Vic Report, Summer 2010

summer 2010

Erin Fitzgerald 2010 Rhodes Scholar

page 8

Farewell from Chancellor Jewison

page 15

president’s page

Vic Students Go for Gold by paul w. gooch

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omething has happened to the old suspicion that the word “elite” cannot be translated into Canadian English. In the winter of 2010, we modest folk, who don’t like to think of any particular Canadian as better than any other Canadian, learned to celebrate one group of our own elite. Perhaps we felt a little embarrassed about claiming in advance the ownership of the podium; but our customary modesty was dissolved in the passion of winning so much gold at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Photograph: Peg McCarthy

I suspect that we have found ourselves able to celebrate this excellence because it is blind to troublesome differences and to privilege. One can be a great athlete regardless of linguistic, cultural, religious or social factors. There are two main requisites: a basically sound physical constitution and hard, disciplined, determined effort. There’s lots of evidence that the second is the more important of these two. So there is something egalitarian about the elitism of sport. At the Vancouver Games, Canadians were unabashed about excellence.

We cannot be a great nation without having an educational system that is among the very best—well, the most excellent— in the world. So why are we so ginger about the notion of the elite in education?

Is it time to bury the 19th-century class notions of elitism as referring to a social elite whose education was privileged beyond their deserving? It certainly is time to celebrate the truly excellent young minds among us. They are great without regard to their social status, their cultural identities and the spelling of their names, their public or private education, their urban or rural upbringing.

As with athletes, there are two factors that make them elite: they have, in this case, a sound mental constitution, but even more importantly, they have a determination and commitment to learning.

I suggest, then, that we should not be shy to acclaim them as elite. An elite athlete deserves high honour for incredible focus. An elite student has a like determination, and deserves high honour for mastering many facets of knowledge and for winning an understanding of how the world works, all in order to make it better. Is there a more worthy podium to be won?

I am proud to say that Victoria students go for gold. They are egalitarian on social issues; they reflect the diversity of the world. But, as our history demonstrates, they have always been among the best, and they are getting even better. The Moss Scholarship, the University of Toronto’s highest award for a graduating student in arts and science on all three campuses, has frequently been “owned” by a Vic student. This year’s Moss winner, Erin Fitzgerald, is also the first Vic woman to win a Rhodes Scholarship (see page 8). She represents the best of Vic. At Vic, we have our own gold for honouring our best. On convocation day, our graduands gather to receive awards, and there are 15 gold medals handed out to recognize the stunning accomplishments of our students in a variety of subjects (most are in the humanities, with three in the sciences and two in the social sciences). As we come up to our 175th anniversary, let us banish the mediocrity that masks itself in modesty, and find more ways to celebrate hard-won academic success. It may even be time to learn to use the word “elite” for the Olympian accomplishments of mind and imagination.  On page 15, you will see a farewell from our outgoing chancellor, Norman Jewison Vic 4T9.

A distinguished filmmaker of Olympian stature, he has not only entertained the world, but also embodied issues of social justice in memorable narratives on the silver screen, directed to our hearts and minds. The passion he has brought to his work as a director and producer is the same passion displayed in his role as chancellor. We have been privileged to have Norman serve as our chancellor. He has set the gold standard; he is one of our elite.

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Summer 2010 Volume XXXVIII No. 3 Published under the authority of the Board of Regents of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

Publisher: Deborah Scott, Executive Director, Advancement Editor: Alison (Massie) Broadworth Vic 9T7, Associate Director, Alumni Affairs and University Advancement Managing Editor: Jennifer Pugsley Vic 0T1, Communications Officer Copy Editor: Frank Collins Design: DDB Canada Cover: Erin Fitzgerald Vic 1T0 by the upper houses of Burwash Hall. Photography by Peg McCarthy.

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

Published three times a year; circulation 23,000; ISSN 0315-5072.

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40741521 Send letters 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.report@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 their name from the mailing list.

newsline

Norman Jewison Completes Term as Chancellor

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orman Jewison Vic 4T9 will conclude his six-year term as Victoria University’s 12th chancellor on Charter Day this October. At the time of his 2004 installation, when asked why he had accepted the office of chancellor, he replied, “It’s called ‘paying your dues.’ Victoria gave so much to me when I was struggling to decide which direction I should take in life. This involvement as chancellor may help someone else, or result in some benefit to Victoria. I’m not sure what, but I live in hope.”

“Without a doubt, Norman has paid his dues many times over, and with interest,” says President Paul Gooch. “As our chancellor, Norman has been a source of inspiration for the many students and alumni he has met.”

Jewison hosted numerous informal student meetings, known as “Chats with the Chancellor,” throughout his term.

His annual Chancellor’s Council luncheon brought many luminaries to Vic, such as actor Albert Schultz, in 2009, and diplomat Allan Gotlieb, in 2008. His recent gift of the Norman

Jewison Archive to Vic’s E.J. Pratt Library generated nationwide media attention, and the special collection has been an invaluable resource for researchers and students. This past February, Jewison delivered Vic’s annual Pelham Edgar Lecture in the humanities. His Norman Jewison was installed as Vic’s address, “The Artist as 12th chancellor on May 13, 2004. an Advocate for Justice,” examined the theme of social justice in his films and reinforced his passionate respect and concern for human values (see Chancellor’s Forum, page 15). 

Honorary Degrees to Activists, Educators Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng and John Saul Recognized

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reer Anne Wenh-In Ng Emm 8T0 and John S. Saul Vic 5T9 stood as examples of leadership when they received a doctor of divinity and a doctor of sacred letters, respectively, from Victoria University on May 13.

Known for her commitment to multicultural and antiracist ministry and religious education, Ng’s engagement with theology encompasses congregations, denominational

judicatories, ecumenical networks, and local and global theological institutions. Her contributions to Emmanuel College as associate professor of Christian education (19952002) range from developing programs relating to ethnic and multicultural ministries to facilitating the establishment of the Centre for Asian Theology. Since retiring in 2002, Ng has served as interim General Council minister for the United Church of Canada and as minister for social justice and ethnic ministries for the United Church’s Toronto Conference.

Photograph: Victoria Alumni Office

Saul is a distinguished Canadian scholar whose work on the politics of South Africa focuses on the liberation struggles of that region from the 1960s to the present. For more than 40 years, he has also been actively working towards social change in southern Africa. In addition to teaching political science at York University (1972-2003), Saul has taught in Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa. He has served as an editor of South African Report, was involved with the Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa, and is the founder of the Canadian Research Consortium on South Africa.

In 2004, Saul was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng and John Saul engaged in discussion prior to receiving their honorary degrees.

Ng and Saul were recognized for their accomplishments during the Victoria University convocation ceremony for the Emmanuel College Class of 2010.  summer 2010 | vic report

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Photograph: Babak

Artist as an Advocate for Education

newsline

Victoria College Students Offer “Bear Hugs” Stuffed Animals Sent to Children Around the World

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nitting needles clacked and crochet hooks flashed this past spring as Victoria College students put the finishing touches to handmade bears destined for children devastated by the recent earthquake in Haiti. “We send the necessities of life—food, money, clothing—but love and caring are also necessities,” said Jennifer Hard Vic 1T0, co-founder of the Bear Pals club that is sending 50 stuffed animals to Haiti.

As a volunteer at the Hospital for Sick Children, Hard said she witnessed the comfort a stuffed animal can give a vulnerable child. Every few months, she tucks the latest batch of bears into a box and delivers them to the charity Canadian Food for Children, which ships food and supplies to developing countries. So far, the club’s 35 members have created almost 180 bears that have been sent to children in Africa, South America and the Philippines. “In the past it’s been random—the bears go wherever the container is bound that day,” Hard said. “But after the earthquake, we wanted our bears to go to Haiti, so we’ve been waiting for that shipment.”

Inside each box of bears, the students include a typed letter signed by all club members: Dear Friend, These Bear Pals have been handmade with love for children who are alone or could use a friend. Please distribute them to girls and boys in your community as a loving pal. Thank you. 

Photograph: Caz Zyvatkauskas

Hard and Joyce Fok Vic 1T0 launched the club in February 2009 after noticing a dearth of groups focusing on crafts or material arts. “We need more clubs to do this kind of outreach,” Fok said. “This is a really small thing but it helps students to see past themselves and past the university.”

Bear Pals founder Jennifer Hard (left) and fellow club member Jessica Lee enjoy socializing as they knit.

Where There’s a Will…

Victoria University can be designated as a beneficiary in your will. Here’s an example of a suggested wording: I give and bequeath to the Board of Regents of Victoria University, Toronto, Ontario, the sum of $ ________ or ______ % of my estate.

If you wish to designate a specific bequest (a scholarship, the library, etc.), please contact the Victoria Alumni Office at 416-585-4500, toll-free: 1-888-262-9775 or vic.alumni@utoronto.ca.

Courtesy The Bulletin, University of Toronto

Vic Fellows Honoured

Photograph: Victoria Alumni Office

The Victoria University community honoured retiring fellows John Baird and Magdalene Redekop on May 11, 2010. The two professors of English represent a combined 80 years of expertise and academic excellence, and have provided the foundation for the future studies of many English majors.

Baird has taught at Vic since 1967 and Redekop since 1972.

Also recognized that day were two longtime employees of Victoria University: Larry Davies, director of alumni affairs and university advancement, who retired in March; and Tony Smits, director of physical plant, who retired in January.

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Kelley Castle Vic’s New Dean of Students Inspiring Students to Think Differently

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ince her arrival at Vic this past February as the new dean of students, Kelley Castle has been immersed in the duties of her office, which has full responsibility for campus and residence life, relations with student government and societies, and student life issues in university governance. During this time, she has witnessed how the enthusiasm for an enhanced student experience comes from more than administrative planning: it comes from the students themselves. It was a discovery that aligns with Castle’s plans for student life at Vic.

Castle was previously dean of students at Trinity College at the University of Toronto, where she developed successful outreach programs, such as the Humanities for Humanity program, which brought students and community members together. She was also dean of women and dean of residence at the University of King’s College in Halifax. Castle is a graduate of Carleton University and pursued graduate studies in philosophy at U of T while also serving as the director of U of T’s Teaching Assistant Training program. 

Her guiding principle will be to “encourage the curious,” she says, and use the university landscape to inspire everyone “to see and think differently than we did before.” Without question, the future Goldring Student Centre will play a role in this vision. “Student life should not be like a recreational camp.

Academic and social worlds can, and should, converge in a healthy way. The Goldring Student Centre, which will be more than a facility, can help us with this convergence.”

Photograph: Peg McCarthy

“I firmly believe that what happens beyond and around the classroom is crucial not only to students’ overall experience, but to education itself. It gives context to what they are learning and educates in a more comprehensive way,” says Castle.

“One of the goals of a university ought to be to make its walls more porous. Students need to be in the community and the community needs to be in the university.”

New dean of students Kelley Castle aims to bring about a convergence of academic and social worlds at Vic.

Friends of Victoria University Library

19TH ANNUAL BOOK SALE SEPTEMBER 23-27, 2010 Thousands of books in ALL subject areas Old and New Scholarly and Popular Rare and Hot-off-the-Press

Old Vic, Alumni Hall and Second Floor 91 Charles St. W., Toronto TTC Subway Exit: Museum 416-585-4585 • vic.booksale@utoronto.ca http://library.vicu.utoronto.ca/booksale Volunteers are always welcome CASH • DEBIT • MASTERCARD • VISA Proceeds support Victoria University Library

summer 2010 | vic report

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JOIN THE CALLING ALL ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS ART CONTEST • PHOTO CONTEST What does Victoria University mean to you? What pictures come to mind when you think of your alma mater? Vic wants to know.

In honour of the 175th anniversary celebrations, Vic is hosting two visual arts competitions: an art contest and a photo contest, open to all Victoria University alumni, students, faculty and staff.

Art entries must feature the Victoria College building (Old Vic) as the main subject, and may make use of any artistic technique (e.g. pen and ink, charcoal, watercolour, acrylic, etc.). Photo entries must fall into one of two categories: Vic campus and Vic student life.

Cash prizes will be awarded, and winning entries will be featured in the 175th anniversary celebrations.

Visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca/about/vic175 today for contest rules.

Entries must be postmarked June 30, 2011.

VIC: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY Are you of the first generation in your family to come to Vic or of the fourth? What is your best student memory of Vic: your first day at Orientation, your last day at Convocation or sometime in between?

What is your Vic story? Now is the time to share it.

Send in your story by e-mail to vic.alumni@utoronto.ca, by fax to 416-585-4594 or by mail to the Victoria Alumni Office at 150 Charles St. W., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1K9.

Story submissions may be used in displays and promotion of Vic’s 175th anniversary.

Watch for the full 175th anniversary program of events to be released this fall.

CELEBRATION RA H !R AH !R AH !

E! E R — TYH! E P—RA CTORIA! P I I R ETY! RAH! V P P I

RELIVE YOUR FROSH DAYS

R RAH

RE-ORIENTATION • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2010

Start practising your cheers. Be ready to yell them “loud and proud” at Re-Orientation. It’s time to remember the fun-filled days of being a “freshie” or “frosh.” Vic’s 175th anniversary celebrations begin with an opportunity for all alumni to get reacquainted with campus life.

RE-ORIENTATION – OCTOBER 16, 2010 2 – 3 p.m. Re-Orientation Registration A.B.B. Moore Foyer, Old Vic 3 – 4 p.m. Relive the Tradition Women’s Traditional, Isabel Bader Theatre Men’s Traditional, Vic Chapel 4 – 6 p.m. High Tea with President Paul W. Gooch Alumni Hall, Old Vic Your official welcome back to Vic. 6 – 8 p.m. Time to Dine Do you remember where your “house” table was located? Alumni are welcome to join students in Burwash Dining Hall for dinner.

Seating is limited and registration is required.

8 p.m.

Re-Orientation Pub This is your opportunity to meet people, dance up a storm and have a good time. Vic Pub DJs from the 80s, 90s and 2000s will each take a turn spinning the tunes.

High Tea $10 • Re-Orientation Pub $15 Burwash Dining Hall Dinner $15 Registration Information: www.vicu.utoronto.ca/about/vic175 416-585-4500 • vic.alumni@utoronto.ca

DISCIPLINED DETERMINATION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE RHODES SCHOLAR ERIN FITZGERALD TAKES THE NEXT STEP

Photograph: Peg McCarthy

By Cynthia Macdonald

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cover story

She’s survived an armed robbery in a remote South American village.

She’s also a world-class karate champion and virtuoso debater. And, at 22, Erin Fitzgerald Vic 1T0 is already an accomplished analyst of war and defense issues with more than 30 articles, conference papers, reports and working papers to her name. For all her experience with the world of human combat, however, Fitzgerald remains a young woman of uncommon warmth and friendliness.

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his past December, Erin Fitzgerald became the first woman from Victoria College to be named a Rhodes Scholar. The world’s oldest and best-known international graduate scholarship, the Rhodes is awarded to students who combine academic excellence with public service, athletics and leadership. Fitzgerald will join 11 other Canadians at Oxford University in September. There, the graduating political science major and international relations specialist plans to spend two years pursuing a master’s degree, focusing on her interest in military security.

Her expertise in conflict has its roots in co-operation. In the summer of 2006, after graduating from high school with a Toronto-best average of 99.5 per cent, Fitzgerald decided to join a team working on a health promotion project with an NGO based in Guyana. “I knew that political science was what I wanted to do,” she says. “But I thought, I don’t just want to read books. I want to bring something to the discussion.”

Halfway through the project, however, something terrible happened. “Around midnight we heard this bang. We woke up and wondered, what’s going on? These men had broken in, and they had rifles and machetes. It was like something out of a movie.”

The men bound Fitzgerald and her team with duct tape, and stole money, food and medicines. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but “it was a terrible thing to go through,” she remembers. “All the worst things were going through my mind.”

Fitzgerald believes that economic and military security are uniquely intertwined. It’s a perspective she honed as this year’s chair of the University of Toronto’s well-known G8 Research Group (a global network of scholars, professionals in the media, business, government and research communities and students, which mounts programs at the annual G8 summit), and while researching a book chapter on continental defense for one of Canada’s preeminent political scientists, U of T professor Stephen Clarkson. Clarkson and Fitzgerald are also co-authors of the article “A Special Military Relationship? Canada’s Role in Constructing US Military Power” for the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. It’s a point of view she has also brought to two subsequent internships, both of which have shaped her skills and broadened her outlook.

Working at the World Health Organization in Geneva three years ago, she researched the ways in which conflicts affect the delivery of health services. Later, at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, she co-authored a series of reports on the U.S. defense budget, weapons acquisitions and strategic force planning. That a Canadian would be selected—from a pool of stellar American applicants—for such a coveted position in a reputable D.C. think tank is remarkable, but Fitzgerald clearly brought to the position a perspective on war and military issues that was ethical, rational and rare.

As the citizen of a country that is currently at war, she is frustrated by the apathy she sees around her. “There’s very little consciousness about this,” she says. “There wasn’t a great deal An ordeal like this could have broken her spirit, and of debate over the justification for the Afghan mission, nor is Fitzgerald admits that each team member dealt with the trauma there much dialogue about the efficacy of what we’re doing. in his or her own way, but the very act of survival only amplified Even the pullout in 2011 isn’t debated much, which surprises her naturally positive nature. “Oddly, it definitely cemented the me, because from my perspective it’s really important.” path I wanted to follow,” she says, noting that the attacks took It’s clear that Fitzgerald stands out from her peers. Yet, place during Guyana’s election period, a traditionally dangerous over coffee at the Wymilwood Café, her large blue eyes alight time. “There is insecurity in places like this, and it helped me with good humour, Fitzgerald seems just like any other realize that I could make a difference.” summer 2010 | vic report

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cover story

Photograph: Gustavo Toledo

Fitzgerald credits her discipline and time-management skills to a very significant influence in her life: karate.

It was one of the many sports and activities her parents enrolled her in, late in elementary school. “I said no, I don’t want to go—I look ridiculous in these white pajamas!” she recalls. Within months, however, the sport had become an important touchstone.

This past May, Erin Fitzgerald received the University of Toronto’s highest honour, the Moss Scholarship, an award of excellence presented annually by U of T’s Alumni Association to a graduating arts and science student. She’s seen here with (left to right) UTAA president Carl Mitchell, U of T president David Naylor and U of T chancellor David Peterson at the award presentation.

undergraduate (when she found out she’d won the Rhodes, for example, she was watching an episode of Arrested Development with younger sister Niamh). Looks can deceive, however: this is the same young woman who read Rousseau’s Social Contract at age 11.

How does an Erin Fitzgerald come about?

“I have the best family ever,” she says with pride. Her parents emigrated from Ireland in the early 1980s and worked hard—her father as a truck driver for Coca-Cola, her mother as a nurse. Niamh, two years Erin’s junior, is currently in her second year at Victoria College. “They involved us in a lot of things. I remember skating lessons and skiing, and I played basketball for a while, which I despised. But they encouraged me to follow through.” She says her parents’ real wish was to raise well-rounded children who were assets to society, “because when they moved here, they were helped by a strong Irish community that helped them get adjusted.”

Accordingly, social life is critical to Fitzgerald. At university, that need has largely been satisfied by her involvement in the Hart House Debating Club. “It’s a great way to discuss things, and an interesting competitive environment. It also lets me look at things from a different perspective. I don’t get to talk about bioethics very often in coursework, for example, so this is a forum where I can do that.”

She considers it equally important that many fellow debaters are now her close friends. “I have a very active social life, shockingly!” she laughs, when asked how she fits it all in.

“I meet up with friends and have coffee-and-drink-dates. I think it’s important to keep that kind of balance, because if you don’t have those fun things to look forward to then it can be pretty miserable. I would hate to think that I came to U of T and all I remembered was the inside of Robarts Library. It’s important to have fun and go out.”

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“I fell in love with it. It’s really affirmational—great in terms of confidence-building, in empowering yourself physically and mentally, and in forming discipline. I credit a lot to my karate training. I think the focus that you gain there is applicable to so many different aspects of life.” Fitzgerald earned a black belt in 2004 and went on to compete in the world championships in Norway two years ago, winning gold medals in two events. She is currently retired from competition, but still insists on a daily workout; while at U of T, her first stop after making the long commute from Scarborough has invariably been the gym at Hart House. “I guess that’s my daydreaming time,” she says.

It goes without saying that Erin Fitzgerald has already earned a great deal of admiration from those who’ve encountered her. In Stephen Clarkson’s opinion, she is “highly motivated, enthusiastic and very intelligent. We can all be proud of her moving on to Oxford next year.” The Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente, who sat on the Rhodes selection committee for Ontario, praised Fitzgerald in her Dec. 24, 2009, column for being “unaffected, natural and (that most Canadian of virtues) nice.”

But in late spring, as we speak, the hard work that’s resulted in these accolades is, at least temporarily, behind her: Fitzgerald’s final exams are over and the long summer stretches ahead. She has no definite plans, but may visit Africa, where Niamh will be working. “Maybe I’ll climb Mount Kilimanjaro or something,” she remarks offhandedly.

It’s hard to tell whether she’s serious or not: Erin Fitzgerald is both so quick to laugh, and so wildly accomplished, that either is possible. Given all the mountains she’s already tackled in her young life, it’s safe to say she means it.  Cynthia Macdonald, a 1986 University of Toronto graduate, is a writer in Toronto.

Rhodes Scholars from Victoria College Alfred L. Burt Vic 1910 Geoffrey L. Haggen Vic 1913 Elmo L. Ashbourne Vic 2T0 Norman J. Endicott Vic 2T4 Edward B. Jolliffe Vic 3T1 Harold S. Day Vic 3T1 Edward R. Hopkins Vic 3T2

John E. Hodgetts Vic 3T9 Douglas G. Anglin Vic 4T8 James A. Carscallen Vic 5T6 David I. W. Hamer Vic 7T4 Daniel R. Vincent Vic 8T1 Erin K. Fitzgerald Vic 1T0

focus on alumni

Jacqueline Lyanga’s Love Affair with Film or a film lover, it doesn’t get any better than this,” says Jacqueline Lyanga Vic 9T4, the new director of AFI FEST, the annual film festival of the American Film Institute, now in its 24th year. “Being in LA, in the heart of Hollywood, at the centre of the film business, the nexus of arts and commerce, it’s exciting. It’s also pretty wonderful to work at a place where everyone loves film.” In some ways, Lyanga has been working towards this moment since the age of 12, when she watched John Cassavetes’ Shadows on TV late one night. Drawn to the film, a jazz-infused story of interracial relations in Beat-era New York City, Lyanga immediately taped it to watch again and again. She was hooked. Making stop-motion videos in high school followed, as did shooting short films in university. While at Vic, she began learning about film criticism as a cinema studies major and wrote film reviews for the Strand. Volunteering with the Toronto International Film Festival would lead Lyanga to become a TIFF employee after graduation. She then worked for a number of industry-related operations, learning the business of filmmaking. She also nurtured an interest in screenwriting; she graduated from the AFI Conservatory with a master of fine arts and developed a script for Disney. In 2005, Lyanga joined AFI as a festival programmer, taking on the sometimes exhausting schedule of watching up to 10 films a day for months at a time. “It’s exhilarating, too,” Lyanga laughingly adds. “You’ll be watching a film and discover something that’s extraordinary. Immediately you want to share it with others.”

As the director of AFI FEST Lyanga’s programming focus has had to shift slightly from independent and short films to bigger productions, galas, premieres and special screenings. There’s also the new responsibility of forging relationships with the city, as well as cultural institutions and businesses within the community, but these are welcome changes. “It’s an incredible opportunity, a bit daunting at times when I look Jacqueline Lyanga between film screenings at the Cannes International Film Festival this past May. at the legacy of AFI, but I’m up to the challenge. I’m looking forward to the coming festival this November.” 

Jeremy Mogridge in Pursuit of Scientific Discovery

Photograph: Victoria Alumni Office

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o hear Jeremy Mogridge Vic 9T1 talk about researching anthrax toxin is akin to listening to an explorer describing the act of travelling through unknown territory. For Mogridge, one of Canada’s leading experts on the subject of anthrax and the holder of the Canada Research Chair in Bacterial Pathogenesis, the pursuit of scientific discovery is the driving force. “I primarily conduct basic research. I work on things that I think are interesting and important, not things that will lead directly to a new drug or treatment. The research may, of course—we are developing anthrax toxin inhibitors, for instance—but it’s difficult to predict,” he says. “What history tells us, however, is that basic research has been tremendously successful at generating discoveries that greatly impact our lives.” Consider just some of the results of basic research and their impact on daily life—Teflon, the microwave oven, penicillin, aspirin, x-rays, lasers—and Mogridge’s point is made. He began researching anthrax in 1998, well before the 2001 postal anthrax attacks in the United States made the disease so well known. People’s eyes would glaze over when he told them what he did, Mogridge says, but “after it hit the news, people would back away from me when I told them.” He came to the field of study rather serendipitously. A grade school interest in meteorology gave way to biology in high school. “Meteorology is not the ideal science for an experimentalist,” he says. Undergraduate studies in biochemistry and molecular biology developed his research interests and graduate school was the obvious choice for continuing to learn about molecular biology. A fascination with bacterial pathogens and their human hosts then led him to join a lab at Harvard Medical School studying diphtheria toxin and anthrax toxin, where a Jeremy Mogridge, holder of the Canada Research supervisor pointed Mogridge towards anthrax toxin-related work. The rest, you could Chair in Bacterial Pathogenesis, in his research say, is the result of his sound basic research.  lab at the University of Toronto. summer 2010 | vic report

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Photograph: Courtesy Jacqueline Lyanga

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milestones

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

Careers, Authors, Honours Frank Barrett Vic 5T8 has received the Desmond Chamberlain Cup for his book Ernest Ibbetson: Military Artist and Adventure Story Illustrator. The British Postcard Dealers’ Association awards the Cup annually in recognition of the best research on postcards.

The book is available in Canada from fbarrett@yorku.ca.

College alumni who mounted an art exhibition at Toronto’s Art Square Gallery this past February. The range of artwork on display included acrylics, watercolours, graphics, over 20 pastel portraits, photographs and three sculptures.

John Paul de Silva Vic 0T1 graduated from Queen’s University in May with an MBA.

Peter Godsoe Vic 6T1 was awarded the Order of Ontario at a ceremony at Queen’s Park on Jan. 28, 2010. A Gillian (Haggart) Cummings Vic 8T3 business leader and former president has published her first novel, Somewhere of Scotiabank, Godsoe’s philanthropic in Blue (Lobster Press). contributions have supported a broad Set in Toronto’s Beaches, range of community causes, including this book for young education, health care and the arts. adults chronicles the unravelling of a 16-year- Debi (Awde) Goodwin Vic 7T3 is the author of Citizens of Nowhere (Doubleday old girl after the loss Canada, September 2010). A story of of her father to cancer. courage, adaptation and determination, Citizens of Nowhere follows 11 refugee Ann (Glanville) Darbyshire Vic 5T0, students from their camps in Africa David Gardner Vic 5T0 and Eileen through their first year of study at (Snider) Roberts Vic 5T0 were part of a university campuses across Canada. group of Victoria College and University

Alumni Office Relocates During the construction of the Goldring Student Centre, the Victoria Alumni Office will be temporarily located in Old Vic. This summer, visit the Victoria Alumni Office on the main floor of Old Vic, off the west side of the A.B.B. Moore Foyer.

Continue to phone and e-mail the Victoria Alumni Office at: 416-585-4500/toll-free 1-888-262-9775 and vic.alumni@utoronto.ca.

William Humber Vic 7T2, and Darryl Humber Vic 0T3, father and son, had their first collaborative work, Let It Snow: Keeping Canada’s Winter Sports Alive, published

by Dundurn Press this past winter.

Photograph: Courtesy Joan Burrows

Grace Ji-Sun Kim Vic 9T2, associate professor of doctrinal theology at Moravian Theological Seminary, recently published “Asian American Feminist Theology” in Liberation Theologies in the United States: An Introduction (New York: New York University Press). Kim also received the Wabash Center Summer Research Fellowship for 2010.

Towards the end of April, a group of Vic alumnae came together for lunch in West Vancouver, B.C. Seen here are (left to right) Louise (Woods) Rolston Vic 5T7, Alice (Gow) Strangway Vic 5T7, Catharine (Falby) Alban Vic 5T6, Mary Jane (Haynes) Coulter Vic 5T8 and Joan (Fidler) Burrows Vic 5T8. All of the women, with the exception of Joan Burrows, lived in Waldie House in the days of Vic’s Bloor Street residences.

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summer 2010 | vic report

Jacqueline Lyanga Vic 9T4 was appointed director of the American Film Institute’s annual film festival, AFI FEST, in January 2010 (see page 11).

Jeffrey Moore Vic 7T6 has published his third novel, The Extinction Club (Penguin Canada). Set in Quebec’s Laurentian forests, The Extinction Club is a tale of wildlife love and destruction. Launched in Toronto and Montreal in April 2010,

milestones

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the novel has been sold to publishers Memorial University as Alumnus of the in Australia, Denmark, Holland, Israel, Year for 2009, and made a member of the Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Order of Canada in July 2009.

Verna (MacKay) Reid Vic 5T0 recently published Women Between: Construction of Self in the Work of Sharon Butala, Aganetha Dyck, Mary Meigs and Mary Pratt (University of Calgary Press).

Women Between explores the evolving perceptions of self of four prominent Canadian women who came into the prime of their careers after the age of 50.

Edward Roberts Vic 6T0 is a 2010 mentor at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, providing guidance to doctoral students previously awarded the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship and ensuring that their work is applicable and responsive to the needs and concerns expressed by society. Roberts was also recently named a patron of the Wessex Society of Newfoundland, selected by

Cathy (Madden) Rushton Vic 7T9 has been named interim president and CEO of Red River College.

Mark Schatzker Vic 9T6 has published his first book, Steak: One Man’s Search for the Tastiest Piece of Beef (Viking USA). Schatzker is a columnist for the Globe and Mail, as well as a frequent contributor to a variety of magazines, including Condé Nast Traveler, Report on Business and Explore.

Tom Sherwood Emm 7T6 was named a co-recipient of the 2009 McGeachy Senior Scholarship last fall. Based at Carleton University and the Canadian Campus Chaplaincy Centre, Sherwood is conducting a three-year study of the spirituality of the children of the Baby Boomer generation.

Donald Sprung Vic 5T7 has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition of his outstanding contributions to physics, particularly to the understanding of nuclear dynamics.

milestones

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Photograph: Courtesy Debra Teelucksingh

Alice Porter Vic 5T2 was awarded the Order of Ontario at a ceremony at Queen’s Park on Jan. 28, 2010. A nurse and missionary, Porter has dedicated more than 50 years to community service in Canada and India.

Debra Teelucksingh Vic 8T8 was a torchbearer in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. She ran 500 metres through Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, located in northern Ontario. Teelucksingh also captained Bombardier Aerospace’s 2009 Ride for Heart Bike Team, helping the company win a Heart & Stroke Foundation Corporate Challenge Industry Award. Her dragon boat team, for which she is a pacer, also took first place in 2009 at the Great White North Dragon Boat Challenge, an annual large-scale fundraising event for Canadian charities and one of North America’s premier dragon boat racing events.

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summer 2010 | vic report

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milestones

Marriages Heather Hemming Emm 9T2 and Ross Bartlett Emm 9T2 married on Nov. 28, 2009, in Halifax. The preacher was Rob Fennell Emm 9T4, 0T5.

Wandy Li Vic 9T8 and Danny Ip married on April 3, 2010, in Toronto.

Births To Laura (Young) Boardman Vic 9T1 and Chris Boardman, a son, Colin Howard John Boardman, on April 2, 2009.

To Kathleen (Wilcox) White Vic 9T0 and Ken White, a son, Brian Marvin Nisbet White, on June 1, 2009, in Oakville, Ont. A brother for Andrew.

In Memoriam

Wilma (Toll) Clarke Vic 3T3, in St. Thomas, Ont., May 20, 2008.

Beverley (McCutcheon) Mallory Vic 5T7, in Stoney Creek, Ont., April 16, 2010.

Muriel Code Vic 3T3, in Mississauga, Ont., Feb. 10, 2010.

Katharine (Lehmann) Martyn Vic 6T0, in Toronto, Jan. 28, 2010.

J. Homer Dean Vic 3T7, Emm 4T0, in Toronto, March 19, 2010.

Donald Dewar Vic 4T6, class president, in Fergus, Ont., Feb. 1, 2010.

Doris June (Davy) Goodings Vic 4T1, in West Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 23, 2010.

Margaret Reesor Vic 4T5, in Kingston, Ont., Jan. 21, 2010.

Barbara (Harris) Hardy Vic 5T0, in Toronto, Jan. 17, 2010.

Olga (Bruchovsky) Ruskin Vic 5T3, in Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 19, 2010.

Jean (Cameron) Hunter Vic 4T3, in Toronto, Jan. 8, 2010.

Avrille (Holness) Simmons Vic 6T1, in Mississauga, Ont., March 6, 2010.

Eleanor (Williams) Hyland Vic 4T9, in Windsor, Ont., Dec. 30, 2009.

Jean (Crawford) Stevenson Vic 4T2, in Alliston, Ont., March 8, 2010.

Dorothy Irvine Vic 6T5, in Ottawa, Dec. 10, 2009.

Kenneth Lane Vic 4T9, in Toronto, Jan. 22, 2010.

Helen (Gatch) Brown Vic 4T3, in Ottawa, April 28, 2010.

John MacDougall Vic 5T1, in Toronto, Dec. 16, 2009.

John “Jack” Morgan Vic 4T9, in Barrie, Ont., Jan. 22, 2010.

Lois (Lunau) Peckitt Vic 4T7, in Chatham, Ont., Feb. 2, 2009.

J. Spencer Hann Vic 4T0, in Mississauga, Ont., Oct. 1, 2009.

G. Perry Arnot Vic 6T8, in Toronto, Feb. 12, 2010.

Arthur Menzies Vic 3T9, in Ottawa, March 4, 2010.

Margaret (Booth) Stinson Vic 4T2, in London, Ont., March 13, 2010.

Stephanie Taylor Vic 6T4, in Toronto, Sept. 6, 2009.

Mary (Baird) Vandewater Vic 4T6, in Kingston, Ont., Feb. 5, 2010.

Elizabeth (Adams) Buckley Vic 4T3, in Belmont, Mass., Nov. 22, 2009.

Luella Jean Webb Vic 4T8, in Innisfil, Ont., June 3, 2009.

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summer 2010 | vic report

chancellor’s forum

Farewell from the “Chance”: Our revels now are ended by norman f. jewison vic 4t9

A

s I sit down to write this farewell as your departing chancellor, I feel a little like Prospero, who with his bittersweet remarks, prepares to shuffle off the stage and leave it for the younger players.

Photograph: Peg McCarthy

Everything in life comes to an end. Well, almost everything.

Even a great gig like this one, which lasted six and a half years, comes to a final bow on Oct. 13, 2010. This is a particularly significant occasion for Victoria as it is also our Charter Day, when we will begin to celebrate our 175th year of existence as one of the best universities in Canada.

I wonder what Vic’s first chancellor, Samuel Nelles, felt when he completed his term in 1887? Did he ever consider Vic would move from Cobourg, Ont., to the large “sin-filled” city of Toronto? Just think how our alma mater (on the Old Ontario Strand) has grown, changed and blossomed since it first received its charter on Oct. 12, 1836, from King William IV. When I graduated from Vic in 1949, I never dreamed I would return one day as its chancellor. Of course, I never dreamed I would direct television programs, make movies in Hollywood or drive a Diamond cab.

meaning of loyalty, treachery, cruelty, kindness, sweetness, sourness—these things that shape every one of us for the rest of our lives. Were these topics even debated and discussed?

I hope those graduates were inculcated with an enthusiasm for intellectual ideas and the improvement of the human condition.

I hope all of them will dazzle the world with their brilliance.

None of us has any idea of what fate has in store for us. Fate is the hunter and we are but players on the stage.

We live in a time when—strange as it may be to say—many quite cultivated people consider truth to be unworthy of respect.

During the last six years, as I sat at convocations and award ceremonies and celebrated 5,286 Vic graduates and their accomplishments, I often wondered where they would end up.

What exciting roles will they play? Where will they find their hearts desire? What has destiny in store for all these promising Victoria graduates? They were all privileged individuals. Did they know that the duty of privilege is absolute integrity? Did they know what it is to be in love? What it is to discover the

It is widely accepted that truth is hardly the norm within the ranks of publicists, politicians and advertising executives, who are experts in the production of “spin,” of lies, and whatever modes of fraudulence and fakery they are able to devise. This is old news and we are accustomed to it. Someone’s always selling something, whether it is a product, an idea or some piece of propaganda.

Talking with Vic students about their university experience has been one of the highlights of Norman Jewison’s tenure, seen here at the celebration for the Norman Jewison Archive, in 2008.

But all the judgments we personally make about others and ourselves surely have to be based on the facts. What is valid?

What is true? Our moral judgments—all those things we decide for our own well-being, whether to increase our wealth, protect our health or serve our interests in some other way— are based on what we believe to be true.

Carved into the red limestone over the main entrance to this College are the words “The Truth Shall Make You Free.”

Words we should remember.

Photograph: Babak

It has been a privilege and an honour to serve as your chancellor for six and a half years. I thank President Gooch and all of the staff and faculty for their guidance and support.

And, to our newest alumni, this year’s graduating class, in the words of Walt Whitman, I bid you farewell as you “sail forth to seek and find.”  Norman Jewison at his installation as chancellor of Victoria University in May 2004, prior to receiving the robes of office.

Award-winning filmmaker Norman Jewison was installed as chancellor of Victoria University on May 13, 2004. His term concludes on Oct. 13, 2010. summer 2010 | vic report

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vic facts

Watch for more well-known and littleknown facts about Victoria University throughout 2010-2011, Vic’s 175th celebration year.

vic fact #4 In October 1845, Victoria College conferred its first degree, a bachelor of arts, upon Oliver Springer, a young man of 23 years of age who would become the county judge of Ontario’s Wentworth County. The occasion would also mark the conferring of the first arts degree in the province.

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On June 17, 2010, on the eve of Victoria’s 175th anniversary year, 523 Victoria College students received bachelor’s degrees from the University of Toronto.

Seen here is the procession of Victoria College’s graduating class from Old Vic to U of T’s Convocation Hall.