Hundreds of mourners filled Alumni Auditorium for a service Friday commemorating five members of the UWindsor community who died in the Jan. 8 crash of Ukrainian International Airlines’ Flight PS752.

University officials, faculty, staff, and students were joined by elected representatives of the municipal, provincial, and federal governments, as well as hundreds of family members and friends who watched a webcast of the ceremonies.

“Our hearts break today for all the families that have lost loved ones,” said UWindsor president Robert Gordon. “We mourn as the world mourns with us at the loss of promise and possibility.”

He noted that the victims — biology research assistant Samira Bashiri, engineering doctoral candidates Hamidreza Setareh Kokab, Pedram Jadidi, and Zahra Naghibi, and her spouse Mohammad Abbaspour Ghadi — had “unlimited” potential to add to human discovery.

The service featured emotional addresses by some who knew them best: their faculty advisors and close friends. A photographic slideshow captured moments from their lives. Watch it now.

A session Monday, Jan. 20, will provide information on the research commercialization program Lab2Market, which funds and equips graduate students and their faculty supervisors with the entrepreneurial skills needed to assess the market viability of their university-based innovations.

With the direct involvement of the faculty member, the program takes the graduate student through a rigorous curriculum that provides the resources, training, and guidance needed to take their research from lab to market.

The first cohort, scheduled to run in May 2020, will be delivered by Ryerson University and service Southern Ontario universities; applications will close on Jan. 31.

The UWindsor info session, hosted by the Office of Research and Innovation Services and the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre, will run 3 to 5 p.m. Register on the EPICentre website.

Law professor Sujith Xavier was part of a team that successfully represented Alexander Vavilov before the Supreme Court of Canada in a case that will alter how courts oversee decisions of administrative officials and public bodies.

In December 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that the Toronto-born Vavilov, son of Russian spies, was “entitled to a certificate of Canadian citizenship” following a long-running legal battle against the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

As reported by the CBC, Vavilov’s parents were arrested nine years ago in the United States and indicted on charges of conspiring to act as secret agents on behalf of Russia. As a result, Vavilov and his brother were no longer recognized as Canadian citizens.

Prof. Xavier joined Barbara Jackman and Hadyat Nazami as counsel making the case that the decision was unreasonable. The Supreme Court judges agreed.

“I’m pleased that the Supreme Court's ruling brings clarity to the standard of review that Canadian courts must use in reviewing the decisions of administrative officials,” says Xavier. “Alex can now return to Canada as a citizen, and I look forward to sharing this important area of my scholarship with Windsor Law students.”

Associate dean of research and graduate studies Laverne Jacobs says she is delighted to bring attention to Xavier’s work.

“This high-profile case not only has important access to justice dimensions, but it also has evolutionary impact in the field of Canadian administrative law,” she says.

Promising real answers to tough questions about Christianity, Cliffe Knechtle will make two appearances this week on the UWindsor campus.

Knechtle is the pastor of Grace Community Church in New Canaan, Connecticut. He is the founder of the “Give Me an Answer” organization, which sends him to speak to students — his visit to Windsor will be his first at a Canadian university.

Canterbury College will host a kick-off forum from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15. The conversation will continue Thursday, Jan. 16, in the CAW Student Centre Commons from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.