Vic Report Autumn 2020

autumn 2020

Wrapped in Red p. 8

Virtual Charter Day p. 10

president’s page

Victoria’s Virtual Campus

BY WILLIAM ROBINS These autumn days, around noon, the quad is transformed into a picnic space, a makeshift, open-air dining room. Vic’s resident students choose their meals at Burwash, then take them away, boxed up, passing the long refectory tables which remain empty because of pandemic restrictions. In the quad, small groups of socially-distanced students eat lunch on the steps of Old Vic or under the trees. Others eat in their rooms, while fast-forwarding or slowly reviewing lectures that have been posted online. It is a term unlike any other. The way students relate to their classes, their campus, their peers has shifted ground.

Most of our students are not on campus at all. This is especially the case since the University of Toronto shifted the remaining in-person classes to online around Thanksgiving. The buildings are quite empty. Two classrooms are located across from my office: they lie dark and quiet, their chairs stacked, their chalkboards clean.

Despite the quiet, our students, faculty and staff have never been busier. This has been a period of incredible creativity and imagination. We are exploring new possibilities for instruction, new ways to create and sustain relationships and build an inclusive, caring community. The shift to remote learning seemed to pose a particular challenge for Victoria, which is built upon the warm camaraderie of face-to-face conversations and connections. It turns out, however, that Victoria’s dedication to community has been of incredible benefit in seeing us through these tumultuous first stages of the pandemic. It has spurred us to imagine new ways to connect, to adopt digital tools not only as technological solutions but also as modes of relating to each other.

Our students have led the way. Orientation, entirely online this year, had higher levels of engagement than usual. VUSAC’s Academic Commission has organized online study groups, the Victoria College Drama Society is creating online productions, pub nights have been replaced with digital arcade nights and the list goes on. Our staff, too, have shifted with impressive dexterity to holding all advising, counselling and consulting sessions remotely. Group sessions that stress a sense of wholeness and humanity can transcend the medium of the screen, as the spiritual life activities at Emmanuel College prove. Alumni receptions and community outreach events are harnessing online platforms in new ways. And of course, there has been the truly seismic shift of moving all classes online. These modes of engagement afford us flexibility and accessibility that will stay with us long after the pandemic has receded.

In 1841, 179 years ago, Vic’s calendar advertised the acquisition of a blackboard. It is hard to imagine, but the humble technology of the blackboard revolutionized teaching methods and helped democratize education. A teacher could teach multiple students at once, and convey complex visual information. A blackboard gave students a clear focus, and created an environment where students shared their work with the class. Victoria was keeping up with the latest in instructional design.

The blackboard did not do away with preceding forms of teaching, but complemented them and transformed them, providing teachers with a wider range of instructional possibilities, allowing them to connect with more students. Similarly, once pandemic circumstances have ended, online learning will not replace in-person learning. Modes will blend and merge, and our concern will be with harnessing the best of all technologies to keep students actively engaged.

Alongside the beautiful Victoria campus, a complex web of online sites and platforms is allowing our faculty, staff and students to connect with each other. Members of the community can gather, share in conversations and be present with one another. This virtual space is not as beautiful as our physical campus, but it is robust, quickly evolving and rich with possibility.

Students are craving human contact, however. The fatigue of continual screen-time combines with the frustrations of distance and uncertainty. The emotional effects of the pandemic, including worry and loneliness, manifest themselves in physical and mental ways. With winter coming, as our residence students withdraw from their outdoor space, all of our students will need care and attention. We have shifted resources to ensure more financial support and mental health counselling. Our staff and students have been impressively resilient and creative. They have translated Vic’s sense of community into these unprecedented circumstances. It will be a while before our grounds and buildings are fully reanimated. In the meantime, the creativity of our faculty, staff and students, our inclusiveness and our care for each other, is guiding us into unsuspected possibilities of community building.

2

vic report autumn 2020

Autumn 2020 Volume XLIX No. 1 Published under the authority of the Board of Regents of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

Publisher: Victoria University Editor and Managing Editor: Jennifer Little Vic 9T5 Copy Editor: Frank Collins Design: Wayland Gill Cover: The Isabel Bader Theatre Photography by Victoria Communications.

Vic Report is sent to all alumni, faculty, associates and friends of Victoria University.

Published three times a year; circulation 24,000; ISSN 0315–5072.

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40741521 Send milestones and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Vic Report c/o The Victoria Alumni Office 150 Charles Street West Toronto ON M5S 1K9 Tel: 416-585-4500 Toll-free: 1-888-262-9775 Fax: 416-585-4594 E-mail: vic.alumni@utoronto.ca Website: www.vicu.utoronto.ca Do we have your correct address?

Please send your updated address, phone number and e-mail address to the Victoria Alumni Office.

Please notify us if the graduate named in the address is deceased (enclose obituary or equivalent) and we will remove his/her name from the mailing list.

If you would like to write to Vic Report, please e-mail vicu.media@utoronto.ca Victoria University respects your privacy and does not rent, trade or sell its mailing lists.

VICTORIA COLLEGE EMERGING LEADER AWARD

2020 W INNER S

The Alumni of Victoria College congratulate Doyali Islam, Erin Macpherson and Peter Politis, this year’s winners of the Emerging Leader Award. This award recognizes graduates, 40 years of age or under, who have excelled professionally or who have notable accomplishments in their volunteer service, such as community work, humanitarianism and philanthropy.

Doyali Islam Vic 1T2 Described as an “emerging leader in Canadian literature” who “tirelessly paves the way for underrepresented voices,” Doyali Islam is an award-winning poet. In 2020, Islam was voted a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Province of Ontario’s Trillium Book Award for Poetry, the League of Canadian Poets’ Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the National Magazine Awards. Her book heft’s (Penguin Random House Canada) poems have been featured by many outlets including CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition. In previous editorial roles for Arc and Write, Islam has been credited with dramatically increasing the representation of female, BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+ and emerging writers in these magazines. “My receipt of this award,” says Islam, “means that Victoria College understands the importance of mentorship and community-building within the arts, and the importance of the imagination. It is the imagination that births everything into existence, and leads us into our individual realities and collective reality as a civilization. Imagination coupled with empathy is critical for our times; out of it comes a desire to serve. If you have not mastered empathy, you are no literary master. If you have not mastered empathy, you are no leader.”

Photographs: (Opposite page) Horst Herget; Islam’s photograph: Arden Wray

Erin Macpherson Vic 1T3 After completing a BSc at Vic, Erin Macpherson pursued an MSc at McMaster University. There, she volunteered for Let’s Talk Science, an organization that engages youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). As an outreach coordinator, Macpherson mobilized hundreds of student volunteers. After graduating, she worked for the organization’s national office, engaging Indigenous youth in STEM learning. Macpherson supported projects in every province and territory. In partnership with Indigenous educators and knowledge keepers, she led the development of a training session now used by volunteers and staff across Canada. The goal was to increase understanding of Indigenous perspectives so that local outreach initiatives would be more culturally relevant. “My experience at Vic heightened my awareness of equity issues,” she says. “I am nonIndigenous but I aim to be an ally who is committed to ongoing learning.” With an interest in experiential learning, education and sustainability, Macpherson has also volunteered for an Engineers Without Borders Canada program and coached a youth water polo team. She now works in applied research to inform government policy, where a recent project for the Future Skills Centre explored STEM organizations reaching Indigenous youth across Canada.

Peter Politis Vic 0T4 Peter Politis joined Greybrook Capital at the age of 21. Within a few years, he made partner and by 2004, Politis was named CEO of Greybrook Realty Partners. Thanks to Politis’ vision and leadership, Greybook is a rapidly growing real estate private equity firm. Politis saw an opportunity to grow the firm by offering individuals the ability to earn returns by partnering on an equity basis alongside top developers in the GTA and southern Florida.

This innovative approach offered investors a unique way to passively invest on the same terms as the developer.

The firm has now deployed over $1.2 billion in investor equity across more than 80 developments throughout North America. Politis, who specialized in economics and had minors in economic history and semiotics at Vic, says, “Being recognized by my alma mater brings me great pride. Always fostering a strong sense of community, Victoria College instilled in me the importance of relationships, community, collaboration and values that have guided my decisions and actions throughout my personal and professional life.” Politis also serves on the board of Blu Genes Foundation, a charity funding the advancement of gene therapy.

Nominate the Next Distinguished Alumni Award Winner This award was created by the Alumni of Victoria College Executive in 1997 and is given annually to a Victoria College alumna/us who has distinguished themselves through extraordinary contribution to society at large, through social, business, political, educational, cultural or religious life. Such contributions can be at the local, national or international level in recognition of recent or lifetime achievement. For more details please visit https://www.vic. utoronto.ca/alumni/distinguished-alumni-award/. Nominations for the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award are due

by December 31, 2020.Please submit your nomination to h.herscovici@utoronto.ca. vic report autumn 2020

3

in memoriam

Marian Aitchison Packham, C.M., Vic 4T9 A Trailblazer in Medical Research

BY PETER BOISSEAU

Research Council of Canada, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Ontario Heart Foundation.

She published more than 300 papers and authored several books, including a history of U of T’s Department of Biochemistry and a biography of Mustard.

She also ran the Department of Biochemistry’s graduate program from 1976 to 1981 and served as interim chair in 1983.

She served on U of T’s Radiation Protection Authority from 1969 to 1997, chairing it from 1991 to 1993. She was also a member of the Human Subjects Review Committee from 1983 to 2002.

She won numerous awards for her outstanding scientific and educational work, including Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada in 1991, an honorary doctorate from Ryerson Polytechnic University in 1997 and an Arbor Award from U of T in 2008. In 2012, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada.

Packham travelled extensively with her husband James after retirement and enjoyed gathering with family and friends at the cottage, but continued to publish scientific papers for years.

She died at her cottage on Lake Joseph in Seguin Township, Ont., surrounded by her children.

Photograph: Greg Holman, University of Toronto Archives, A2012-0009/020(03)

A trailblazer who spent over five decades advancing medical research in Canada, Marian Aitchison Packham, a University Professor emerita at the University of Toronto, was a highly regarded scientist at a time when there were few women in biomedicine. Packham’s research on blood clotting platelets led to critical breakthroughs in the prevention of strokes and heart attacks, and her work is still often cited to this day. She died on Sept. 20 at the age of 92, leaving her friends and colleagues in the Faculty of Arts & Science and across U of T reflecting on a remarkable legacy.

“Her passion for and excellence in research and education, and her remarkable work ethic, were an inspiration to all with whom she interacted,” says Margaret Rand, professor of biochemistry and laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a long-time collaborator, colleague and friend of Packham. “This legacy lives on in us; Marian’s contributions, which were significant, will not be forgotten.”

Born in Toronto on December 13, 1927, Packham earned her bachelor of arts degree from U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science in 1949 as a member of Victoria College, earning the Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal, and then completed her PhD in biochemistry at U of T in 1954.

Packham first worked part-time as a fellow/lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at U of T and then joined the research station of the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph in 1963, where she began many years of collaboration with renowned researcher and U of T alumnus Fraser Mustard.

She also worked with Mustard for several years at U of T’s blood and vascular disease research unit before rejoining the Department of Biochemistry in 1967, becoming only the third woman to serve as a faculty member.

“As one of a very small number of female scientists in the Faculty of Medicine in the 1960s and ‘70s, Marian served as a critical role model and mentor,” says Professor Justin Nodwell, chair of the Department of Biochemistry. “It is clear she paved the way for our current efforts toward greater gender parity.”

Packham rose through the ranks to earn the rare distinction of University Professor in 1989, U of T’s highest honour conferred upon less than two per cent of tenured faculty. She also held a part-time visiting professorship from 1966 to 2003 at McMaster University, where she continued her work with Mustard. In 1988, she and Mustard shared the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine.

Packham was an active member of numerous departmental, faculty and university committees and she served on the editorial board of six journals in her field, and on the review committees of many institutions, such as the Medical

Marian Packham after being named University Professor in 1989

4

vic report autumn 2020

student voice

Break The Divide Mental Health Promotion through Global Dialogue

BY ABHAY SINGH SACHAL

To the left, I witnessed a polar bear feeding its cub. On the right was the shocking scene of a glacier calving in front of my eyes.

In 2016, I traveled to the Canadian Arctic on an expedition of 200 people from around the world. There, I delved into the social and ecological determinants of health for the Inuit.

I witnessed climate change firsthand and learned about its impacts on northern communities, where suicide rates are up to 11 times the Canadian national average.

After returning home, I discovered shocking news: my Inuit friend’s boyfriend had shot himself while she was away on the Arctic expedition with me. I struggled to understand what happened. Climate and change and suicide in the north had seemed like such abstract issues based on statistics before.

Now, it was personal.

Working with my brother and my friend, we came up with a solution and created a non-profit organization called Break The Divide (BTD), with the goal of breaking down racial, geographic and socio-economic barriers between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Climate change and its effects were disproportionately impacting northern, Indigenous communities. BTD would personify those impacts through dialogue between different schools.

BTD began by connecting youth living in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, and my classmates in Delta, B.C. At my high school, we learned about climate change from the personal perspectives of students in Inuvik. My peers learned about the impacts of climate change, food insecurity and the effects of inter-generational trauma from residential schools. The students from Inuvik explained how climate change was an added stressor in their lives, contributing to the changes in lifestyle and community instability.

Students at my high school were shocked. Issues of climate change, food insecurity and mental health became personalized. No longer were they abstract, broad, global issues. It was now their friends who were impacted. These passionate students began to talk to others about their Inuit friends, and soon the entire school community wanted to make a difference. Students had found an outlet to talk to other youth about important issues and work together to make change.

Students also began to understand the interconnectivity between climate change and mental health. They were inspired to break stigmas around mental health in the local community. My team and I organized the first Mental Health Awareness event at my high school, with a focus on climate change. This event received recognition from Prime Minister Trudeau and brought together over 200 parents to explore stigmas surrounding mental health. After the event, I was approached by parents about how this dialogue helped them understand their children and the complex issue of climate-induced anxiety.

Abhay Singh Sachal is a second-year student at Victoria College. He is the co-founder and executive director of the Break The Divide Foundation.

Upon realizing the potential of BTD’s empathy-building conversations, my team and I expanded the program to schools around the world. I spoke at conferences across North America about the importance of personalized learning rooted in shared dialogue and mental health advocacy. Now, as we have grown, 1,000 youth from countries including India, South Africa, Colombia, China and Taiwan have been inspired to lead initiatives through our international network.

While BTD began with the goal of connecting students in Canada, it has turned into a powerful global network of youth that consistently engage in personalized dialogue through our programs and lead community action projects to create community-specific solutions to complicated global problems.

In these conversations, youth get to know one another and form strong relationships. Then, they lead community-specific action projects to address the local effects of climate change.

We follow a three-step approach to change: connect, communicate and create change. Essentially, we connect youth with one another, they communicate about community issues and work together to leverage shared knowledge and create change in their communities.

Ultimately, this entire process is deeply rooted in mental health advocacy. Through this experience of creating and sharing BTD, I’ve learned that the world is quite a small place. As individuals, we face the same challenges. Youth have similar hopes and dreams. And we all deeply care about the planet.

Seeing youth sharing stories with one another and collaborating is powerful. It’s a display of solidarity, where we come together globally. It is how we will create a more inclusive, sustainable, and connected society. vic report autumn 2020

5

academic excellence

2020 Governor General’s Academic Awards: Silver Medals for Undergraduate Excellence

BY LAURA MCCANN

Daniel Fusca Vic 2T0 and Saminul Haque Vic 2T0 have each been awarded the Silver Medal from the Governor General’s Award program for achieving the highest academic standing upon graduation from a bachelor degree program. We profile the two Vic alumni and congratulate them on their remarkable achievements.

From the time he was a young boy in Toronto, Daniel Fusca knew he wanted to be a scientist. As a young intellect who loved school, especially science, math and reading, he always had a book in his desk. His parents, both University of Toronto graduates, were always supportive of his passions, making opportunities for learning available. “In high school I volunteered at the ROM with the summer camp program.

It made me love the museum itself, and science, even more.

There’s so much cool stuff in there. The kids love it too. They love dinosaurs and can rattle off the names of all the dinosaurs.” The only paid job he’s ever had outside of spending summers supporting the labs where he does his research, was actually at the ROM as a volunteer coordinator. It seems being surrounded with artifacts designed for learning and exploration was his calling.

Fusca was so dedicated to his passionate pursuit of knowledge that he spent all four years living in residence, first in Margaret Addison Hall, and then in Upper Burwash. The time he saved by not commuting became devoted to his studies.

“This time management meant I could do more work, or sleep, being more productive. Having that extra time helped a lot. The new experience of living on my own was really fun, and the independence was positive for me.”

COVID-19 meant having to quickly move out of residence in March, which was particularly difficult for Fusca who had called campus home for four years. But his work has continued remotely, writing and running programs. He’s become an expert at using Zoom. His focus in bioinformatics and scientific computing also means that he has remained busy doing research even though the physical labs are closed. Research is his true passion. “I have two projects on the go right now: one in cell and systems biology, and one in ecology and evolutionary biology. I can’t wait to get back into the lab,” says Fusca. He hopes some of his work analyzing DNA sequences and mapping genomes can be used in determining how genes turn on and off in cancer cells or during various stages of early fetal development, for example.

6

vic report autumn 2020

Fusca’s CV is impressive. He has worked with passionate researchers, and has been inspired by some incredible professors. One who stands out is Professor Corey Goldman, “who’s a legend,” according to Fusca. “He taught me third-year Diversity of Mammals. He was so nice and accommodating.

He used to record his lectures but on our last day of class, he forgot. So he went back to the empty lecture hall and recorded himself to make the lesson available for us. He cared about us and our learning, his expectations were always clear. He really encouraged me to keep going with my research.”

Fusca didn’t know he had been nominated for the Governor General’s Academic Award. The Silver Medal, awarded to the undergraduate who achieves the highest academic standing upon graduation from a bachelor degree program, came as a surprise in his inbox when he opened the e-mail informing him that he’d won. He is honoured to be a recipient. “It validated continuing my studies. This fall I started a master’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. I am living at U of T’s Graduate House. I like living on campus again. My work is all done online so I’m still stuck at home but being on campus makes things feel a little more normal.”

Ultimately Fusca is looking toward a PhD. “I want to continue with research full time. My personal curiosity fuels me.

I’m asking questions and hope to find satisfying answers. I also like learning from my colleagues.”

Saminul Haque was surprised to win as he didn’t even know the award existed, let alone that he’d been nominated by Victoria’s Office of the Registrar. His surprise is unfounded however, given his 4.0 GPA and his achieving a final grade of 100 per cent in nearly half of his undergrad courses. According to Haque, after a certain point in his studies he became “less interested in high grades than doing my work well and getting results in research. I told my family. They were happy for me.”

Math has always come easy to Haque. So much so that his intent was to study just that, full time. “In high school I did a lot of math contests and did fairly well in some,” he says. “I was in math club and computer science club, too, but I spent most of my time during and after school at robotics club. Academics always just seemed a really good fit for me.”

Haque knew he wanted to go to the University of Toronto for his undergraduate studies, and when it came time to choose a college, targeted Victoria as his first choice, thanks to its reputation. Although he didn’t spend a lot time at Vic

academic excellence

Photographs: Rideau Hall

since he was commuting from Mississauga, he garnered some nice memories and lasting friendships. The standout is the Vic One program. “It was my favourite experience at Vic. The professors and content were really interesting. I liked the class sizes. We were a good study group. I met nice people. I’m still in touch with some of them.”

His undergraduate career started with him wanting to become a professor in math, but he eventually switched his focus to computer science. “I was more drawn to the applicability of computer science, and in particular, artificial intelligence. The problems seemed more relevant to humans in real life. The classes were more interesting to me.”

One of the standout mentors for Haque was Professor Grosse with whom he eventually published a paper. “He was very kind to take me on at the Vector Institute. I had two classes with him, and during the second, I approached him to do research. It involved computer vision models that were less susceptible to certain types of attacks than some other object-recognition algorithms. We came up with a different procedure, adapting an older performance-analysis idea to the vision task. At the time, we beat other state-of-the-art work being done to combat the corrupted image problem.” When asked how his work could be used, he was eager to express that “the ideal (and motivation) would be that it’s used for object recognition in self-driving cars, for example.”

When the pandemic hit in March, Haque wasn’t overly affected. He was done most of his course work and waiting to graduate. He had an internship at a financial institution over the summer while he waited to jump straight into his PhD at Stanford. This fall he started studying computer science with a focus on machine learning. “It’s fascinating. Trying to model the human brain is exciting to me. Machines still don’t really know how to think or be creative. I want to better understand how we do it, and to translate that into artificial intelligences.”

Ultimately Haque is determined to become a professor at a top-tier university and continue his research. There is little doubt he will succeed.

vic report autumn 2020

7

on campus

Isabel Bader Theatre

BY JENNIFER LITTLE

Wrapped in Red

Victoria University’s Isabel Bader Theatre is normally abuzz hosting academic events including lectures, convocations, plenaries and student theatre. It should not be forgotten, though, that the theatre is also an important player in Toronto’s live-event scene. This 500seat venue has hosted myriad film festivals, plays and conferences.

In a show of support for the live event workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, the theatre was lit up in red for the evening of September 22, 2020.

Joining hundreds of other Canadian venues from coast to coast, this Day of Visibility was organized by Live Event Community, a grassroots organization formed in March of this year. The theatre looked dramatic as it was lit up from the inside out, through all of the windows, on two levels. Intelligent lighting was used to add dynamism and replicate the feel of a beating heart or pulse. Bespoke AV partnered with Events Victoria and generously donated the equipment required to transform the theatre for the evening.

8

vic report autumn 2020

For more information and to see a list and interactive map of venues that participated, visit www.lightuplive.ca.

Photographs: Victoria Communications

Since March, the Isabel Bader Theatre has had to cancel over 125 events, leaving more than 62,000 guests unable to attend their live event. These cancellations have affected the work of more than 24 staff members who contribute to supporting events at the theatre. Part of this awareness campaign was to remind people that live events and their staff were one of the first industries to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and it will likely be one of the last to re-open. Cultural buildings, theatres, music halls and equipment warehouses were all encouraged to find creative ways to #LightUpLive.

Notable participants around Canada included the CN Tower, Roy Thompson Hall and Niagara Falls. Across U of T’s St. George campus, Hart House, the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, the Louella Massey Studio Theatre and the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design also took part.

alumni profile

Erin D. Cauchi Vic 1T0 Emmy-nominated Journalist

Photograph: Frank G. Runyeon

BY JENNIFER LITTLE

“You know,” says Erin D. Cauchi, “I still, to this day, refer back to my textbooks from Vic for Cold War and post-war history.

The courses I took, especially in Vic One’s Pearson stream, laid the groundwork for a lot of what I have covered throughout my career. I loved studying history and, as a journalist, I get to write the first drafts of history.”

As an investigative journalist, Cauchi has explored military campaigns, global conflicts, issues related to national security and human rights. Before attending Columbia University for journalism, she studied history and political science at Victoria College. “I knew I wanted to be a journalist from a very young age. Vic helped me develop my curiosity for discovery and fostered my love of history. It also encouraged my love of journalism as a writer and then co-editor-in-chief of The Strand.”

Cauchi fondly remembers her time at The Strand. “At a student paper you must become a jack-of-all-trades, learning everything from layout to distributing the newspaper around campus, using a wagon!” Since The Strand, she has written, filmed, edited and produced for outlets that include Netflix, CNN, National Geographic, NBC News, BBC News, Newsweek and Al Jazeera.

Based out of New York City since 2011, Cauchi was shortlisted for 2017 San Francisco Press Club Awards for two stories about issues affecting Canada’s Indigenous populations.

In 2020 the James Beard Media Award was bestowed upon her for her work on the Netflix series Rotten, and specifically for the episode about corruption and drug cartel influence on the avocado supply chain. The six-part series was nominated for a 2020 Emmy in the category of Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary. The series, for which Cauchi worked as a key reporter, gave her the chance to work as detective unearthing the journey of food from seed to table, and the positive and negative impacts along the way. “We uncovered a lot of white collar crime and economic espionage, and we consistently had to follow the money,” she says. “Being a journalist is like being a translator. I have to help people understand each other and I want people to see themselves in a story. Every story is local to somebody.” This was the first Emmy nomination for Cauchi, who has served as a news and documentary judge for the past five years.

Currently Cauchi is eagerly awaiting the printing of the book she co-authored with best-selling author and ex-NBC News national security analyst William M. Arkin. Cauchi began reporting and co-writing the book, The Generals Have No Clothes: The Untold Story of our Endless Wars (Simon & Schuster, 2021), in 2019 after she finished Rotten. “The book has been an amazing experience. I got to call top experts in the world to explain things to me until I understood them, even if it took hours! Is there a better job? There’s a real sense of discovery in my line of work.”

In her years as an investigative journalist, there have been many surprises, good and bad, along the way. While researching for her book, Cauchi called the Pentagon to ask about a U.S. military campaign called Operation Spartan Shield. The questions were not unusual and the Pentagon should have had the answers. “When I got a public information officer on the phone,” says Cauchi, “he seemed confused and didn’t answer right away. I heard the clack of fingers typing on a computer keyboard.” Cauchi was asked to repeat the name of the operation. He then asked, “Are you sure it’s an operation, not a mission?” She was sure. In the background, she heard more typing. “It’s not on Wikipedia,” said the spokesperson for the Pentagon. “He told me to put my inquiry in an e-mail. This prompted a chain of correspondence that spanned nearly three weeks, roping in six officials from many departments to respond. The experience flummoxed me: to call the people at the highest office in charge and inform them about something they were doing. That was indeed a surprise. I took it as a lesson on how to approach stories in the future. In essence, it doesn’t matter who someone is or their job title, it’s always important to question how a source knows what they’re telling you.” vic report autumn 2020

9

charter day

Victoria University Charter Day 2020 Celebrating Tradition during an Exceptional Time

BY DANIEL BLACKWELL AND JENNIFER LITTLE The year 2020 has brought change to all of our traditions. The celebration of this year’s Charter Day was no exception. The day commemorates the granting of Victoria’s Royal Charter

by King William IV on October 12, 1836. And every year, since then, we have marked Victoria’s founding as a leader in liberal arts and theological post-secondary education with an on-campus celebration. Normally we would host an in-person lunch for members of our Chancellor’s Circle, followed by a convocation, and then a reception for student-award recipients and their donors.

This year, of course, events had to move online. To honour Charter Day, Chancellor Nick Saul, O.C., Vic 9T0 greeted the community via a video that you can find on the Victoria University website. The spirit of our donor-student reception was highlighted through donor stories and student stories on our news pages and via social media. Charter Day Convocation has been the annual occasion for the presentation of scholarships and other academic awards to students of Victoria College since 1895. We hope that this in-person tradition will resume in 2021. Until then, here are donor-student stories that highlight the generous nature of our alumni.

The Clifton Graham Roberts Admission Award Victoria University has always prided itself on the sense of community it has fostered among its students, faculty and staff. It’s this strong sense of community that has led many alumni to stay in touch with the University, long after their days of traversing the halls of Old Vic. For some alumni, such as the late Clifton Graham Roberts Vic 5T6, they may even choose to give back to this community through their estate plan. Roberts, who passed away in 2003, spent his career helping students as both a teacher and head of student services at York Mills Collegiate Institute from 1965 to 1990. His

10

vic report autumn 2020

Andrew Ki legacy of giving back to the academic community continues to this day, thanks to The Clifton Graham Roberts Admission Award. Designated for a newly admitted student, the award recognizes those who have achieved academic success and are involved in school, church or community services. This year, the award was given to Andrew Ki. Andrew Ki graduated from high school as an award-winning debater who participated in Ontario Pro-Con Debating Forum tournaments and at the Harvard Model United Nations.

Ki is pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce and hopes to specialize in management with a focus on international business. He has his eye on minors in statistical sciences and digital humanities.

He is passionate about writing and hopes to begin work with The Varsity and The Toike Oike. Ki hopes to pursue the many possibilities University has to offer. “This generous award,” says Ki, “has given me the freedom to seek non-paid opportunities, such as internships and projects, without financial hardship. Upon reflection, this scholarship has inspired me to realize the value of giving back to those in need, and the impact that contributions to education have on students and the future of our community. I am honored to have won this scholarship and it will motivate me to help others in the future.”

charter day

The Eva Kushner Scholarship It is no small task to summarize the legacy of Eva Kushner, O.C., Victoria University’s president from 1987 to 1994. In addition to being the first woman to serve as president of an Ontario university, Kushner is a former director of The Northrop Frye Centre, a former professor of French literature, past member of the Canada Council Advisory Academic Panel and Executive Committee, past chair of the Royal Society of Canada Committee on Freedom of Scholarship and Science, and an Officer of the Royal Order of Canada. With such a storied career it is only fitting that The Eva Kushner Scholarship leave an equally indelible mark. Founded by Kushner in 2014, the scholarship is awarded to Victoria College students who have achieved an overall A standing in their first year of study.

As an accomplished author in her own right, Kushner wrote many scholarly articles and publications, with a particular focus on the critical analysis of Quebec poets, and her scholarship gives special preference to students pursuing degrees in literary studies. Laura Ashwood is the recipient of this year’s scholarship.

Laura Ashwood is a fourth-year student majoring in literature and critical theory, with minors in English and philosophy. After completing and loving the Vic One Frye stream, she decided to continue her studies in literature in Vic’s academically rigorous community. An athlete in her extracurricular time, she rows for the Varsity Blues as a lightweight woman, and works as the sports editor for U of T’s largest student publication, The Varsity.

She has also worked as a violin teacher and as a family housing supervisor and program co-ordinator for U of T. Exceptionally well rounded, Ashwood received The Eva Kushner Scholarship

Laura Ashwood for academic excellence and her pursuit of literary studies. “I am very grateful for this award,” says Ashwood. “I am saving for graduate school next year and these funds will help me explore out-of-country options to pursue an M.A. in English or comparative literature. This scholarship allows me to continue my education and to keep studying what I love.”

The David Pretty Award

Eva Kushner

Rehan Setna loves living on campus and the sense of community it provides. Despite the current travel restrictions, he made his way back to Toronto via Bangalore, India, to start his third year with a double major in economics and molecular biology. Setna has volunteered as a mentor for Vic One’s Stowe-Gullen stream, a stream he thoroughly enjoyed. “I help students transition into the program,” says Setna. “I offer advice and tips on how to succeed at university and become an active and engaged community member.” Setna has also held the role of communications director for the academic commission of VUSAC and the role of student union representative for U of T’s Department of Cells Systems Biology.

Setna has been awarded The David Pretty Award for his academic achievements and extra-curricular involvement. “This award means a great deal to me. I have had a tough workload and have been trying to balance that with my extracurricular activities. I feel like I am being recognized for my growth as a person and this acts as an incentive to assure me that I am on the right path,” says Setna. “I lost my part-time job due to COVID-19 so this award allows me to worry a little less.” vic report autumn 2020

11

milestones

CAREERS, AUTHORS, HONOURS John Borovilos Vic 7T0 continues to be published in the RTO Newsletter with his annual movie reviews and will soon serve as the elected president of the Toronto Choristers, a large, traditional choir group devoted to singing and performing everything from gospel music and popular songs to Christmas hymns and Broadway show tunes. His work as a volunteer at the Royal Ontario Museum continues as visitor guide and docent emeritus.

Kerry Clare Vic 0T2 has written her second novel, Waiting for a Star to Fall (Doubleday Canada, 2020). It is a story about love and politics, the things we choose to believe, and how sometimes the path to happily ever after has to start with ourselves.

Three Victoria University volunteers have been selected for Arbor Awards by the University of Toronto! Congratulations to Li-Ping Geng, Malcolm Musgrove and Gordon Thompson. U of T’s highest honour, the Arbor Award is granted for sustained contributions to specific academic units, such as faculties, colleges or institutes, or for broader contributions to U of T at large.

RINT AND

ERFORMANCE

IN THE 1820S

Improvisation, Speculation, Identity

A NGE L A E STER H A MMER

12

vic report autumn 2020

Melanie Jackson Vic 7T8 has published a book with Crwth Press called The Fifth Beethoven. The book is an up-tempo mystery featuring a Beethoven-obsessed teen. Instead of a book launch, Jackson celebrated the new release by raising funds for the Union Gospel Mission.

The Fifth Beethoven is set amid the Vancouver housing crises, and Union Gospel Mission serves the city’s homeless community.

Mehak Jamil Vic 1T7 has just published her book, Opening Doors. Opening Doors is a memoir, telling the story of a young girl growing up in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood. The story skillfully balances three alternating timelines, following this little girl through childhood, undergrad, and as a twenty-something, as she navigates her life at home, aims to become a teacher amidst Ontario’s cuts to education, and as she begins therapy to delve into her past and confront the traumas of childhood. This is a story of hope and resilience and can be purchased at www.mehakjamil.com.

Congratulations, C. Douglas Jay Vic 4T6, Emm 5T0, Hon. 9T9, principal of Emmanuel College from 1981 to 1990 and former director of the Toronto School of Theology, for turning 95 years old on October 10!

Mark Khalil Vic 1T9, a former Vic One student (Gooch stream), is a fellow at the Overseas Development Institute for

two years. This is a fellowship in which young economists and statisticians from around the world are sent to developing countries as local civil servants. According to Khalil, “I hope to apply some of the economics I’ve learned over the last five years. I am excited to get field experience and work with the public sector to understand policy challenges from a local rather than academic setting, and to offer value and service wherever I can.”

Grace Ji-Sun Kim Vic 9T2, a professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion, has published a new book, Reimagining Spirit: Wind, Breath and Vibration (Cascade Books, 2019). This book aims to examine the Spirit as experienced in light, wind, breath and vibration to help us uncover some of its aspects that invite us to work for climate justice, racial justice and gender justice. Kim is also editor of Keeping Hope Alive: Sermons and Speeches of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. (2019).

Maria Louitaia’s Vic 1T0 work of fiction, Palace of the People, has been published in the summer 2020 edition of Ploughshares at Emmerson College, Boston, Mass.

PLOUGHSHARES AT E M E R S O N C O L L E G E

Fiction Edited By Celeste Ng

FICTION BY Pria Anand ▪ Jamel Brinkley Joel Fishbane ▪ Peter Gordon ▪ Kaitlyn Greenidge ▪ Meron Hadero ▪ Devon Halliday ▪ Ashley Hand ▪ Sonya Larson ▪ Maria Lioutaia ▪ Karen Shepard ▪ Lucy Shepard ▪ Susan Shepherd ▪ Charles Yu ▪

COVER ART Mari Ito

CELESTE NG Summer 2020 ▪ Vol. 46, No. 2 ▪ $14.00

Victoria College’s principal, Angela Esterhammer Vic 8T3, has published Print and Performance in the 1820s: Improvisation, Speculation, Identity (Cambridge Core, 2020). During the 1820s, British society saw transformations P P in technology, mobility and consumerism that accelerated the spread of information. This timely study reveals how bestselling literature, popular theatre and periodical journalism self-consciously experimented with new media.

It presents an age preoccupied with improvisation and speculation—a mode of

behaviour that dominated financial and literary markets, generating reflections on risk, agency and the importance of public opinion. The book interprets a rich constellation of fictional texts and theatrical productions that gained popularity among middle-class metropolitan audiences through experiments with intersecting fantasy worlds and acutely described real worlds.

SUMMER 2020 $14.00 US / CAN

display until october 15, 2020

Doug Macdougall’s Vic 6T7 most recent book, Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest (Yale University Press, 2019), is about the Challenger Expedition that explored the world’s oceans for threeand-a-half years during the 1870s and

send us your news: vic.report@utoronto.ca

tal shelf in the Arctic, and the debate surrounding the status of the waters of the Northwest Passage.

laid the foundations for the modern science of oceanography. Macdougall is a professor emeritus of earth sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife Sheila (Ward) Vic 6T8.

Barry J. Robinson Vic 6T7, Emm 7T0 has written his second book, Growing Down—Stories Exploring Human Dignity (Volumes Direct, 2019). After serving the institutional church as a parish minister for many years, Robinson opened a practice in clinical psychotherapy in 1999 as a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, assisting thousands of clients suffering from a wide variety of psychological illnesses and relationship difficulties.

Growing Down is a collection of classic, family, work-related and deeply personal stories, an exploration of what makes us human in the deepest sense. This is a book that aims to draw your soul down in the same sense that Buddha had to allow his own soul to grow down amongst the poor and the sick and the dying in order to discover for himself how to live in this world in a truly human way.

Bruce Meyer Vic 8T0, who teaches at Vic, has published Down in the Ground (Guernica Editions, 2020). The book is a short story collection exploring the idea that death is not what is suffered by the dying. It is experienced by the living.

Death is a shared experience, leaving others behind in its wake to marvel at the strangeness of the event and the unfathomable mysteries of existence.

One of the stories in this book won fourth place in the renowned Bath Short Fiction Prize.

In March, Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon Vic 7T7 published her latest book, Canada and the Maritime Arctic: Boundaries, Shelves, and Waters (Trent University) that she co-authored Canada and the with colleagues WhitMaritime Arctic ney Lackenbauer and Boundaries, Shelves, a n d Wa t e r s Suzanne Lalonde. The book offers comprehensive overviews of Canada’s Arctic maritime boundary disputes in the Beaufort Sea, its extended continen-

D. Paul Schafer Vic 6T1 has just published The Arts: Gateway to a Fulfilling Life and Cultural Age (Rock’s Mills Press, 2020). A powerful case is made in the book that the arts have

P. W h i t n e y L a c k e n b a u e r , Suzanne Lalonde, and Elizabeth R iddell-Dixon

milestones Alumni are invited to send information for inclusion in Milestones. For marriages please indicate, if applicable, whether you prefer to be known by your married or birth name. An obituary must accompany notices of death.

E-mail your Milestones news to vic.report@utoronto.ca.

Grad Year: Vic Name

milestones

an essential role to play in helping people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic now and in the future. Therefore, the arts deserve a great deal more public and private funding and support.

Catherine (Rank) Schmid Vic 6T5, artist, has created a triptych entitled Coronavirus Reframed. According to Schmid, “At first, COVID-19 seemed a remote threat. However, it became clear quite rapidly, that the global impact would be devastating. In spite of the peril, I wanted to foreshadow a more hopeful perspective.” Schmid has been living in Provence, France, since 1994. Pictured here is the third part of the triptych.

Simone Stock Vic 0T3 is a filmmaker currently based in Toronto. She has just won an award for screenwriting from Telefilm Canada, the New Voices Award.

Joel West Vic 1T9 has recently had his book The Sign of the Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime As a Sign, published.

West studied semiotics and religion while at Vic. The book examines the place of the Joker in contemporary popular culture. West’s book appears in the Brill Research Perspectives series.

Emm

(Please add title and/or maiden name if applicable)

Address

Postal Code

Telephone

E-mail Please include my e-mail address in my Milestones notice.

vic report autumn 2020

13

milestones

MARRIAGES

Francis Sweetland Chapman Vic 5T0, in Toronto, September 5, 2020.

Rachel-Anne Salonen Vic 0T7 married Kalvin Andreas Kados on September 19, 2020 in Hamilton, Ont.

Stanley Norman Charteris Vic 5T0, in Toronto, March 25, 2020.

Joan (Morton) Ferner, CNZM, Vic 5T4, in Wellington, New Zealand, June 10, 2020.

Lillian M. Forgrave Vic 5T6, in Aurora, Ont., June 6, 2020.

Phyllis A. (Scovell) Cooper Vic 5T3, in Toronto, June 6, 2020.

IN MEMORIAM Dorothy J. “Betty” (Robertson) Armstrong Vic 4T7, in Brockville, Ont., January 1, 2020.

Mary Elaine (Keillor) Cotterell Vic 6T5, in Bracebridge, Ont., January 17, 2020.

Judith C. Coxe Vic 5T9, in Chicago, Ont., July 27, 2020.

Barry H. Athoe Vic 7T3, in Guelph, Ont., May 10, 2020.

Margaret A. Craw Vic 6T2, in Toronto, April 10, 2020.

John D. Ayre Vic 7T1, in Guelph, Ont., October 2, 2020.

Doris Joan (Black) Davidson Vic 4T8, in Toronto, August 18, 2020.

George Thornton Bailey Vic 5T2, in Innisfil, Ont., May 18, 2020.

Margaret Louise (Wilkinson) Deeth Vic 4T5, in Toronto, January 30, 2020.

Joyce (Martin) Ballagh Vic 6T2, in London, Ont., August 21, 2020.

John D. Denisavitch Vic 7T6, in Gatineau, Que., September 26, 2020.

Mildred Shirley (MacMillan) Barrie Vic 4T5, in Brantford, Ont., June 29, 2020.

Mary A. (Malakis) Ditsious Vic 6T3, in Buffalo, N.Y., August 30, 2020.

Rodger S. Bishop Vic 4T3, in Oshawa, Ont., April 21, 2020.

Lois E. (McHardy) Dowsett Vic 4T8, in Toronto, September 18, 2020.

James Frederick Brailey Vic 5T0, in Orangeville, Ont., July 25, 2020.

Shirley Margaret Drummond Vic 5T1, in Toronto, February 3, 2020.

James Harold “Hal” Brown Vic 5T2, in Ottawa, December 8, 2019.

E. Elizabeth “Betty” (Chard) Easton Vic 5T2, in Scarborough, Ont., May 30, 2020.

Kenneth B. Burnham Vic 5T6, in Virginia Beach, Va., November 26, 2019.

William H. Carmichael Vic 4T7, in London, Ont., September 23, 2020.

Patricia (Pat) Gracey (Stone) Fowler Vic 6T4, in Dartmouth, N.S., November 29, 2019.

Bradley Albert Edward Friend Vic 6T7, in Barrie, Ont., February 16, 2019.

David Emmett Gardner Vic 5T0, in Toronto, February 8, 2020.

Margaret S. (Reid) Geisler Vic 5T6, in Olds, Alta., April 23, 2020.

Phyllis B. (Baker) Gerhart Vic 5T1, in Oakville, Ont., September 18, 2020.

Pamela Gravestock Vic 9T7, in Toronto, August 18, 2020.

Georgia M. (Stirrett) Helleiner Vic 5T7, in Toronto, September 18, 2020.

Mary Frances (Stothers) Hendrick Vic 4T8, in Toronto, April 17, 2020.

Donald D. Epp Vic 5T7, in Toronto, May 15, 2020.

Beverley (Purdy) Heyd Vic 4T9, in Toronto, June 19, 2020.

Joan D. (Tait) Hodges Vic 6T2, in Barrie, Ont., September 7, 2020.

John A. Simon Hooper Vic 8T3, in Ottawa, August 17, 2020.

Jan Fedorowicz Vic 7T1, in Toronto, April 16, 2020.

voluntary subscription appeal

YES, I WANT TO BE A VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIBER!

We hope you enjoy receiving Vic Report and keeping up to date with alumni and College news. It’s one way for you to keep in touch.

But it costs money to produce and mail this magazine three times a year. Each issue goes to about 24,000 grads and costs about $30,000.

Name

Please consider becoming a voluntary subscriber. By sending a subscription, just as you would for any other magazine, you can ensure that Vic Report maintains its present quality and content, while freeing valuable funds for other alumni concerns.

14

Stanley E. Forshaw Vic 5T1, Victoria, B.C., August 31, 2020.

vic report autumn 2020

$50

$100

Other

Business No. 10817 3436 RR 0001 Income tax receipts will be issued.

(Please add title and/or maiden name if applicable)

Grad Year

Address Postal Code VISA or MasterCard Expiry Date

Signature I enclose my cheque for $

made payable to Victoria University.

Please mail this form to the Office of Alumni Affairs & Advancement, 150 Charles Street West, Toronto ON M5S 1K9

send us your news: vic.report@utoronto.ca

milestones

Richard V. Howson Vic 5T1, in Stouffville, Ont., June 14, 2020.

Effie (MacLennan) McCombe Vic 5T0, in Toronto, June 4, 2020.

Edmund V. Ralph Vic 5T0, in Mississauga, Ont., April 12, 2020.

William “Bill” David Hughey Vic 5T1, in Toronto, August 22, 2020.

Robert McGregor Vic 6T3, in Toronto, August 1, 2020.

E. Margaret (Hilliker) Jackman Vic 4T7, in Mississauga, Ont., March 7, 2020.

James “Jim” McKenzie Vic 7T1, in Toronto, June 9, 2020.

Margaret Elizabeth “Bette” (Anderson) Roberts Vic 4T8, in Nassau, Bahamas, September 8, 2020.

Craig T. Kamcke Vic 5T8, an Arbor Award recipient, in Ottawa, September 29, 2020.

Robert Warden McKimm Vic 4T9, in Gatineau, Que., May 4, 2020.

Carol S. (Arikado) Kato Vic 7T0, in Medford, Oreg., December 8, 2019.

James (Jim) C. Kennedy Vic 5T7, in Kingston, Ont., May 8, 2020.

Sally Dawn (Jones) Kennedy Vic 6T1, in Cobourg, Ont., July 6, 2020.

John C. Kirkpatrick Vic 6T9, in Montreal, Que., April 23, 2020.

James “Jim” Alexander Kirkwood Vic 5T4, Emm 5T7, Hon. 1T3, in Toronto, September 17, 2020.

Stanley James “Jim” Knight Vic 5T0, in Niagara Falls, Ont., September 27, 2020.

G. Dennis Lane Vic 5T4, in Toronto, June 6, 2020.

Roland J. Le Huenen, professor emeritus, in Toronto, September 13, 2020.

Karen Lightstone Vic 8T2, in Scarborough, Ont., June 24, 2020.

Margaret (Schantz) Linney Vic 5T3, in Napanee, Ont., May 4, 2020.

Jean Little, C.M., Vic 5T5, in Guelph, Ont., April 6, 2020.

Ross E. McLean Vic 6T3, in Guelph, Ont., May 21, 2020.

Wallace McLeod Vic 5T3, professor emeritus, in Toronto, June 3, 2020.

Lachlan M. McNair Vic 6T2, in Toronto, June 4, 2020.

Bruce Monick Vic 9T0, in Toronto, November 21, 2019.

Tamotsu “Tom” Morikawa Vic 5T4, in Scarborough, Ont., July 28, 2020.

R. Joanne (Langdon) Morris Vic 5T6, in Kincardine, Ont., July 3, 2020.

Alastair McD Murray Vic 5T7, in Toronto, February 25, 2020.

Buzz (Harold Egerton) Neal Vic 4T8, in Toronto, June 30, 2020.

Gordon Frederick Francis Noble Vic 5T4, in Ottawa, July 10, 2020.

Marian Aitchison Packham Vic 4T9, in Seguin Township, Ont., September 20, 2020.

Joan C. (Morrison) Parker Vic 5T0, Manitoulin Island, Ont., October 14, 2019.

David C. Ross Vic 4T9, in Toronto, July 29, 2020.

Dorothy (Collins) Samuels Vic 4T7, in Toronto, May 3, 2020.

Diana (Michener) Schatz Vic 5T4, in Toronto, October 24, 2020.

Dorothy Ruth Seggie Vic 4T6, in Toronto, June 11, 2020.

William “Bill” Stewart Sharpe Vic 5T1, in Streetsville, Ont., June 7, 2020.

Eleanor Jean (Cunningham) Sheridan Vic 4T6, in Bowmanville, Ont., April 20, 2020.

L. Robert Silverston Vic 7T0, in Toronto, March 25, 2020.

Robert “Bob” L.S. Snell Vic 5T4, in Toronto, May 19, 2020.

Ian J. Strachan Vic 6T6, in Toronto, July 14, 2020.

James A. Taylor Vic 4T9, in Belleville, Ont., September 1, 2020.

John Valleau Vic 5T4, in Toronto, May 17, 2020.

J. Jeremy Van-Lane Vic 5T7, in Richmond Hill, Ont., March 4, 2020.

Mary (Stockdale) Vernon Vic 6T4, in Toronto, April 12, 2020.

Dorothy E.M. (Speers) Pearson Vic 4T7, in Toronto, March 25, 2020.

Edwin Lawrence Voight Vic 4T9, in Toronto, April 22, 2020.

John H. Pennington Vic 4T9, in Etobicoke, Ont., June 23, 2020.

David E. West Vic 6T3, in Etobicoke, Ont., July 20, 2020.

Major Langford Phillips Vic 6T4, in Wallaceburg, Ont., June 18, 2020.

Gerald E. Wiley Vic 5T6, in Burlington, Ont., May 25, 2020.

William “Bill” Price Magee Vic 5T5, in Chatham, Ont., July 4, 2020.

Newton Gardiner “Bud” Powell Vic 5T5, in St. Catharines, Ont., December 24, 2019.

Shirley Eileen (Qua) Williams Vic 4T2, in St. George Brant, Ont., July 16, 2020.

Ruth Aileen (Findlay) Main Vic 5T1, in Toronto, June 21, 2020.

Nancy E. (Jamieson) Pridham Vic 5T3, in Georgian Bay, Ont., June 30, 2020.

James Cooper McCartney Vic 6T1, in Toronto, July 7, 2020.

Doris (Kulessa) Puddington Vic 7T6, in Toronto, May 15, 2020.

Priscilla J. (Fish) Lumsden Vic 4T4, in Como, N.S.W., Australia, February 2019.

James “Jimmy” J. Lute Vic 6T6, in Toronto, May 26, 2020.

Elizabeth M.A. (Young) Mackinnon Vic 4T1, in Guelph, Ont., May 13, 2020.

Bette P. (Colville) Witham Vic 4T7, in Lindsay, Ont., September 7, 2020.

vic report autumn 2020

15

Please give to the Victoria College Annual Fund today!

Our Vic community is needed now more than ever.

Victoria College is relying on the generous Annual Fund support of our Vic community during this unprecedented academic year so we can continue to provide the highimpact education and financial support that students such as Gabrielle da Silva Vic 2T1 need to emerge as tomorrow’s leaders.

Your Annual Fund donation will support Vic’s highest priorities, including enhancing our signature academic programs such as Vic One; making innovative new programs such as Vic Ready come to life; and increasing the level of financial assistance available for Vic students.

mail: Cheque payable to Victoria College

Victoria College Office of Alumni Affairs & Advancement 150 Charles Street West, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M5S 1K9 Canada website: my.alumni.utoronto.ca/vicaf call: 416-585-4500 or 1-888-262-9775

thank you for your generous support of victoria college!

In an academic year different from any other due to the effects of COVID-19, your annual donation is needed more than ever to help offset the costs associated with pursuing a University education. Please send your Annual Fund gift today and help Vic students continue to adapt, thrive and pursue their goals with fortitude and optimism.

Where There’s a Will …

Planning Your Legacy Whether it is recognizing the impact of their education on their life and career, expressing gratitude for their experiences inside and outside the classroom, or paying forward the help they received in the form of a bursary or scholarship, Victoria and Emmanuel alumni have many reasons for choosing to remember Victoria University in their estate plans. Charitable bequests and other forms of planned gifts can help you plan your legacy, while providing financial benefits.

If you are considering a bequest to Victoria or Emmanuel, here is suggested wording: I give and bequeath to the Board of Regents of Victoria University, Toronto, Ontario, the sum of $ _____ or _____ % or _____ shares of my estate.

Gabrielle da Silva Please contact Sharon Gregory, associate director of development, at 416-813-4050, or sharon.gregory@ utoronto.ca • For more information on charitable bequests, other forms of planned giving, and five steps you can take to plan your legacy; • To receive a copy of Victoria University’s Estate Planning Primer and Workbook; or • To inform the University of your planned gift or to enrol in the Heritage Society of Victoria University for those who have made a provision for Victoria or Emmanuel in their estate plans.

40741521

FSC logo 12