Now retired in California, he is leaving another legacy to the College. He is setting up a Legacy Award with the NIC Foundation with a $100,000 donation. The new award will support students in visible minority groups or refugees to Canada. The award is to be given for the first time in 2024. In late 1973, the province created the Task Force on the Community College, on which Shergill sat as a representative for the College Faculties Federation of B.C. He put together a lengthy report that provided the basis for creating the permanent home for what is now North Island College. He was asked to continue his work after the report, so he served as the first administrative director for a brief time. He did not stay in B.C. but returned to the U.S. in 1976, where he moved to California. “I settled in my own real estate business where I still am, living in the same house since 1982,” he said. He moved on from education into real estate and insurance, but through his businesses, he has been able to support higher education through his philanthropy efforts—specifically a half dozen endowment funds for schools with which he or his family have been associated, including NIC.
