Connections Magazine - Summer 2019

STU Alumni & Friends

Summer 2019

New Internship Program at STU Alumni Help Students Put their Education to Work

Honouring Distinguished Alumni Campaign for St. Thomas Updates What’s New at STU

Supporting the STU Fund makes an impact for students today.

Your gift helps to make possible such things as:

To mak a gift e

that will s visit ww upport students , w.stu.c a/givin g or ca 506-45 ll 2-2140

“Few things in my life have been as rewarding as founding the first Canadian Global Brigades Human Rights Chapter here at STU. After leading a team of 17 students who supported pro bono lawyers and delivered educational workshops to dozens of people in rural Panama, I realize STU gives you all the tools and knowledge needed to make a real impact in the world.”

– Jimy Beltran, BA’18, is a founding member of STU Global Brigades. The group’s trip to Panama was supported by the STU Fund.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

Scholarships and Bursaries Travel Study Programs Experiential Learning Opportunities Mentorship, Tutoring & Writing Workshops

Thank You.

“Because of STU's Moot Court program, I know law is my calling.

It has allowed me to develop a deep respect and passion for law, and to have made it to the national competition in my first year of competing shows me I have what it takes. It is entirely motivating to have a plan for my future because of this experience.”

– Emma Walsh, BA’19, competed with STU’s Moot Court team at the American Moot Court Association Nationals.

STU Fund impacts today’s students

d in Intereste a new hing establis rd or including our t awa studen s University in y ffice a O St. Thom s? Contact the i lan lumn estate p ncement and A 140 of Adva at 506-452-2 s Relation mni@stu.ca. or alu

Contents

We welcome your comments Phone: 506.452.0521 Email: alumni@stu.ca Website: www.stu.ca Facebook: St. Thomas University Alumni Twitter: @StThomasAlumni

4 Alumni Association 5 Reflections 6 Alumni Events Recap 8 Giving News

Connections is a publication of the

Connections

Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 5G3. It is distributed free of charge to more than 12,500 St. Thomas University alumni and friends worldwide.

Photo by: Keith Minchin

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Publisher Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations, St. Thomas University Editor Jacqueline Cormier, BA’08

Acknowledgements Wanda Bearresto, BA’87 Jeffrey Carleton William Cumming, BA’19 Ashlen Henry, BA’09 Colin Hodd, BA’11 Dionne Izzard Kathleen Johnson, BA’13 Andrew McGilligan, BA’04 Jodi Misheal Alisha Tucker-Arango, BA’19 Photos Kyle Albright, BA’13 Keith Minchin Book Sadprasid, BA’17 James West

Design, Layout, Printing Karen Smith Design KarenSmithDesign66@gmail.com Taylor Printing Group Inc. Tpgi.ca

Alumni Association Board of Directors 2018-19 Jane Abernethy, BT’73, BA’75 (Fredericton, NB) Don Bossé, BA’82, BEd’83 (Fredericton, NB) Steven Butler, BA’14 (Halifax, NS) Dr. Dawne Clarke, BA’95 (Fredericton, NB) Emily Cochrane, BA’11 (Fredericton, NB) Robert Fisher, BA’80 (Burlington, ON) Mary Beth Gorey, BA’75 (Fredericton, NB) Suzanne Lalla-Murphy, BA’88 (Fredericton, NB) Dennis Livingstone, BA’73 (Riverview, NB) Margaret (Margie) Tracy, BA’75 (Fredericton, NB) Nora Valentino, BA’87 (Fredericton, NB) Melissa Wah, BA’10 (Fredericton, NB) Dolores Whalen, BT’70 (Fredericton, NB)

12 Profiles 16 Campus Watch 24 New & Noteworthy 26 Tributes

Welcome from St. Thomas University President, Dawn Russell

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ur students benefit from opportunities that allow them to put their knowledge to work during their degree. One of the best examples is experiential learning.

STU was the first university in the province to develop a Certificate of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement.

Combining course-based experiential learning and communityengaged service learning, it can be completed concurrently with a degree.

Supporting the certificate, our Student Internship Program is firing on all cylinders. Student placements offer personalized opportunities with organizations that focus on advocacy and social responsibility, economic development, business, journalism, policy, marketing, environmental sustainability, and much more.

Altogether apart from programs in Education and Social Work that place 130 students annually, many of our Bachelor of Arts courses have an experiential learning component.

This winter semester alone, we placed nearly 50 students with non-governmental organizations and small/medium-sized businesses. These students were from Fine Arts, Gerontology, Psychology, Political Science, Communications and Public Policy, Economics, History, and Sociology. In addition, we have established Indigenous internship placements.

STU has had many partners in this growing success. An early one was NB Power which provided invaluable seed money for development. Another is the new experiential learning umbrella group Future Ready NB (www.futurereadynb.ca) which provides funding. Many alumni have also stepped forward to hire and mentor students.

F E AT U R E S

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New Internship Program Alumni help

students put their education to work.

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A Wish Come True Steven Butler

Works for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

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Children of War Aimée White works with Roméo

Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative

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King of Trivia Sean Thompson

Competes on Jeopardy

On the Cover: Book Sadprasid, BA’17, Clara Santacruz, BA’16, and Jessica Hughes Photo by James West Photography.

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Summer 2019

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Alumni Association

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Marg Tracy, BA’75 President of the STU Alumni Association

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n my role as President of the STU Alumni Association, I had the pleasure of meeting many students this year – many of whom crossed the stage in May and are now alumni. I want to dedicate this message to them to formally welcome them to the alumni family.

I hope that when you look back on your time at STU, you will do so with great fondness; and when you look ahead, that you will see STU as part of your future.

Stay engaged with the university.

Attend alumni events in your region.

Follow us on social media and let us know what you’re up to. If you’re staying in Fredericton, come back to campus to attend public lectures, performances in the Black Box, or to cheer on the Tommies. This will always be your home.

You’re part of the Green and Gold family for life.

Welcome to the alumni family!

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St. Thomas University | Connections

he STUAA selected Husoni Alex Raymond from Kingston, Jamaica, as the recipient of the Father Tom Daley Scholarship. Candidates were assessed on academic standing, extracurricular involvement at STU, and demonstrated leadership qualities.

The STUAA purchased T-Rings for students chosen on the basis of their application to the alumni association. This year, graduating students Danielle Caissie (BA’19) from Newcastle Creek, NB (below, left) and Sara-Jade Russell-Richards (BA’19) from Hayman Hill, NB (right) were selected as the lucky winners.

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Reviewing Timing of

Alumni Weekend

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e are currently engaged in a review of Alumni Weekend which will have an impact on reunions upcoming for the next year, as an Alumni Weekend will not be held in the fall of 2019. Further information will be posted on the Alumni website, and noted in the pages of Connections, as soon as the date for the next Alumni Weekend is selected.

The Alumni Association Award for Service will be presented at the President’s Brunch during the next scheduled Alumni Weekend.

Nominations may be sent at any time to the Alumni Office; all nominations will be considered for the Alumni Weekend which follows their receipt at the University.

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Save the Date Keep an eye on STU.ca/alumni for events in your area!

Annual Harvest STU Alumni Pit Stop Thursday, September 12, 2019 in Fredericton NB. Location TBD.

Alumni Night at the Rink

Saturday, October 5, 2019 at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Alumni Women’s Hockey Weekend January 11-12, 2020 at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Alumni Women’s Volleyball Weekend February 15-16, 2020 at the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium.

Alumni Men’s Volleyball Weekend March 11-14, 2020 at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

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Reflections

by Dr. Patrick Malcolmson

Students learn how to to think for themselves

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was content teaching political science at the University of Alberta in 1990.

However, leaving for a position at St. Thomas was one of the best decisions I ever made as I enjoyed three decades of teaching to strong arts students in a vigorous, collegial department.

STU was a rare entity: it really was “primarily” a liberal arts university. It is unusual in a North American university that liberal arts are not an afterthought to business, law, or engineering. It is difficult to appreciate how special STU is if you have not attended a modern research multiversity like Toronto or Alberta. Having degrees from both, I had found a home teaching political science in the context of a liberal education.

I came on the eve of unprecedented prosperity for STU. Over 16 years, enrolment came close to doubling, the campus expanded and was made beautiful, and new

programs were created. We became an equal partner with New Brunswick’s three other publically funded universities.

I was doubly fortunate to be in a department that believed political science was best understood as an important element in a liberal education. We aimed to accomplish three things: teach political science as an intellectual discipline; teach about politics so students would be able to consider their own place as citizens; and, explore the idea that human beings are, in Aristotle’s words, “political animals.”

This last proposition is fundamental: if we do not understand the basic features of our political nature, it is difficult to understand human society or ourselves. Human beings care about politics in the sense that we believe that politicians are to serve the public interest and we care deeply about justice. Of course, what constitutes the public interest or justice are permanent questions students must learn to think about.

It is also paramount that students understand that honorable and intelligent people often disagree about important things. When we read the greatest thinkers from across the ages and across cultures, we find that

they often disagree. Disagreement points us towards dialogue and towards thinking.

A professor’s duty is to guide students to think reflectively about these questions and contemplate alternatives.

I think this is where liberal education and political science come to a meeting of the minds. Students should learn that they have not really thought something through unless they can state the best objection to the position they hold and show why that position is not as strong as the one they are taking.

Lastly, the most thoughtful intellectual position should contain humility. None are infallible and we should remind ourselves of that when we are caught in the moral indignation of the moment. Unfortunately the result of overweening moral indignation is that education may be reduced to advocacy, and reasoned argument degenerates into name calling. The liberal arts are a strong antidote to such deforming excess.

I can only feel a profound sense of gratitude at having been able to spend my time teaching in an environment where one can continue to listen to the sometimes “still and small voices” that provide thoughtful and thought-provoking alternatives to the loudspeakers blaring the message of the day.

Liberal education can thus still provide the way for students to learn to think for themselves.

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Dr. Patrick Malcolmson is retiring after almost 30 years teaching at STU. He was named Professor Emeritus at Spring Convocation.

Summer 2019

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STU Gala Dinner

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t. Thomas University recognized master stained-glass artist Ned Bowes, author and educator Sheree Fitch, and author and senator David Adams Richards with Carolyn LaydenStevenson Distinguished Alumni Awards at its Gala Dinner on April 27.

The event, which raised $73,000 for student bursaries and activities, also celebrated the creative and performing arts at STU.

Distinguished Alumni honoured with Carolyn Layden-Stevenson Awards at STU Gala Dinner

After graduating in 1973, Ned Bowes discovered a passion for stained glass. He trained with English artist Robert Hunt and studied with Maurice Lorreaux, a French artist in New Mexico. In 1980, he was awarded the title “Maitre d’ Vitraux” from the American Stained-Glass Institute, as well as many other awards for his work.

Sheree Fitch, a celebrated children’s author, earned her BA in 1987 and published her first book, Toes in my Nose, the same year. In 1990, her best-selling children’s book, Sleeping Dragons All Around, won the Atlantic Booksellers Award. She received an honorary doctorate from STU in 2010. She has numerous other awards to her credit, including the Mr. Christie Award, the Anne Connor Brimer Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work inspirational to Canadian children.

Senator David Adams Richards, who attended St. Thomas in the 70s but left early to pursue a career as a novelist, has received many awards for his novels, essays and screenplays, and is one of only three writers to earn the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and non-fiction.

In 1990, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from STU.

The STU Gala Dinner raised $73,000 for student bursaries and activities.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

1 1 From left: Richard Jardine, BA’71, Carolyn Jardine, Jack Walsh, BA’75, Brenda Walsh 2 From left: Margie Layden-Oreto, BA’72, BEd’73; Evelyn Layden; Maureen O’ConnorZanello

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4 3 From left: Sister Eleanor McCloskey, LLD’15, Ella Allen, BA’83, Dr. Elizabeth McKim, Dr.

Kathleen McConnell 4 From left: Sarah Wagner, Emily Forestell, Meghan Morrison

Women’s Hockey Alumni Weekend: January 25-26, 2019 Maclsaac, BA’15; Amy Duffield, BA’17; Kelly Manuel-Quinn, BA’05; Stephanie Gates, BA’16, BEd’17.

Second row, from left: Emily Hobbs, BA’07; Amanda Burns, BA’14; Katie Brewster, BA’14, BSW’16; Cassidy McTaggart, BA’15; Front row, from left: Liette Arseneault, BA’08; Kristin (Wolfe) Matthews, BA’14

Volleyball alumni mingling with current players!

Back row, from left: Don McKay, BA’74; Lauren MacDonald; Hannah Millier; Ksenia Sehic, BA’13; Dominique Caravan, BA’16, BEd’17; Chelsea Bringloe, BA’14; Nicole Munro, BA’15; Emily Dickson; Third row, from left: Alex Bieten (Trainer); Cloée Daigle.

Second row, from left: Andrea Bell; Carys Storey, BA’08 (Asst Coach); Mija MacDonald; Caitlin Jones; Marissa Hallihan; Megan Mills; Hailee Fleck; Olivia Ormond.

Front row, from left: Lauren Ellis; Veronique McGrath; Jolie Allain; Krysteena Clements; Jenicca Jean

Hockey

Back row, from left: Sarah Sollows; Marianne (Waite) Spencer, BA’07; Amy (Simpson) Neal, BA’06; Lucrece Nussbaum, BA’11; Peter Murphy; Rebekah Connors, BA’08; Amy Nelson, BA’08. Third row, from left: Erin Crowell, BA’05, BEd’06; Ashley Duguay, BA’08, BEd’09; Erin

Women’s Volleyball Alumni Weekend: February 16, 2019

Volleyball

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Summer 2019

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STUSU Donates $300,000 to Capital Campaign for Increased Mental Health Services and Programming Friends and Family of Alumnus Doug Young Set Up Scholarship Fund in His Name

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he St. Thomas University Students’ Union has made a $300,000 donation to the Campaign for St. Thomas to help enhance the university’s mental health services and programming.

The donation is the result of a referendum held last spring when students voted almost 72% in favour of raising student fees to help address a growing need for more mental health support on campus.

STU Students’ Union president Brianna Workman says student

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mental health is one of the most prominent issues for students on campuses across the country.

“This donation comes at a time where discussion around mental health has been high. However, we at the Students’ Union have seen and heard from students that they need much more than conversation – they need action.

Because of this, we see so many instances of students channeling their energy and passion for this issue into tangible action to help support those struggling.”

St. Thomas University | Connections

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rank McKenna was on campus in May to announce the creation of a scholarship fund in the amount of $500,000 in the name of STU alumnus Douglas Young, BA’73, LLD’13. The scholarship is funded by CN and by friends and family of Doug.

The Hon. Doug Young is an alumnus of St. Thomas College and St. Thomas University. A lawyer and businessman, he was elected to federal and provincial levels of government between 1978 and 1997 and served as Canada’s Minister of Transport, as Minister of Human Resources, and as Minister of Defence. He has been on the board of directors for numerous corporations, public institutions, and charities, and is currently

chair of Summa Strategies.

Young, who spoke at the announcement, said he hopes this scholarship will help a student in financial need.

“There are golden opportunities, there are missed opportunities, and there are lost opportunities. But I think the most disconcerting thing for most of us is the lack of opportunities, when people don’t have choices.

This scholarship is, for me, an opportunity to support young people,” he said. “I hope that I’ll be standing on campus in a few years congratulating a young man or woman who has achieved something that might not have otherwise been possible.”

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Giving News STUAA Board of Sister Elizabeth Legere Directors Contributes to Emergency Fund Campaign for St. Thomas

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he Board of Directors of the STU Alumni Association has generously donated $50,000 over 5 years to the Campaign for St. Thomas.

“We are so pleased to make this gift to STU so that current and future students may have the opportunity to experience all that is wonderful about our alma mater,” said STUAA President

Marg Tracy. “As alumni, it is our responsibility to give back to the university that gave us all so much. When we come together in our financial support of this outstanding university, whether we are able to make a small or a larger gift, each one of us can know that our gifts have an impact on our university.”

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Funding Student Scholarships

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In December, STU received a $500,000 donation for student scholarships from the John and Judy Bragg Family Foundation, bringing the foundation’s total donation to $1.5 million.

Students have benefited from the generosity of the Bragg Family Foundation since 2013.

With the only restriction on these funds being that they support students, St. Thomas is able to direct this donation to a scholarship fund where it can do the most good, helping students with the costs of their education.

“The John and Judy Bragg Family Foundation is privileged to be able to celebrate leadership,” said John Bragg, LLD’16. “In creating an endowed scholarship fund at her university in her name, we celebrate the leadership of President Dawn Russell, while also recognizing the importance of supporting students, and the difference it makes.”

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ast October, the University was thrilled to receive a generous gift of $250,000 from the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception in honour of Sister Elizabeth Legere, who was a member of the STU family for many years, including living in residence as an unofficial house mother into her 81st year.

With $25,000 immediately available, 17 students received emergency funding from the Sister Elizabeth Legere Emergency Fund in December.

Emergency funds will be granted

for immediate requirements, in cases of demonstrated need, and for situations which are of an urgent nature.

“Mid-semester funding is so important because it is a time that students are under a great deal of financial stress. Many students cannot work during the school year, meaning that they have limited finances for their second semester.

Financial assistance from the Sister Elizabeth Legere Emergency Fund helps alleviate financial stress and means a great deal.”

– Samantha Jesso, BA’19

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“I was honoured when I discovered that I was one of the selected recipients for the Dawn Russell Scholarship.

To be awarded and recognized for my academic and extracurricular achievements was extremely gratifying. This generous contribution to our University relieves some of the financial stress, and allows me to invest more of myself into my education and experiences.”

– Ben Smith, BA’20

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Summer 2019

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“It’s a STU Family Thing” Alumni Help Students Put their Education to Work

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riana Cordido started as an intern at Naveco Power in her second year.

Now she is a Business Development Associate and has taken on her own intern to help with the company’s growing marketing needs.

“I think it’s awesome to have the opportunity to teach other people the things you learned,” she said. “I think that’s the whole point of growing in a company, because when you grow, you make other people grow.”

Her intern, STU student Olinda Diaz Del Valle, has been Cordido’s mentee since she first came to STU. Cordido was her “buddy,” a student mentor that helps incoming international students prepare for life in Canada.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

Clara Santacruz, BA’16

“I feel like Ori has been the best mentor I could ever have,” said Diaz Del Valle. “She has been my mentor since I was in first year. She has done so much for me.”

Naveco Power is a start-up that develops clean energy products.

Diaz Del Valle will be writing her thesis on renewable energy and said Naveco Power has been a great opportunity to gain insight on the subject.

Diaz Del Valle’s internship was organized by STU’s new internship program, and she isn’t the only student who has found herself working with an alumnus.

Clara Santacruz, the Internship Coordinator in STU’s Office of Experiential Learning, started the program in September.

In the winter semester alone, she placed nearly 50 students in paid internships around the province. She said around a dozen of these placements are students working directly with alumni.

Santacruz said sometimes employers contact her and sometimes she contacts employers – but it’s alumni who tend to reach out the most.

“I think this is a way for them to stay connected to their community – the place that shaped them for four years,” she said.

“It’s exciting for them to see that STU keeps growing and advancing, and this is a way for them to give back.”

Cover Story

by William Cumming, BA’19

Jessica Hughes, Manager of the Office of Experiential Learning, said this co-curricular internship program has been two years in the making. Her office has worked to develop strong partnerships with employers and connect with students to ensure the program was focused on their interests. With the help of the Future Ready NB funding, the program was finally ready to launch.

“This funding is helping us create programs and courses that link students’ academic studies with real world practice, helping them be more prepared for the world of work after graduation,” said Hughes. “Our students have been asking for more workintegrated learning opportunities and with the support of alumni, government and NB Power, we are able to provide more experiential learning opportunities than ever before.”

Santacruz said internships allow students to test their learning in real world settings and allow employers to see if students would be a good addition to their organization.

“It’s excellent to be able to learn the subjects in class, but it’s also excellent to be able to apply them in real world settings,” she said.

“Employers like it when they can test these future employees on a trial basis by hiring them as interns. We are already seeing that students who were in their last year of studies after completing internships are getting hired immediately after graduating.”

to be t n e l l e c “It’s ex learn the t able to in class, bu ts subjec excellent it’s also le to apply b to be a real world n them i .” s setting

STU student Adriana Badillo, who graduated this year with a double major in Economics and Communications and a minor in Political Science, was the first student of this internship program to be hired following her internship.

She interned at Ignite Fredericton, a company that works to develop new business in the Fredericton area. There she got to put her communications education to work managing their social media accounts and organizing events.

“I studied Communications and Economics,” she said, “and here I get to work on economic development projects. That’s been really great for me because my internship allowed me to apply what I learned in class.”

Badillo said one of the biggest things she contributed to Ignite was something simple – a fresh set of eyes and new ideas.

“When the interns joined the team, we came with new suggestions and approaches to doing things, and I think that was really beneficial to the team as a whole.”

Badillo was one of the first interns Santacruz placed, and her success is a good sign for the program.

“Her internship worked out so well she got a full-time job,” she said. “I am proud that she was able to make herself so indispensable at her workplace that she got offered a full-time job there. And of course, it was awesome that she was able to be mentored by an alumna, Book Sadprasid.”

Book Sadprasid graduated with her BA in 2017 with a double major in Journalism and Communications and Public Policy. During her time at STU she did an unpaid internship through the journalism program which she said helped when she left school.

“All these opportunities I had while at STU helped me get to where I am today really quickly,” she said. “I had a job in my first year, and I had an experience that some students may not have had. So, it’s always been in the back of my mind that I want to give this opportunity to other people one day.

“It makes me think of the T-Pin Ceremony, where President Russell always says: ‘it’s a STU family thing.’ You kind of have the feeling that everyone who graduates before you and after you are a part of that family as well.”

As for Oriana Cordido, she said she brought on an intern for one simple reason.

“You help, you gain. I feel like people who are selfish in the sense of ‘no, I want the raise, I want the promotion. I don’t want to help anyone around me because I want to be the best.’ It doesn’t make sense. If you have a room of candles and you blow one out, it doesn’t make you brighter.

The brighter the room, the better it is for everyone to succeed.”

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Summer 2019

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W

hat would you ask for if you could be granted a wish? For most of us, it’s a pure hypothetical. But for Steven Butler, asking that question is part of his job.

As a Wish Granting Manager with the Make-A-Wish© Foundation’s Atlantic Provinces chapter, he’s able to give critically ill children something real that they can hold on to.

“I manage the wish program throughout Atlantic Canada. Wishgranting volunteers and I go in and collect the wishes of children who qualify,” says Butler.

“And then I make the impossible possible. So that’s anything from meeting their favourite celebrity, fictitious or real person, or having their own backyard hockey rink.

It could be anything.”

Through the network of Make-A Wish chapters, Butler has been able to connect children to opportunities that they would never have had otherwise.

One girl wanted to be able to say yes to her prom dress. Butler got on the phone to the New

York office, who contacted Kleinfeld Bridal of Say Yes to the Dress fame in order to make the wish come true.

Often children wish for camping trailers, so their families can turn long stays at hospitals into camping trips.

“When our wish children go into different territories, those chapters help them.

When wish children come into our

territory, we help them out as well. We have a lot of Anne of Green Gables wishes from around the world,” says Butler. “This year we have three wishes coming to our territory.

One to see whales, one to go to Anne of Green Gables, and one to see Cape Breton.”

Butler graduated from STU in 2014 with a double major in Psychology and Gerontology and a minor in English literature. He took a two-year sabbatical after graduation, travelling through Europe and working the pub scene in England. He returned home to Nova Scotia in 2017 where he worked for Brigadoon Village, a camp for chronically ill children, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The move to the Make-A-Wish felt like a good fit.

“What drew me into the Make-A-Wish job was, first off, the job title,” says Butler. “Make-A-Wish is the world’s largest wish-granting organization, so it’s fantastic to be part of that legacy. Along with a lot of the kids that I had worked with at Brigadoon, it’s kind of like a crossover, because some conditions qualify through our program.”

There are difficulties inherent to the work.

These children and their families are facing critical illness, lives built on hospital visits and treatment schedules, and learning that not everyone gets better. But Butler keeps his focus on the child, and the lasting good that a wish fulfilled can do.

“I look at it as, we’re a temporary part of their treatment plan. We’re here for a reason.

We’re here to offer them an escape from their endless needles, their endless MRIs, their endless treatment schedules. And we’re here to offer an experience that they’ll truly remember, and they can look forward to it,” he says. “We know that we did a great job and then we’ve kind of left the rest up to the parents. And they can have that experience for years to come.”

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by Colin Hodd, BA’11

Children of War

Aimée White Works with Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative

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t’s 1988 and there is a famine in Sudan. Ten thousand kilometres away in Nova Scotia, Aimée White is watching the images of starving children broadcast on the TV screen of her childhood living room. She feels like she can almost reach through the screen and offer these other children food.

“I’d be glued to the TV as a very young child thinking, ‘How is this possible? We can take the time to film them, but who’s giving that child some food? Why are they starving right in front of my eyes?’”

It’s 2019 and Aimée White is now the Chief of Staff for the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, working to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers worldwide, but her path has been anything but direct.

White received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from STU in 2004, followed by a Master’s in the same discipline from Dalhousie in 2008.

She worked in South Korea and Germany post-grad, before returning to Halifax in 2011. By 2016 she was working in career coaching and HR. But White still felt the pull of her childhood desire to work in international

development. While on maternity leave she decided to reach out to Dr. Shelly Whitman, who had been a reader on White’s master’s thesis and was now the Executive Director of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to give it one last try.

If I can’t make this happen, I just need to let it go,” says White.

“Shelly wrote me back almost immediately and said, ‘Aimée, we’re about to start doing some hiring. Send me your CV.’” Within a month White was having lunch with General Dallaire. She joined the Dallaire Initiative in May 2017. The organization operates in a narrow niche in some of the most morally difficult territory imaginable.

White and her colleagues try to tackle the unthinkable by focusing on an area in which they can help, through providing a bridge between the security sector and humanitarian worlds.

“Our focus is on preventing the recruitment and use of children in the first place. We work directly with people who

Aimée White, BA’04

have experienced conflict or have been child soldiers, who are now global advocates for children’s rights and protection. People like Ishmael Beah and Michel Chikwanine and many others who have informed our work or worked directly on staff,” she says.

“The philosophy that guides our work is called the ‘children’s rights up front’ approach. If we put the children at the top of the peace and security agenda, we can get really disparate actors at the table who may not agree on anything else, but nobody wants to be seen formally as the group

disrespecting children’s rights, even if they’re recruiting and using children.”

The work is difficult by nature, but White can’t imagine herself doing anything else. In June, she will be visiting Juba, South Sudan, where she will be helping the Initiative’s Executive Director with high-level meetings on the peace process there.

White remembers the quiet high school student who arrived at St. Thomas who had grown up feeling the tug of helping children half a world away.

“This job would have been the dream,” says White.” If I could have hand-picked a career, it would have been something exactly like this.”

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Summer 2019

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by Andrew McGilligan, BA’04

Sean Thompson, BA’12

“STU Alumni for 100, Alex!”

Sean Thompson Competes on Jeopardy

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ou couldn’t see it from your television screen, but Sean Thompson assures everyone it was happening.

While standing on the set of the game show Jeopardy, he appeared confident and relaxed.

However, the St. Thomas University alumnus said he was nervous.

“You couldn’t see it because of the podium, but my knees were shaking for the entire first round,” Thompson said. “I was buzzing in too soon and getting locked out.”

He quickly found his footing on the show which aired in January. After the initial jitters, he began rattling off answer after answer including two Daily Doubles.

All told he finished the opening round in first place with $11,000 and had increased that total to $21,200 by the end of Double Jeopardy. Unfortunately, the Final Jeopardy clue was his undoing. He guessed wrong on the final clue, but finished with $15,200, good enough for second place.

Thompson said his appearance on Jeopardy is a culmination of his love of trivia.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

“I’ve always loved games and my love of trivia grew from that,” he said.

While attending Kennebecasis Valley High School in Quispamsis he was part of two provincial championship teams from the school who competed in Reach for the Top, a trivia competition.

He went on to study both Journalism and History at St. Thomas University all the while taking the entry tests online to compete on Jeopardy.

He’s currently the Acting Community Library Services Assistant at the Saint John Free Public Library in the uptown portion of the Port City. He credits his job with improving his trivia skills.

“Working in the library, especially where I work, part of the job is answering people’s questions and finding answers for them,” he said. “It keeps your mind interested and making the right connections in order to help people find what they’re looking for.”

His colleagues were just as excited as him for his appearance on the game throwing

him a surprise party before he left as well as making ‘Team Sean’ pins to show their support.

During the portion of the show where host Alex Trebek talks with each contestant, Thompson mentioned he’s a curler, so it was fitting he was coming off the ice at Thistle St. Andrews Curling Club as the show was airing.

“I watched it after a league game finished,” he said. “I had friends and family there. It was slightly surreal seeing myself on TV. It was a much different perspective than standing on the set during the taping.

“I’ve had a lot of support and good wishes for months,” he said of his appearance which was filmed in December of 2018. “It was a great experience.”

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by Jacqueline Cormier, BA’08

Profiles

Celebrating Womanhood

Alumna Wants to Reshape How Girls See their Periods

H

allie Mazurkiewicz was at a professional crossroads and looking for a new career path. She found direction in the most unusual place – one of her old diaries.

“I happened to uncover an old suitcase full of more than 20 years worth of diaries – the oldest ones dating back to when I was eight years old,” Mazurkiewicz explained.

“That’s when I came upon a diary entry that made the hairs on my arms stand up: it was the story of my first period scrawled in the handwriting of a 12-year-old version of myself.

My first menstruation story is a bit of an anomaly in that it was quite positive so it got me thinking…we celebrate first birthdays, first days of school – why not first periods?”

Mazurkiewicz began to wonder whether there was a product out there that celebrated first periods – something that contained menstrual products, literature about

becoming a woman, and self-care products.

“That’s when Lunar Wild was born: a company dedicated to the education and re-education of women regarding the sacred alchemy of womanhood,” she said. “So, I created a luxury First Period Gift Box with the hope and intention that mothers and mentors would offer it to honour young women approaching the onset of menstruation.”

When Mazurkiewicz started her first period, her mother knew exactly what to say.

“She congratulated and hugged me as she told wild and wonderful tales of what it meant to be a woman. It felt so sacred.”

Lately, Mazurkiewicz has been asking other women about their first period stories.

Although she knows her own experience wasn’t typical, she’s still shocked when she hears women describe their first menstruation by saying “I had never even heard about periods,” or “I thought I was dying.” She said many felt ashamed or unprepared.

Through Lunar Wild, Mazurkiewicz hopes to help girls welcome and celebrate this transition into womanhood instead of feeling shame or embarrassment.

“We really have the power to shape this experience to make it a positive one, to make sure that young girls feel ready, informed, and understand the value and strength of their bodies,” she said.

When Mazurkiewicz first launched the Lunar Wild website in December 2017, she put a single photo of the prototype she had mocked up in her living room on the landing page.

“I wanted to see if there was any interest in it and whether I should even bother making it,” she said. “Within 48 hours I had over 200 pre-orders and I actually had to shut down the website because at that point it was just me and I thought, ‘How on earth am I going to create and pack all these orders by myself?’ A year and a half later I’ve learned a lot—we’re gearing up for our next big round of boxes and raising some capital.”

She personally curated a stellar lineup of beautiful, high quality products from small businesses that are all women-run. Their products are all mission-driven, and are North American made, chemical-free, organic or ecoconscious, and ethically sourced.

“Women of all ages are buying this box to celebrate and normalize menstruation,” she said. “Lunar Wild is not just about period gift boxes, it’s an educational lifestyle brand with an empowerment ethos and a commitment to bringing to light important women’s health issues. This is about the creation of a movement – a global shift in perspective of a stigmatized event in a denigrated, undervalued portion of the population. It is a pushback to the conventional superficiality of female beauty and lifestyle brands.”

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To learn more about Lunar Wild, please visit www.lunarwild.com

Summer 2019

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Campus Watch

“The education we have earned is a gift” – STU Celebrates Spring Convocation

K

ira Chisholm is urging fellow graduates to use the voice they found at St. Thomas University to make a difference in society.

In her valedictory address at Spring Convocation, she spoke to the 363 graduates in social work, applied arts, and arts about the responsibility that comes with a university education.

“As we move forward, recognize that you are armed with the ability to think deeply. Recognize that power and responsibility,” said the Keswick Ridge, NB, native, who received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours in English and in Political Science).

“St. Thomas has taught us the value of a voice. I hope you value your own voice. I hope that you use it to speak up for yourself. I hope that you also use it to speak for those who truly cannot do so for themselves – and that you have the humility to recognize the difference. The education we have earned is a gift. It is not available to everyone, and the question is

what will you do with it?”

President and Vice-Chancellor Dawn Russell told the Class of 2019 that they shouldn’t worry about their future. Instead, she told them to create it for themselves.

“You determine the direction you are going to take. Like STU graduates before you, you will eventually find your way to an exciting and fulfilling career. For more than 100 years, St. Thomas has educated leaders in every field and endeavour.”

During the ceremony, the university bestowed honorary

doctorates to (circle insets, above) awardwinning musician David Myles and Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin.

“Both of these individuals are celebrated artists who use their voice to highlight social issues,” said Russell. “We are honoured to recognize their work.”

Myles spoke to the graduates about the importance of keeping an open mind, embracing new situations, and lifelong learning.

“I’m here to tell you to keep that spirit alive. Keep that curiosity alive,” he said. “When you get

outside of your comfort zone, that’s when the gold happens.

Those are the moments when you grow. That’s where the magic is. Keep seeking that. Keep on seeking those moments of expansion.”

During the ceremony, Dr. Patrick Malcolmson received the designation of Professor Emeritus. Over his three decades at STU, he was twice VicePresident (Academic), chaired the Department of Political Science, and served as acting chair for five other departments and programs.

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University Medals Governor General’s Academic Medal: Elizabeth Dreise, Owen Sound, ON – Bachelor of Arts (Honours in Psychology) University Medal for Arts: Anisha Romany, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – Bachelor of Arts (Honours in Interdisciplinary Studies and in Spanish) University Medal for Social Work: Taylor Stright, Summerside, PE – Bachelor of Social Work

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St. Thomas University | Connections

Honouring Faculty Members Three faculty were honoured with Faculty Awards at convocation.

Left to right: Dr. Christian Mbarga received the University Scholarship Award; Dr. Janet Durkee-Lloyd received the Award for Excellence in Part-Time Teaching; Dr. Monika Stelzl received the John McKendy Memorial Teaching Award.

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Abby Clarke Female Athlete of the Year Abby Clarke, goaltender for the women’s hockey team, was named Female Athlete of the Year. The 5th year goalie from Springdale, NL was in the top two in every major goaltending statistic during the regular season, and was the driving force in the playoffs, leading to the Tommies’ first AUS Championship in women’s hockey. Clarke was also named AUS Playoff MVP. Kyle Yearwood Male Athlete of the Year Kyle Yearwood, a 3rd year centremidfield for STU’s Soccer team, was named Male Athlete of the Year. The Barbados native was also named the Men’s Soccer MVP. Yearwood had a phenomenal season for men’s soccer, notching five goals while maintaining his role as a shut down defender.

He was named a 1st Team ACAA All-Star and 2nd Team CCAA All-Canadian while leading the Tommies to their first trip to CCAA Nationals since 2000.

Ryan Dickson John Frederick Walls Memorial Award Ryan Dickson was a recipient of the John Frederick Walls Memorial Award.

Dickson, a graduating member of the men’s volleyball team, had an outstanding resume during his time at STU. This year’s winner of the team’s Most Improved Award, Dickson is the founding President of the STU Community Outreach Club, a STU Peer Mentor, UNB Baseball Assistant Coach, CCAA National Scholar Award winner, a member of the 2019 Venture of Canada Fellowship Cohort, all while maintaining a +4.0GPA.

Abbie LeBlanc Cathy Wadden Commitment Award Abbie LeBlanc, a 4th year student and fullback on the women’s rugby team, was awarded the Cathy Wadden Commitment Award. LeBlanc was a leader on her team and was named ACAA All-Star.

LeBlanc is also a member of STU’s Moot Court team, and in 2017, she and Navy Vezina won the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

“I’m honoured that I can give to STU and the team a fraction of what they’ve given me,” LeBlanc said.

ey ’s hock n e m o Our w n the AUS o er team w onship bann t. i tS Champ , beating ou en m ar this ye Xavier X-Wo me a s Franci three-g c i t a m a in a dr meback! co series

Abby Clarke Honoured for Excellence in Athletics, Academics and Community Spirit Abby Clarke is the first Tommie in STU’s history to receive the Atlantic University Sport James Bayer Memorial Scholarship, which honours student athletes for excellence in their sport, classroom and community.

The goaltender balances her time off the ice between her studies in the Social Work program and volunteering with local non-profits.

“There have been many great athletes at STU nominated for this award, and I’m humbled to have been the first to be chosen,” Clarke said.

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Summer 2019

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Photo by: André Reinders

Photo by: Keith Minchin

Theatre at a Glance

Newsies directed by Tania Breen STU Musical Theatre presented Disney’s Newsies The Musical. Based on the real-life Newsboy Strike of 1899, Newsies tells the story of Jack Kelly, a rebellious newsboy who takes action after publishing giant Joseph Pulitzer raises newspaper prices at newsboys’ expense.

Centennial Sentinel Sponsored by the Departments of History at STU and at UNB and presented by the Calithumpians, Centennial Sentinel was scripted with journals, letters, and newspaper articles from 1918 to tell the story of New Brunswick’s role in the First World War through the voices of its survivors.

Life of Galileo

Submitted Photo

by Bertolt Brecht directed by Dr. Robin Whittaker Theatre St. Thomas presented Brecht’s story of Galileo Galilei, a professor and researcher, who takes credit for a new instrument that allows anyone to view the universe in greater detail, which attracts the ire of a Catholic Church afraid of losing its grip on the faithful masses.

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde directed by Ilkay Silk Ilkay Silk directed Theatre St. Thomas’ presentation of The Importance of Being Earnest. When Jack travels from the country to visit his friend Algernon at his flat in the city, marriage plots and “bunburying” abound, subverting customs and Lady Bracknell’s authority in Oscar Wilde’s trivial comedy for serious people.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

Photo by: André Reinders

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Campus Watch

Record Breaking Year for STU Moot Court S

t. Thomas University’s Moot Court program made strong showings in multiple competitions this year.

At the 2019 American Moot Court Association National Championship in Orlando, Florida Emma Walsh and Brianna Workman placed fifth – the highest ever achieved by a STU team – and Jarrod Ryan and Husoni Raymond placed ninth. Three teams earned writing awards, and two Mooters were recognized as top oralists.

In Washington D.C., Abbie LeBlanc and Navy Vezina proved that our Moot teams are out of this world by arguing space law at the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot. The team was narrowly beat out in the quarter-finals by last year’s champions by a score of 45.6 - 45.4.

Nationally, Kelly Brennan and Brianna Workman were crowned national undergraduate moot court champions at the Osgoode Cup – an annual competition for undergraduate students held at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto – after facing teams from the University of Toronto, York University, Carleton University, and Humber-Guelph.

“We had a lot of judges asking ‘who this New Brunswick team is,’ but they aren’t asking anymore,” Brennan said.

On top of winning the cup, Workman was recognized as one of the top speakers at the event, finishing among the top 10 of the 218 attendees..

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Wall of Flags

STU’s Model UN

STU’s international community includes students from 51 different countries.

The contributions of our diverse student body enrich the community and learning environment for all. In celebration of this, STU, STUISA, and the STUSU commissioned the Wall of Flags to pay tribute to these students.

At the Harvard National Model United Nations students from STU’s Model UN course represented the interests of Venezuela. Students put their skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and writing to work on various committees including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee’s Committee, the Legal Committee, the UN Environment Programme, and the Disarmament and International Security Committee.

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Summer 2019

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Campus Watch Tom McCann Award Recipients “Embody the Value of Liberal Arts Education”

A

nisha Romany and Brianna Workman were recognized for their academic achievements and contributions to St. Thomas University with the Thomas Stephen McCann Memorial Award.

Romany has consistently been on the Dean’s List and has received awards from the Spanish Department and the Students’ Union. She was a firstyear representative on STUSU, President of Vanier Hall, and a Peer Mentor. She’s worked with Campus Ministry, sung at multiple STU Singers concerts, performed in Theatre St. Thomas’s production of The Bacchae and Musical Theatre’s production of Chicago, and most recently was chosen as Grad Class President.

The fourth-year student was

also an International Ambassador for the Admissions Office, volunteered with STU Cares and Shinerama, was a Welcome Week Leader, Spanish Monitor, and part of the Dominican Republic Mission Trip in 2018.

Workman has been involved on campus since her first year, beginning as a writer for The Aquinian, a member of the Relay for Life Committee, Campus Tour Ambassador, Recording Secretary for the STUSU, and a Residence Advisor.

She was elected the Students’ Union Vice-President Education and Vice-Chair of the New Brunswick Student Alliance, and in her fourth year was President of the STUSU and Chair of the NBSA. She’s an accomplished member of the STU Moot

Court team – this year she and Emma Walsh placed fifth at the American Moot Court Association National Championship and last month she and Kelly Brennan won the Osgoode Cup at Canada’s National Undergraduate Moot

Court Championship.

An honours student, Workman has been on the Dean’s List every year and has received a national award for her advocacy work on behalf of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

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The Larry Collins Prize Elizabeth Matheson has been awarded the Larry Collins Prize for the best undergraduate essay written by a student attending university in Atlantic Canada. The fourth-year student from Miramichi, NB, wrote the winning paper for Dr. Tom Bateman’s course The Canadian Constitution: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The paper examines how section 33.1 of the Criminal Code offends the Rule of Law, and Dr. Bateman described it as a “model of undergraduate scholarship.”

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Polaris Prize Winner Jeremy Dutcher Performs on Campus

P

olaris-prize winning artist for 2018, Jeremy Dutcher, performed a concert in the Kinsella Auditorium Thursday, January 24. The event was hosted by St. Thomas University's Senate Committee on Reconciliation in partnership with Fredericton’s Shivering Songs Festival.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

Prior to the performance, Dutcher met with students in the Wabanaki Centre for lunch and conversations.

A member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Dutcher first did music studies in Halifax before taking a chance to work in the archives at the Canadian Museum of History, painstakingly transcribing Wolastoq songs from 1907 wax cylinders.

“Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast was suppressed by the Canadian Government’s Indian Act,” Dutcher said.

He heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago. He took what he heard to the piano, creating “collaborative compositions” with his ancestors which he collected on his debut LP, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.

“I’m doing this work because there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left,” he said. “It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”

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Faculty Book Launches

Faculty News

Gringolandia

by Matthew Hayes Sociology professor Dr. Matthew Hayes published Gringolandia, which provides a look at today’s “reverse” migration of white, middleclass expats from north to south through the perspective of Cuenca, Ecuador. He explores the repercussions on the host country—from rising prices for land and rent to the reproduction of colonial patterns of domination and subordination.

New Health Research Chair in Community Health and Aging Dr. Albert Banerjee has been appointed Health Research Chair in Community Health and Aging. Dr. Banerjee brings a background in feminist and critical theories of health, aging, and end-of-life care to the new position.

“St. Thomas University is the ideal location for this research chair and Dr. Banerjee’s track record and research expertise bodes well for progress in this field,” said Dr. Kim Fenwick, Vice-President (Academic and Research).

“We are the only university in the province to offer a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Gerontology, and this new position will build on the scholarship of our current faculty and bring new research projects and curriculum development to STU, as well as providing additional experiential learning opportunities for students.”

Dr. Banerjee is currently coinvestigator on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant Imagining AgeFriendly Communities—an international project to identify practices that foster healthy, inclusive age-friendly communities, while taking gender, diversity, and meaning into account.

“The aging population is an opportunity to rethink the values that have dominated the health dialogue and promote new visions, policies and practices that can enable us to live well,” said Dr. Banerjee.

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Women and Careers: Transnational Studies in Public Policy and Employment Equity edited by Marilee Reimer Women and Careers: Transnational Studies in Public Policy and Employment Equity was edited by Dr. Marilee Reimer. It explores women’s educational and employment success, with the objective of profiling supportive public policy in a global context from Atlantic Canada to Western Europe, Australia, and China.

Captive Audience: How Corporations Invaded Our Schools

by Catherine Gidney Dr. Catherine Gidney’s latest book, Captive Audience: How Corporations Invaded Our Schools, explores the corporate invasion of our schools, which reached unprecedented heights in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the compelling history of branding in Canada’s classrooms.

German Soldiers and the Occupation of France, 1940-1944

by Julia Torrie History professor Dr. Julia Torrie uses letters, photographs, and tour guides, alongside official sources to reveal how occupiers understood their role, and how their needs and desires shaped policy and practices in her book German Soldiers and the Occupation of France, 1940-1944.

The Politics of Twin Peaks edited by Amanda DiPaolo and Jamie Gillies The Politics of Twin Peaks, edited by Dr. Amanda DiPaolo and Dr. Jamie Gillies, investigates the popular show’s engagement with American politics and identity. Within its narrative, Twin Peaks hints at the political fault lines in the United States.

The latest three books

by Christian Mbarga Dr. Christian Mbarga published three books in 2019: Les Beti/Baki au coeur du Cameroun.

Histoire récente des Betsenga (Evondo) et autre « Sanaga »; La société beti à travers la culture et les généalogies betsenga/evondo; and, Les Evondo, Ehondo, Aby et autres Betsenga. Migrations et sédentarité du XVIIe siècle à nos jours.

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Summer 2019

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Campus Watch Research Project Provides Opportunity for Student to “Shine as a Scholar”

F Student and Professor Hope Book Reviews Increase Scholarly Debate on Anti-racist Literature

S

econd-year student Kyle Reissner, of Fredericton, NB, spent the summer working with Sociology Professor Dr. Gül Çalışkan, on reviews of Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation and How We Get Free, which have been published by Ethnic and Racial Studies – a top journal in the field.

The reviews examine racism, structural inequality, mass incarceration, and police violence, as well as how black feminism has advanced the rights of black women.

“We want people to see the need for learning and teaching from the two books, and from related works by other black scholars and activists,” Çalışkan said.

Reissner wrote the first drafts of the reviews and worked on other tasks for a monograph, edited volume, and a journal article.

“I learned a lot just from working with Dr. Çalışkan,” Reissner said. “She really encouraged me, and if you find somebody that can see your potential it makes a big difference.”

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Journalism Excellence Award Students Alexandre Silberman and Isabelle Leger won Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. The pair won the best podcast award for their work on The Brunswickan’s ‘Sidebar’ podcast. Silberman also won the General Reporting Award for two of his stories published in VTDigger.

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St. Thomas University | Connections

ourth-year economics student Nicholas Jackson has been working alongside Dr. Fariba Solati on a research project stemming from her book Women, Work and Patriarchy in the Middle East and North Africa. The pair presented their initial findings at the Atlantic Canada Economic Association conference “Nick has been the engine of this project,” Solati said. “He’s spent many hours going over vast amounts of data searching for variables that can be used in our study.”

Jackson said the guidance he received from Solati has helped him tremendously.

“She always makes time for me and is really flexible.

She’s very hands-on and there’s lots of learning as I go, and she’s been very helpful.”

Solati believes that projects like this offer education opportunities that build on what students learn in the classroom.

“As much as it’s important to teach students how to conduct research projects, it’s also important to provide them with opportunities to exercise those skills,” she said.

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STU Debate Society The St. Thomas University Debate Society argued its way to a second-place finish at the Dalhousie University Invitational – the best placement for the studentled group since its revival in 2017.

The STU group was pitted against teams from Memorial University, Mount Allison University, Saint Mary’s University, and host Dalhousie.

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Enhancing the Student Experience with International Exchanges

I

nternational exchanges allow our students to experience another culture, see more of the world, and meet friends from around the globe – while earning academic credit.

Miranda Furlong (Örebro University in Sweden): “It may sound corny, but the highlight of my exchange so far has been meeting so many amazing new friends from all around the world. We’re all navigating through this new adventure together, and it makes my exchange so much more exciting. I have made so many new friends from all around the globe, and they feel almost like a second family.”

Erin Jeffries (IRCOM L’Institut Albert Le Grand in France): “I knew it would be a challenge, but I also knew I’d come back with more life experiences. I’ve met wonderful people, explored beautiful places, and overcome many challenges that have forced me to grow. Coming here made me realize I want to be more authentic and experience more, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

exchange have been meeting like-minded students, exploring Sweden, and learning Svenska (Swedish). This has been a goal of mine, and now that I’ve finally fulfilled that goal I can’t imagine having done otherwise.

This was one of the best decisions of my life.”

Award-winning journalist Daniel Dale delivered this year’s Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism on March 21.

His lecture – “Reporting on Trump and the Truth” – compared his experiences reporting on former Toronto mayor Rob Ford to reporting on Donald Trump.

Dale encouraged all present to never give up on the truth no matter how much effort it takes, citing his more than 4,000 tweet corrections of false claims made by President Trump.

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Tapestries Celebrating Black History Month

Emily Douville (IRCOM L’Institut Albert Le Grand in France): “Experiencing the culture

Chelsea Connell (Örebro University in Sweden): “Some of the best aspects of this

Award-winning Journalist

has been so enriching to my life. I go to classes with French students, live with a local family, and complete daily tasks like grocery shopping using the language. I’ve learned so much about myself and my French has improved – I forget sometimes how to think in English now.”

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International Exchange

Nine tapestries highlighting a series of important moments in New Brunswick’s black history were loaned to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for Black History Month. The tapestries, woven by Ivan Crowell, had previously been hanging in Sir James Dunn Hall for the last 25 years.

To recognize Black History Month, the university also hosted poets Ian Keteku and El Jones for a live poetry event titled Black Voices Matter: A Poetry Night, which was free for all to attend.

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Summer 2019

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New & Noteworthy 1980s

After 33 years of working with youth (29 of those in the school system), Jim Higgins (BSW’86, BEd’90, BA’99) has retired. He is looking forward to the next phase of his life and hoping to spend as much time as he can outdoors, camping, fishing, kayaking and hiking.

1990s

In October, Serena McArthur (BA’97) received her certification for Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. She is currently employed in that role as a Master Black Belt since May 2017 within the Office of Strategy Management in the Executive Council Office for the Province of New Brunswick.

2000s

Michelle ArevaloCarpenter (BA’04) is part of The Global Good Fund’s new cohort of Fellows.

Nina McCarthy (BA’07) has been named the City of Fredericton’s Deputy Fire Chief.

McCarthy joined the City as a firefighter in 2000 and has held several roles within the organization since.

Mary Kim Schriver (BA’97, BEd’98) was recently honoured at the 2018 National Inclusive Education Awards ceremony held at Government House in Fredericton. Presented by the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL), the certificates recognize individuals or groups that have made or are making an outstanding contribution to inclusive education in their province or territory.

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News from classmates and friends around the world

St. Thomas University | Connections

Anne Lebans (BA’08) and Rebecca Tremblay (BA’08, BEd’15) received a grant to produce a web series based on their mental wellness and empowerment program for youth, It’s OK to be Awesome.

Mary Kim Schriver, BA’97, BEd’98

Fraser MacAlpine (BA’09) is an assistant coach with the Queen’s Gaels men’s hockey team and they won the 2nd oldest hockey trophy in the world, the Queen’s Cup, in March for the first time in 38 years. Congratulations!

Temma Frecker (BEd’09) received the 2018 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her students learned to understand multiple perspectives in the controversy surrounding the statue of Sir Edward Cornwallis and its eventual removal.

In Memoriam We extend condolences to the family and friends of the following alumni and friends who passed away recently:

Joseph Alfred Andy LeGresley, BA’71 BEd’79 June 14, 2018

Lillian Ruth Ripley, BSW’83 November 20, 2018

Colleen (Monahan) Graham, BEd’11 December 29, 2018

in memoriam

William J. Pittman, BA’47 December 30, 2018

Kenneth Clarence Gordon (STU staff) December 30, 2018

Philip Hartford, BA’77 January 28, 2019

2010s

Matthew McIver (BA’12) is a Foster Care Worker for the Yukon Government.

Evan Peters (BA’12) has seen a rapid rise since his time at St. Thomas. He was recently promoted to Director of Information Technology for the Saint John Transportation group of companies at JD Irving Ltd and in May graduated from the MBA program at St. Mary’s University. After graduating from STU with a Major in Economics and a Minor in Business through STU’s partnership with UNB, Peters started at Irving Shipyard in Halifax after the company secured the title of prime contractor for Arctic Offshore Patrols ships as part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy. Peters attributes his success to the combination of hard-work and luck. “The foundational skills I acquired throughout my education in conjunction with hard work and persistence produced the perfect storm.”

Hilary Paige Smith (BA’12) started a new online foodie magazine, http://eatcoastblog.com. She describes it as “a sometimes drinking, sometimes travelling, often cooking and always eating tribute to food, booze and fun on Canada’s East Coast.”

Nick Murray (BA’14) won a Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Community Broadcast.

Oscar Baker III (BA’16) was nominated for a National Magazine Award in the Personal Journalism category for “A History of Violence,” which appeared in The Deep.

Jon Munn (BA’15) and Kasey (Lohnes) Munn (BA’16) are now both working in London, ON at Huron University. After leaving STU, Kasey went on to do an MSW at Laurier and is now the Wellness Coordinator and Counsellor at Huron. Jon did his Master of Journal, Media and Communications at Western and is now the Director of Marketing and Communications. They have been dating since they met in 2013 at STU and got married in September.

Mary Ellen Arlene (Dowling) Gallant, BEd’77 February 10, 2019

Katherine Atkinson, BSW’99 February 26, 2019

Sharon Ann Mitchell-Fullarton, BA’97 March 30, 2019

Adele Mueller (Former faculty) March 25, 2019

Clarence Riley, BA’40 April 8, 2019

LeRoy Washburn (Former Athletics Director) April 13, 2019

Harry Murdock, BA’48 April 14, 2019

Dr. Mildred Milliea, LLD’90 Valérie Foulem (BA’14, BSW’16) was named a Youth Activator of Change by Dialogue NB.

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April 14, 2019

Bernard Sisk, BA’73 BEd’74 April 27, 2019

Joel Power, BA’09 May 6, 2019

STU Alumni at the Atlantic Journalism Awards Congratulations to Colleen Kitts-Goguen (BA’16), Elizabeth Fraser (BA’12), and the Daily Gleaner team (which included Adam Bowie (BA’07) and current student Caitlin Dutt) on winning Gold at this year’s Atlantic Journalism Awards.

Also, congratulations to Angela Gilbert (BA’08), Tom Bateman (BA’12), Jennifer Bishop (BA’12), K. Bryannah James (BA’12), Karissa Donkin (BA’12) on your Atlantic Journalism Award nominations.

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Summer 2019

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Tributes Dr. Adele Mueller 1945-2019

P

rofessor Adele Mueller passed away March 25, 2019. She taught in STU’s Sociology department for 10 years between 2002 and 2012.

Adele married early in life and had one son, Matt. She entered university as a mature student, eventually completing Doctoral studies in Sociology at OISE, under Dorothy Smith. Adele became inspired by institutional ethnography, exploring how individual lives and work practices are embedded in and continually reproduce relations of ruling. It fired her passion for feminism and social justice.

Her teaching and research continually challenged students to make visible how these ruling relations shaped and constrained both their own lives and global networks of power and inequality.

Adele devoted eight years to caring for her parents through dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Then, in her mid-50s, Adele leapt at the chance to fill a suddenly-vacated limited-term position in Sociology at STU. With two weeks’ notice, she moved from Nebraska to Fredericton to teach eight semester courses. Over time, she developed new courses in Sociology for Cyborgs and Surveillance Society, as well as offering Women in the Third World, cross-listed with Economics. Adele loved teaching rural New Brunswick students, finding they related readily to Marxist and feminist theory. For Adele, teaching was a vocation, a calling to new generations of students to re-vision their lives. Her office door was always open, and groups of students constantly dropped by to talk.

Adele loved animals. She chose an old cat with frostbitten ears from the SPCA because she thought others would not adopt him. Adele delighted in taking him for walks on a lead, describing him as a ‘chick magnet’ – an irresistible draw for neighbours to stop and chat.

Adele would often share time and loonies with street people, relating to them as active agents living complex, challenging lives, with much knowledge to share about how lives on the street are accomplished.

Adele created for herself a rich and meaningful life, and shared that sense of meaningful creation of life-worlds richly with others. We are grateful for her presence in our lives.

•

– Written by Dr. Sylvia Hale

26

St. Thomas University | Connections

Former Athletics Director

LeRoy Washburn 1934-2019

L

eRoy Washburn died peacefully in his home on April 13, 2019 surrounded by his family. LeRoy was a pillar of the St. Thomas University community both during and after his long career as Athletics Director.

LeRoy came to Fredericton to study after graduating from high school in Blackville. It was then that he met his best friend and wife of 63 years, Loretta. In 1959, LeRoy and his family moved to the newly created Town of Oromocto where he worked as the High School Phys Ed teacher, as well as the Recreational Director for the town.

LeRoy was appointed Athletics Director of St. Thomas in 1969 and held the position until 1999. Over his time at St. Thomas, LeRoy coached numerous teams and served as STU’s representative on the Atlantic University Athletic Association (now Atlantic University Sport) and the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (now USPORTS).

As an educator he felt sports should be accessible to everyone. He was an avid believer in fitness and a tireless advocate for fairness and equality in sports at all levels. In his 30 years STU saw the emergence of competitive varsity women’s teams in volleyball, basketball, soccer, and rugby – programs that now boast a history of success. LeRoy was also a mentor and role model for generations of student athletes.

Beyond St. Thomas, LeRoy was a distinguished member of the sporting establishment in Canada and New Brunswick. Among many activities, he officiated at the Pan American Games, the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the World Cup. He also served as the Vice-President of the New Brunswick Special Olympics Association. In 1988 he was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, in 2010 the St. Thomas University Sports Wall of Fame, and in 2014 into the Athletics Canada Hall of Fame. LeRoy served in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1974 to 1982 as a member for the constituency of Oromocto. He also served The Royal Canadian Legion Track and Field program for more than 60 years.

The impact of LeRoy’s work can still be felt on campus. To celebrate all he has done for the University, we present the LeRoy Washburn Award annually to the STU Tommies team that has made the most significant impact in the community. The last time we saw LeRoy at STU was at the Athletics Banquet on March 27 to present the award in his name.

To honour LeRoy’s memory and to continue his work supporting athletes we have established the LeRoy Washburn Memorial Scholarship Fund. If you would like to donate, please visit www.stu.ca/LeRoy.

•

THANK YOU

TO OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS!

ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY

GALA Dinner PRESENTING SPONSOR

Thank you!

The Gala Dinner raised $73,000 for student bursaries and activities.

Gulliver Advisory Group GOLD SPONSORS

GREEN SPONSORS

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EMAR Holdings Ltd

gnb.ca/teach

Summer 2019

27

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