Five student researchers have won awards of $500 each for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion through their work.

Anna Beneteau, a master’s student in kinesiology; Madeline Jones, a third-year Juris Doctor student; Willow Key, who graduated in June with a master’s degree in history; and Fallon Mitchell, a doctoral candidate in kinesiology; are among this year’s recipients of the Student Leadership Awards for EDI in Research. The fifth student declined to be recognized.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate the outstanding efforts of these students who are making a real-world difference on campus and in the community through their research and knowledge mobilization,” said Shanthi Johnson, vice-president, research and innovation. “Advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility is important work, and these students are taking the lead.”

The Student Leadership Awards for EDI in Research have been sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation since 2021. Students are nominated by their supervisors for work that advances inclusiveness, anti-racism, accessibility, Indigenization, and social justice causes.

About this year’s winners:

Beneteau is a master’s student in the Faculty of Human Kinetics. She co-ordinates the Adapted Physical Exercise (APEX) program which offers customized sport and fitness sessions to sessions to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants are paired with kinesiology students and, in addition to co-ordinating the program, Beneteau works one-on-one with select participants. Beneteau’s research focuses on APEX programming. She is conducting qualitative interviews with past APEX volunteers to increase understanding of how quality volunteer experiences may enhance the effectiveness of community programming and promote the social inclusion of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This study has the potential to make an important contribution to the fields of adapted physical exercise, disability, and sport for social change.

Jones is a third-year Juris Doctor student who plans to pursue a career in child protection law. Through research with law professor Tess Sheldon, she has looked at authoritative materials of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerning the duty of state parties to consult disabled people. She is the president of the Disability Student Law Society of Windsor and has participated in the Mental Health Justice Clinic in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She has also been a student intern to professor Laverne Jacobs at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva, Switzerland.

Key is a master’s graduate in history who has worked to give the local Black community its rightful place in the historical narrative of Windsor and Essex County. As an undergraduate, her research delved into postwar interracial adoption policy in Canada. As a graduate student, Key became the lead researcher on the McDougall Street Corridor project which tells the story of a once-vibrant Black neighourhood in downtown Windsor destroyed through urban redevelopment policy. Her current position as a researcher for historical services agency Know History contributes to larger efforts to redress injustices against Indigenous people. She is currently a member of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, and the Association of Black Women Historians.

Mitchell is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology who, through her volunteer work and research, has demonstrated a commitment to improving accessibility and inclusion for people with a disability. She has volunteered as a youth accessibility leader with Connections Early Years Family Centre to successfully attain a grant which funded the installation of an accessible ramp. She has also volunteered with Parkinson Society Southwestern Ontario and Community Living Windsor, gaining insight into the needs and capabilities of diverse populations. Currently, Mitchell’s research, supervised by Paula van Wyk, aims to understand accessibility, usability, and inclusion within fitness and recreational facilities.

As a young girl, says Giselle Aiabens, she was a pretty good long-distance jumper, a decent high jumper, and the fastest runner at school in her age group.

“One year I came home excited about all the ribbons I earned at the track and field competition,” recalls the Indigenous enrolment advisor in the Office of Enrolment Management.

“I busted into the door excitedly yelling ‘look at all these ribbons I won!’ to my mother who hushed me and told me it wasn’t good to brag and that this didn’t make me any better than anyone else.”

While her mother’s response made her sad, Aiabens says, it taught her not to be so boisterous about her ribbons.

“For many years I didn’t think anyone really knew or cared about my ribbons until I overheard my mother — unbeknownst to her — gushing to my niece, who was then the same age I was when I was a ribbon-winning runner, that I was fast as lightning and always came home with multiple ribbons for multiple events when I was her age. She even had the ribbons to show her.

“Through this I learned to be humble and saw, through my mother’s example, the importance of praising others’ accomplishments. Hearing her speak about my accomplishments with pride made me feel much better than any time I’ve had to speak about my own accomplishments,” says Aiabens.

She draws on this lesson to illustrate her understanding of the Anishinaabe concept of humility or dabadendizwin, one of the seven Grandfather Teachings represented along Turtle Island Walk.

Her spirit name is Gizhiiyaanhzhe Anangoonhs Kwe, and she is Ojibway of the Three Fires Confederacy, Mukwa dodem, Doogaaning-Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.

“Humility is knowing that we are a sacred part of creation,” she says. “As Indigenous people we understand our relationship to all of creation and we accept that all beings are equally important including ourselves; we are no less nor are we any better than others.”

She emphasizes that humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking of yourself less.

“It’s important to know that Anishinabek raised with teachings of humility can often struggle with feeling like they’re being too boastful if they attempt to speak about their own achievements,” Aiabens says.

Watch for articles on the other teachings in DailyNews through the summer.

The University of Windsor offers a number of resources to help international students succeed, says Mike Houston.

Director of the International Student Centre, he says the centre is there when students need it.

“Our staff is happy to lend an ear for any student who needs someone to talk to, whether it’s an issue of immigration, family, academics, or coping with life in a new country,” says Houston. “The door is always open.  We’ll help where we can and provide referral to experts when we need to.”

He invites students to drop in and speak to an advisor at the office on the second floor of Laurier Hall, or to visit the centre’s website, which lists available services for everything from avoiding scams to finding housing and employment, as well as access to mental health supports.

The Office of Sexual Violence Prevention Resistance, and Support invites women students, staff, faculty, and community members to act as participants in dry runs of a sexual assault resistance program for women, Flip the Script with EAAA™.

The run-throughs need at least six participants to give the facilitators a sense of what a real facilitation is like.

Registration is prioritized for folks able to attend all sessions, as the content builds on previous material.

“This is an opportunity for campus and community members to see the program,” says sexual violence education assistant Jessica Glazewski. “We’re so excited to share this session with you!”

Students will receive compensation of $50 for each session they attend.

All participants will receive lunch and snacks for each of the four sessions, which run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

Assess: Monday, July 29

• Examine risk factors for sexual violence and red flags that we might read, from the environment or from someone else’s behaviour, that indicate increased risk.
• Explore ways that we can be attuned to risk without compromising our sense of freedom.

Acknowledge: Wednesday, Aug. 7

• Identify the barriers that make it difficult for us to resist when someone is being coercive.

Act: Wednesday, Aug. 14

• Receive a range of verbal and physical self-defence strategies for keeping yourself safe if someone tries to hurt you or is being coercive.

Relationships and Sexuality: Thursday, Aug. 15

• Identify our goals, desires, and boundaries for friendships, dating, and relationships.

Fill out this form to indicate interest in participating.

Direct any questions about the run-through sessions to Anne Rudzinski, manager of education and survivor support, at arudzins@uwindsor.ca.

A night of live DJ sets Thursday, July 25, will celebrate the interconnected nature of sampling and copyrights for the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Copyright Act, which came into force in 1924.

Hosted by CJAMfm campus community radio at the Artspeak Gallery, the event will feature Mothers Against Drum Machines, Zillie Holliday, and Seethe. It’s the first in a planned series of events raising awareness about copyrights and how they impact artists’ ability to monetize their work.

Doors open at 7 p.m. at the gallery, located at 1942 Wyandotte St. East. Admission is pay what you can; costs have been offset by the CJAM Innovation Fund created by donor and CJAM alumnus Karl Mamer (BA 1999).

The evening was organized by fourth-year English major Heloisa Moraes under the Ignite work-study program by Heloisa Moraes.

“I am grateful for the support and guidance of the amazingly creative and tenacious CJAM team,” she says, crediting concert and workshop co-ordinator Meaghan Sweeney, program director Lix Sellick, music director Mark Zayat, and station manager Walter Petrichyn.

The series continues Aug. 2 with an online workshop led by guest artists Datsunn and Julie Sando discussing inspiration, transformation, and the limits of copying in arts and music. Watch for more details to come.