University of Windsor students, staff, and faculty are invited to attend the Campus Community Barbecue outside the Toldo Lancer Centre on Wednesday, Sept. 28, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Organizers say the annual event’s new location is intended to celebrate the new sport and recreation complex while thanking UWindsor students and the Alumni Association for their generous contributions towards the project.

The event will include music and entertainment, and the first 900 attendees will receive a limited-edition Toldo Lancer Centre rally towel. A complimentary barbecue lunch and sweet treats will be served in the parking lot area located behind the sport and recreation complex while supplies last.

Managers are encouraged to be flexible with the lunch hour to provide for travel time to and from the event.

A luncheon for UWindsor grads now employed by the institution will kick off Alumni Week festivities, Sept. 26.

The campus lunch acknowledges the special ambassadorial role played by faculty and staff with the insider knowledge of those who studied at the University. In addition to lunch, attendees will enjoy an address by president Robert Gordon. Register here to join celebrations of all things Blue and Gold at noon Monday in the student centre’s Alumni Auditorium.

Activities continue through Oct. 2:

• The Alumni Book Club will hear from Maggie Shipstead, author of the current reading, Great Circle, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27.
• Football fans will watch the Lancers host the Laurier Golden Hawks at Alumni Field at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1.
• The Alumni Sports Hall of Fame will induct new members in the Toldo Lancer Centre at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2. Buy a ticket to attend.

All week, grads are invited to share positive messages about their time at UWindsor via the UWin Remembers form. New entries submitted through Oct. 2 will be entered into a draw for a chance to win an alumni prize pack.

Through Sept. 30, Canadian Blood Services will host a blood drive at its Windsor location, 3909 Grand Marais Rd. East with the Alumni Association as a Partner for Life. To help save lives and fill a vital need during the pandemic, book an appointment online, call 1 888 2DONATE (1-888-236-6283), or download the GiveBlood app.

Find a full schedule of events on the Alumni Week website.

The public is invited to a reading and signing to launch books by UWindsor professor emeritus Karl Jirgens and alumnus Gordon Grisenthwaite (BA 2018, MA 2020), Wednesday, Sept. 28, at Biblioasis bookstore.

Dr. Jirgens will read from his new short story collection The Razor’s Edge.

Former UWindsor author-in-residence Nino Ricci says of it: “Every piece in this collection is a tour de force, weaving together history and idea and story with a wit that thrills as much as it challenges.”

Grisenthwaite’s novel, Home Waltz, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, and longlisted for the First Nations Communities Read Award. A coming-of-age story like no other, it delves into suicide, alcohol abuse, body image, and systemic racism.

Jirgens says the book launch will be both fun and edifying.

“We are delighted to present this reading and launch at Biblioasis bookshop with warm thanks to proprietor Dan Wells (BA 1996),” he says. “I’m sure those who attend will be stimulated by this event. Bring a friend. All are welcome!”

The free event begins at 7 p.m. and promises refreshments as well as music by keyboardist Nick Jirgens (BA 2021). Biblioasis is located at 1520 Wyandotte St. East.

Lancer Recreation’s fall intramural sports leagues will begin at the end of this week, and 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, is the deadline to register.

Students and community members of any skill level are welcome to join either as a team or individual. Soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, table tennis, badminton, volleyball, and spikeball will be offered this fall at the brand new Toldo Lancer Centre.

Here is how to sign up:

• Visit golancers.ca/tlc and click the “intramurals” icon.
• Sign in with UWinID or create an account if you are from the community and have not participated in Lancer Recreation programming before.
• Redirect to imleagues site.
• Click “intramurals” in the top left to see all leagues listed.
• Register a full team or as a free agent if you cannot form a full team.
• Pay at the Toldo Lancer Centre front desk or online through this link.

Direct questions to co-ordinator Giulia Barile at giulia.barile@uwindsor.ca.

Be sure to follow Lancer Recreation on social media (@lancerrec) and download the free Athletics and Recreation app to stay up-to-date on all the latest news.

From monuments to towns, sports teams, streets, schools, landmarks, and buildings, many Canadians are questioning names that commemorate historical figures with controversial legacies — some even pushing for removals, renaming, and other changes.

UWindsor history professor Gregg French will participate in a discussion on how to reckon with the past while looking towards the future Thursday, Sept. 22.

Hosted by Art Windsor-Essex, “What's in a Name?: A Community Conversation” will begin at 6:30 p.m. on the third floor of the gallery, 401 Riverside Dr. West.

Dr. French serves on the board of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, is co-ordinator of the Local Black History Internship Program, and is the co-chair of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences’ Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Decolonization Committee.

His research explores race-based identity formation and projections of power in colonial, post-colonial, borderland, and transnational spaces. Since the fall of 2021, he has taught a graduate course entitled “Monuments and Memory,” which critically examines the connections that exist at the intersection of identity, memory, power, and memorialization.

Joining French is moderator Craig Pearson, managing editor of the Windsor Star; artist Lana E. Talbot, a historian and tour guide at the Sandwich Baptist Church; and urban advocate Philippa von Ziegenweidt.

Find more information on the Art Windsor-Essex website.

Author Lawrence Hill will address his approach to dramatizing the past in a free public lecture Thursday, Sept. 22. Entitled “Faction: Lawrence Hill Reflects on Merging History and Fiction,” the event is presented by the Humanities Research Group and will begin at 5 p.m. in the Performance Hall at the SoCA Armouries.

A professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph, Hill is the author of 11 books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Book of Negroes and The Illegal. He is writing a new novel about the thousands of African American soldiers who helped build the Alaska Highway in northern British Columbia and Yukon during the Second World War.

Admission to his Thursday appearance is free and open to the public, no advance registration required. The SoCA Armouries is located at 37 University Ave. East, at Freedom Way.

The Organization of Part-time University Students promises free food and drink at its annual welcome barbecue, 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, on the north lawn outside Assumption Hall.

The event is free and open to all UWindsor students, faculty, staff, and alumni. It will also feature the announcement of the winner of the organization’s tuition bursary prize draw.