Hosting the event online this year means the Leadership Hub can offer free registration for the 2020 AIM Leadership Symposium, Nov. 16 to 21.

Students will take up roles on university bodies: departmental and faculty councils; renewal, promotion, and tenure; appointments committees. The symposium is intended to help them advance their mastery of the knowledge and skills they need to excel in their leadership positions, says organizers.

Simranjeet Kaur is this year’s student conference co-ordinator for this year, and Simon du Toit is the program co-ordinator.

The team is planning a rich leadership learning experience that will include networking opportunities for participants to meet each other. Attending students will receive training in:

• maintaining confidentiality;
• rules of order;
• conflict resolution;
• emotional intelligence;
• teamwork;
• communication; and
• building self-efficacy.

“We are requesting that faculty and administrators encourage those students to participate in this leadership training event,” says Dr. du Toit. “We AIM to help students develop the leadership skills that will have direct, positive impact on their employability.”

Registration is now open on the website of the Student Success and Leadership Centre.

While 2020 has brought many changes, volunteer organizers and supporters of the campus Adopt-A-Family campaign are confident that the UWindsor community will pull together to make this year’s charity drive as successful as always.

The University has a long-standing tradition of bringing together faculties and departments to donate to the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Foundation’s Holiday Program, which collects gifts and goods for more than 700 local families and youth living independently.

Mike Fisher, manager of web services and systems support, and Meagan Haugh, marketing co-ordinator for Continuing Education, serve on the foundation’s board of directors. They are encouraging staff and faculty to continue their involvement with the charity.

“The campaign will be organized differently this year, however its impact will be all the more meaningful to those families that benefit from the generosity of our Lancer community,” says Haugh.

Current restrictions make campus-wide collection of physical items in impossibility, but Fisher notes there are plenty of other ways for teams to carry on the tradition.

He suggests:

• donating directly online to receive a tax receipt;
• collecting group funds that would have otherwise been spent on a team holiday luncheon or gift exchange;
• making a special request to sponsor Continued Care Support for Youth, older teens who have aged out of foster care, but are still supported by the agency while living independently; or
• shopping from home using the online registry at babiesrus.ca, no. 61899781.

Individuals and teams may also request an Adopt-A-Family registry to purchase items or gift cards for direct delivery to the Children’s Aid Society offices. Contact holiday_program@wecas.on.ca or phone 519-256-1171, ext. 2540, indicating the size of family your team would like to sponsor.

All shipping and deliveries can be sent to:

• Windsor Essex Children’s Aid Society
  Attn: Holiday Program
  1671 Riverside Dr. East
  Windsor, ON  N8Y 5B5

“Let’s continue to show our community that we are Windsor Proud and make this a banner year for the Adopt-A-Family holiday campaign,” Fisher says.

For more information, contact meagan.haugh@uwindsor.ca or visit www.wecaf.on.ca.

Lights, camera, library? A local film headed to the Montreal Independent Film Fest sheds light on the importance of primary resources to capture historic stories.

The North Was Our Canaan is a local documentary that shares the story of those who crossed the Detroit River into Sandwich seeking freedom from slavery. Directed by Anushray Singh (MFA 2020) and produced by local historian Irene Moore Davis and Leddy librarian Heidi Jacobs, it features the voices of descendants residing in historic Sandwich Town.

“First-hand stories and interviews allow us to understand history from real people who were connected to past events,” says Davis, local historian with the Essex County Black Historical Research Society. “These voices bring history to life and shed light on stories that may not have been heard.”

The film collaboration began after an event organized by Teajai Travis in 2017, when Davis spoke about the women involved in helping those seeking freedom through the Underground Railroad between Detroit and Sandwich.

Davis described significant local historical people and events that are still unknown to many Windsorites. Hoping to document and share the stories more broadly, Jacobs and Davis decided to produce a short film.

The filmmakers sat down with descendants Lana Talbot, Charlotte Watkins, Kimberly Simmons, and Teajai Travis to capture the stories of those who undertook this daring quest for freedom and sought to forge a new life in Canada.

“We spent hours listening to these moving stories, stories that could change how people saw and understood history,” said Jacobs.

“It was critical that we preserve these stories and make them accessible — not just for the community, but for generations to come.”

In addition to interviews, library resources played a key role to help uncover and visualize the story.

“Many of the visual elements we used to complement the documentary were shot at the Leddy Library,” said Jacobs. “We used historical maps, microfilm of Voice of the Fugitive, the first Black newspaper published in Canada, and consulted several resources from the library’s Archives and Special Collections, including Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American slave from 1850.”

The film received an internal grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and is the first part of a larger project aiming to collect, document, and share the rich history and inspiring legacy of enslaved people who sought freedom in Canada.

A website containing the film, additional information, and historical context will be hosted by the library’s Centre for Digital Scholarship as an online exhibit in the near future.

The North was our Canaan will be showcased at the Montreal Independent Film Fest in November. The filmmakers invite the community to join the premiere online Tuesday, Nov. 17.

—Marcie Demmans

The Lancer women’s basketball team will celebrate women leaders in Windsor-Essex with an online event Dec. 6.

The W.E. for Women lineup includes a keynote address on self-confidence by Lancer head coach Chantal Vallée; a discussion regarding skills, tips, and advice from featured panellists; and a question-and-answer session with members of the basketball team past, present, and future.

All monies raised will help fund the program — providing scholarships for athletes and coaching mentorship opportunities.

Find more information, including ticket details and a list of panellists, at goLancers.ca.

Hundreds of viewers tuned in Wednesday to watch a video presentation marking Remembrance Day on the UWindsor YouTube channel.

Produced by staff of Public Affairs and Communications, the video featured an address by UWindsor president Robert Gordon, bagpiper Ryan Burchiel playing The Lament, voice student Vivian Alcantara Romero singing O Canada, and drama major Alison Adams reciting In Flanders Fields.

Dr. Gordon laid a wreath in the Armouries building in tribute Canadian soldiers who fought and fell in the cause of freedom. The video is available for the public to watch here.

Instructor Tim Brunet encourages students, staff, and faculty to join his class in Social Media & Mobile Technology to bring World Kindness Day to life in the UWindsor community and beyond.

The campaign offers a pro-social space where people can re-imagine their daily lives in a way that spreads kindness, hope, and care for others.

“Whether you want to reach out to a family member, a friend you miss, play kindness bingo, or thank a business for their work during the pandemic, there are many options that you can do to make someone’s day,” says Brunet. “It’s a practice that can go a long way during the COVID19 pandemic.”

He uses online public conversations as pedagogical opportunities in his teaching.

“World Kindness Day offers an opportunity to blend aspects of well-being and kindness while navigating an authentic social media campaign,” says Brunet.

His students reviewed the campaign, the social media assets, and suggested online strategies for spreading kindness.

The event kicks off on Nov. 13. Participate or watch it unfold by searching the hashtags #UWinCOMP2097 and #WorldKindnessDay. Watch a video promoting Random Acts of Kindness: