Kurt Downes (BA 2003, B.Ed 2005) always wanted to go to Japan, but the best part of his experience as an Olympic coach is sharing what he learned to benefit his students and athletes back home.

Head coach of the Border City Athletics Club, a teacher at St. James Catholic Elementary School, and a former assistant coach with Lancer track, Downes served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the Tokyo Games.

“It was a terrific experience,” he says. “I love to travel, I love architecture and Japanese culture, so getting to go was pretty cool.”

Even with the social distancing protocols necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, he felt welcomed.

“The people were excited to show off their country. Everybody we met was incredible,” says Downes. “As a first-time Olympics coach, I genuinely was interested in it all.”

He says it was rewarding to see the world-class performances by Canada’s athletes, many of whom he had known previously. The team earned six medals on the track, including gold for sprinter Andre de Grasse and decathlete Damian Warner.

“I was ecstatic to be there, watching the culmination of their development,” Downes says.

Those are moments he has stored to use in his career going forward.

“I saw how important it was to go and bring back things for the kids in the classroom and the club,” he says. “Stories, pictures, relationships — anything that gives me a starting point with them, maybe hold their attention a little longer. It gives me a platform to do some good.”

He notes that students in his school, on Windsor’s west end, are often less advantaged.

“My class last year, you name it, we dealt with it: deaths of parents, mental health situations, a death from COVID. We routinely see everything you can name.”

Rather than shying away from the challenges, Downes welcomes the opportunity to make a difference, recalling the influences of educators in his own life.

“I have been very fortunate,” he says. “When I was getting into teaching, I had a lot of people influencing me.”

Downes, who is Black, cites mentorship from Black teachers in his elementary and secondary school, as well as in the UWindsor Faculty of Education, in particular professor Andrew Allen.

“Dr. Allen made teacher’s college seem like something I should be doing. I could work at schools where kids look like me,” he says. “One of the things I talked to Dr. Allen about is: these schools need you. That really resonated with me.”

He says Allen impressed upon him that young people need to be inspired by role models.

“I was able to see people that I could aspire to be,” Downes says. “Now it’s important for my students to see themselves reflected in all kinds of professionals and occupations. That’s true for girls, for boys, for kids from different backgrounds.”

University of Windsor students will have a new resource for reporting sexual violence this fall. 

The University has partnered with REES (Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors), a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week centralized online reporting and information platform that provides increased options for students, staff, and faculty to report sexual violence. 

The tool, customized to the specific needs of the University of Windsor, includes crucial information about resources and supports available both on campus and in community, as well as offering three reporting options that include Anonymous Report, Connect to My Campus, and Repeat Perpetrator Identification. 

“Sexualized violence is a range of behaviours that include misconduct, harassment, and assault, and can occur both in-person and in online spaces,” says Dusty Johnstone, Director of UWindsor’s Office of Sexual Violence, Resistance, and Support. 

“REES provides our campus community with a safe, secure, online platform for individuals to document their incident and empower themselves with the option of having their voice heard in whatever way they choose.” 

According to a 2019 Stats Canada Survey on Individual Safety in the Postsecondary Student Population, 71 percent of postsecondary students witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours over the past year, while 10 percent of women students had experienced a sexual assault in a postsecondary setting over the previous year. 

“Keeping our campus safe for all individuals in all spaces is crucial to maintaining a university community where every person is valued, respected, and heard,” says UWindsor President and Vice-Chancellor Robert Gordon. 

“REES addresses the need to provide reporting options that honour privacy and respects the individual’s right to document their experience in a way that is most comfortable for them. It is an outstanding tool of empowerment for our campus community, and I welcome it wholeheartedly.”  

The University of Windsor joins the University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, University College of the North, and others in implementing REES resources.

A $5,000 scholarship from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada will enable UWindsor student Jasmine Kobrosli further her work examining the psychological effects of inflammatory bowel disease.

Kobrosli, entering her fourth year of undergraduate study, has lived experience with IBD: she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2013 and Crohn’s disease in 2018.

“I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis during my final year of high school,” she says. “Since my illness was so severe at the time, my university career was delayed.”

After regaining her health, she enrolled at the University in 2018.

“I had always planned to study psychology, but since being diagnosed with both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, I have been inspired to conduct research that will have a meaningful impact on the inflammatory bowel disease community by tying my love of psychology into the experiences that I and others have had,” says Kobrosli.

Her honours thesis project on the subject will qualitatively examine the lived experiences, struggles, and quality of life in individuals with IBD.

“Being diagnosed with IBD and experiencing the unpredictability it comes with has been a trying experience,” she says. “However, what I have learned about myself and others through living with IBD has been immeasurable.”

She says that the scholarship will be of significant benefit, allowing her to devote more time to her studies and research. Kobrosli is one of two co-ordinators in professor Kendall Soucie’s Health Experiences and Longevity (HEAL) Lab and serves as vice-president of the Windsor chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. She co-founded the Gutsy Youth Group to mentor children and adolescents with Crohn’s or colitis and plans to pursue graduate study towards practice in clinical psychology.

The AbbVie IBD Scholarship recognizes post-secondary students living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis who exemplify outstanding leadership in their community and strive to maintain an optimal level of wellness. Kobrosli was one of 20 recipients across the country, double the usual number in celebration of the program’s 10th anniversary.

Windsor Lancer Gaming defeated uOttawa Esports following a single elimination semi-final round to finish third in the U SPORTS Gaming Valorant Open Tournament held Aug. 21-22 on PC.

The inaugural event was the first of a new three-year partnership between U SPORTS and CSL Esports, operator of the nation’s largest collegiate esports league.

All players competed in the new NACE StarLeague, a multi-company partnership between CSL Esports, the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and industry leaders Nerd Street and Mainline boasting the largest collegiate esports league in North America with more than 14,500 students from 600 colleges and universities.

Our habits are the building blocks of our day-to-day lives, and strengthening our habits can support the achievement of our health and wellness goals. Below are five ideas for building the habits you want and harnessing them to work for you:

Start your habit change process by building awareness. Pay attention to your current habits and identify one that you may want to change. For example, "I will incorporate more physical activity into my day"

1. Anchor your new habit to something you do on a regular basis. For example, "I will go for a walk after each meal"
2. Gain clarity about what you want to do and how you will do it. Set clear and specific goals. For example, "I will incorporate 30 minutes of walking into my day"
3. Start with a simple step. Break the habit into “micro-commitments”, small “chunks” and celebrate small wins. For example, "Week 1, I will walk 5 minutes after lunch and 5 minutes after dinner; week 2, I will walk 5 minutes after lunch and 10 minutes after dinner, etc. until the daily 30-minute daily goal is achieved"
4. Remember the “why.” Keeping in mind why you are doing something – the personal value, meaning, and importance of a behavior can be helpful. For example, "I would like to lose weight"