Cover Story Alumni of Distinction
STEVE STIPSITS
Steve Stipsits says a lot has changed at Mohawk since he was a student but an important thing remains the same.
Business
“I’m still impressed with how engaged people are there… There is such positive energy to the place,” says Stipsits, who is finishing his first year as a member of the Board of Governors. Stipsits was also named a Mohawk Distinguished Fellow in June.
Program:
His parents founded Branthaven Homes in Burlington, which will build about 400 custom houses this year. Stipsits, who has three daughters, is joined by his wife and two sisters in the business.
Architectural Technology
Year graduated: 1984
Occupation:
President and Owner, Branthaven Homes
Stipsits chose Mohawk because it had a “phenomenal” program and was close to home so he could keep working as a general labourer at Branthaven. His time at Mohawk solidified his work ethic, he says. “The level of our instructors was fantastic. The variety of things we learned, from contract law to surveying to applied psychology and engineering and architectural design, it was so well rounded.”
Linda Haslam-Stroud often peeked through the back fence of her house to watch an apple orchard become Mohawk College. So when it came time to pick a school to study nursing, Mohawk already felt like home. She was just 16 when she started what was then Mohawk’s nursing school at St. Joseph’s hospital in 1975. It was the first year the program was delivered by Mohawk. She intended to finish the two-year college program and then do three years at McMaster to get a nursing degree. But she started work right away and never went back. “The education we got at Mohawk prepared us very well as nursing students to start our careers. The faculty was amazing and we learned so much in our clinical placements…. We felt like a part of the team caring for complex patients and it made you feel very empowered and confident.”
She worked in the surgical unit at St. Joe’s for several years and then moved to the renal transplant unit.
“I always thank St. Joe’s for refusing me my wedding day off,” she says with a laugh.
Her union career began in 1978 when she was denied a day off to get married. Her union representative won the fight. Haslam-Stroud went to a meeting and was asked to run for the local executive. She became president in 1979. She then chaired the provincial contract negotiating team for many years.
A career highlight was spearheading an amendment to the ONA constitution to include nursing students as affiliate members. In addition to an Alumni of Distinction award, Haslam-Stroud was made a Distinguished Fellow of Mohawk this year.
When her two daughters were older, Haslam-Stroud agreed to run for president, though that raised eyebrows because she hadn’t been a member of the board. But she won and it meant relocating to Toronto Monday to Friday from her home in south of Hamilton.
“I feel really privileged to be allowed the kind of leadership opportunities I’ve had in ONA after graduating from Mohawk… I’m so honoured to be recognized by my alma mater. It provided me a foundation to go out in the world and do good and serve others,” she said.
She intends to retire at the end of the year, after this, her seventh consecutive two-year term as president representing 65,000 nurses and related occupations in the province.
“My heart is always going to be at Mohawk.”
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