HAPPY NEW YEAR WURA MEMBERS!
Thank you for your overwhelming support in the Election of the WURA Executive and Committee members for 2022. Thank you to both new WURA members who were willing to put their names forward and to existing Executive and Committee members for their willingness to serve another year. Special thanks to Gwendolyn Ebbett, who was willing to serve as both Vice President and President-Elect, and to Veronika Mogyorody and Jake Soderlund, who were willing to assist me as Interim Vice Presidents for one and two years respectively. Thanks to all of you for your continuing support for my fourth year as WURA President, which I only considered in order to maintain continuity and preserve a strong WURA administrative presence during the pandemic.
With the pandemic only slightly easing in the Fall, WURA decided to have a virtual AGM and Holiday Luncheon -- the first one in two years -- on December 1st. With the Omicron variant changing everything a few weeks ago, I think a future on-campus WURA Spring General Meeting will be out of the question. As a result, WURA’s Social Committee will be continuing our popular virtual Social Events on Zoom during the Winter semester, as we have done this past year. Read further in this e-Bulletin to see what we have planned for the Membership!
The Communications Committee, which is reviewing WURA’s communications philosophy produced, with the assistance of its Editorial Board, WURA’s first two "e-Bulletins" -- Online Newsletters -- in the Fall of 2021. Time sensitive information will continue to be sent out as required by e-mail. So far, the suggested timing for the WURA e-Bulletins is as follows: two each for the Fall and Winter semesters, and one in the Summer. Please forward any WURA communications suggestions to the committee and its chair, Gwendolyn Ebbett.
The WURA “Research Corner” from the Research Committee briefly outlines some research interests and activities from WURA members. If you have more interest, please contact its chair, Jake Soderlund. Given the interest expressed by the University President, WURA has asked and will be consulted as a group during the University’s Strategic Planning process. We look forward to providing WURA’s input as the consultation progresses.
If you have any ideas or suggestions for WURA, please let me or any WURA Executive member know. Please stay safe and healthy during this Omicron outbreak and winter semester!
Roger Lauzon
President, WURA
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WURA Election Results
The following summarizes the WURA members vote for the 2022 WURA Executive and Committee members. The WURA Executive would like to thank you for supporting -- at more than 96% -- the slate of officers put forward by the Nominating committee, We appreciate your time, either in responding online (49 votes) or by mail-in ballot (6 votes). The results are below:
On-Line Vote (reported by Richard Dumala)
Yes.........47........95.92%
No............1........ 2.04%
Abstain.....1.........2.04%
Blank.........0........0%
Total Votes.......49
Mail-In Vote (reported by Roger Lauzon from the University mail. All ballots have been kept)
Yes.............6......100%
No ..............0 .......0%
Abstain......0......0%
Total Votes.......6
Total Votes
Yes............53.....96.36%
No...............1.......1.82%
Abstain.......1........1.82%
Blank..........0........0%
Total Votes........55
WURA OFFICERS FOR 2022
President: Mr. Roger Lauzon
Vice-President: Ms. Gwendolyn Ebbett
Secretary: Dr. Richard Lewis
Treasurer: Dr. Norman King
Directors-at-Large: (at least 3 members)
Dr. Veronika Mogyorody
Dr. Walter (Jake) Soderlund
Dr. Bruce Elman
Prof. Anthony Blair
Dr. Allan Conway
Past President: Prof. David Palmer
A complete list of WURA Officers elected for 2022 is on the WURA Website.
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Annual General Meeting Held on Zoom
Bruce Elman
It was some time in coming and it was like no Annual General Meeting before it but the Windsor University Retirees’ Association’s AGM went off on Zoom without a hitch. President Roger Lauzon called the Meeting to order at just after noon on December 1st.
The Meeting began with an address by President Rob Gordon. He highlighted various developments at the University. He stressed the value of community engagement and the ongoing safety for students and staff. President Gordon noted that the University was in the process of developing a new Strategic Plan and he highlighted the importance of WURA’s contribution during the upcoming consultation process. (For many Retirees at the Meeting, it might have seemed, to quote Yogi Berra, like déjà vu all over again.)
President Gordon was followed by Dr. Anna Lanoszka, Windsor University Faculty Association President, who began by reinforcing the strong relationship WUFA and WURA. She briefly outlined the provisions of the new Collective Agreement and acknowledged the extraordinary effort by all those involved.
Association Reports followed. Barb Thomas, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, presented her Report. (For more on the work of the Scholarship Committee, please refer back to the November issue of the e-Bulletin. Dr. Thomas indicated that as a goal, the Scholarship Committee would like to be able to offer ten Scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each on an annual basis.
Past President David Palmer presented the Nominating Committee Report and moved that the slate of WURA Candidates for 2022 be approved. Jake Soderlund seconded the Motion and the Motion passed.
The highlight of the Meeting was the presentation of Awards. Datta Pillay was presented WURA’s first ever Lifetime Membership Award – for his years of dedicated service to the Windsor University Retirees’ Association in many capacities, not the least of which was his Editorship of the much-loved WURA Newsletter. Wilf Innerd and Noel Williams received Book Awards for their many years of service as Members of the Scholarship Committee. Carol Ann Reader received a gift of flowers for her thoughtful idea, offered at the beginning of the pandemic, that WURA might play a role in delivering groceries to members who might otherwise have problems in getting food. (She was right.)
The AGM was accompanied by a “unique” (but generally unsatisfying) virtual Holiday Luncheon. Amica generously donated a Gift Basket and Certificate to WURA. The criterion for receiving the basket was the “most unusual holiday lunch”. Veronika Mogyorody’s breaded avocados was determined to be particularly unique and the President awarded her the gift basket. (Of course, nobody but Veronika had a taste of the breaded avocados, so the jury is still out on whether they were worthy of the prize. I understand that the selection is under legal challenge.)
Hopefully, by next year, we will be able to meet in person.
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Our New Logo
Stuart Selby
[Editors’ Note: The Winner of our “New Logo Contest” was Stuart Selby – a Member of the Editorial Board. No cronyism in this decision! What follows is Stuart’s explanation of the logo and the heraldry underpinning it.]
All of us in the Windsor University Retirees Association have lived through several changes in the University of Windsor logo in the course of our careers; some we’ve liked, some we’ve hated, and some we merely tolerated. As we launch the e-Bulletin, we wanted to adopt a logo of our own choosing, unique to our organization and reflecting our collective history. Although this is an Internet bulletin created, edited, and distributed electronically, most of us wrote our dissertations and research papers in longhand or on manual typewriters. Some of us have been part of this University from the very beginning, or even earlier when it was still Assumption University. Without romanticizing some past Golden Age, and with awareness of our advocacy and action that allowed us to achieve unionization, diversity and modernization, we nevertheless come from a time when our office doors were always open to students and to each other. So, our logo reflects almost sixty years of the University of Windsor, which in turn reflects its earlier existence as Assumption University.
The basic design of the crest, with the “W” at its center, derives from the Coat of Arms granted to the University of Windsor at its inception in 1963. The motto has a far longer history, however, as it continues from the Arms of Assumption University granted in 1955, but going back even earlier as the motto of the Basilian Fathers, founded in 1822. The motto appeared on the earliest University of Windsor logos but was dropped for design simplicity. We have returned the motto to its earlier place for its historical value and its message. “Bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam doce me” is the Latin translation of line 66 of Psalm 119 from the Hebrew text written more than 2500 years ago, “Teach me goodness, discipline [“good sense” in the Hebrew text”] and knowledge.”
The upper two wedges formed by the “W” contain a Maple Leaf and a Fleur-de-lis, celebrating the English and French heritage of this area, while the lower wedge contains a Lily, once winged, from the arms of Assumption University symbolizing Mary’s Assumption. The stone bridge in the center also continues from Assumption University, and in addition to the many connotations of bridging peoples and ideas, denotes our location beside the Ambassador Bridge, which in name and function connects two nations.
The current University of Windsor logo is described as “balancing the traditional and the modern” and is quite functional and handsome, but we have chosen to emphasize the traditional. This article may tell you more about the crest and motto than you ever really wanted to know, but we hope that you found it informative.
We are grateful for the assistance of Dylan Kristy, Team Leader of Publications in the Department of Public Affairs and Communication, and of Renee Trombley, Director of Public Affairs and Communication, in searching for and reconstituting the logos and graphics used more than a half century ago, and for Richard Lewis’ liaison with them in the process.
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Jonathan Bayley
January 2022 – Talent Show #2
AND NOW for Something Different: WURA members will be sent a YouTube video link of performances by students from the School of Creative Arts (SoCA), that can be viewed at the member’s convenience. Student performances include music written for guitar, flute, euphonium, and piano as well as vocalists and a jazz combo, representing popular, classical, and jazz stylings. This production was made possible thanks to Trevor Pittman and his production team at SoCA. Thanks to all!
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 @ 2:00 pm – For the Love of Reading #2
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND – What are you reading during lockdown? Members will have an opportunity to give a brief review/description of a book or books they have been reading during COVID. Contact Jonathan Bayley - jbayley@uwindsor.ca if you would like to tell other members about a book or two that you have enjoyed reading. Reserve you spot now!
Thursday, March 17th @ 2:00 pm – Celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
GREEN BEER WILL NOT BE SERVED But Come Celebrate: Come celebrate with other Retirees – our 3rd Pandemic St. Patrick’s Day Party. Don’t forget to wear something green!
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WURA “Research Corner”
Jake Soderlund
Research Support Group Committee
In January 2022, Adrian Van Den Hoven began a term as a member of the WURA Research Support Group Committee. Jake Soderlund continues to serve as Chair, and also remains on WURA’s Executive Committee.
Our first “Research Presentation” on October 27 was beset with technical difficulties that resulted in some WURA members being unable to access the Zoom session. For this we apologize – the unfortunate reality is that we are learning to master technology as we use it. In spite of the problems, in an interesting hour-long session, Jonathan Bayley, Susan Gold Smith, Ihor Stebelsky and Jake Soderlund reviewed some of their recent research and answered questions.
If anyone has some ideas for future research presentations, please let me know. Also, if you are interested in joining the Research Support Group, please contact Jake Soderlund at akajake@uwindsor.ca – all that is needed is an interest in research. Pandemic conditions permitting, we are looking forward to hosting some in-person sessions, but for now this is not possible.
Research Completed
Ihor Stebelsky (October, 2021). “Eastern and Southern Ukraine: The War-Torn Lukhansk Oblast.” Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
Adrian Van Den Hoven. The Theater of Jean-Paul Sartre. Theory and Practice. (256 typescript pages. (Several chapters were already published in international journals. To be submitted to a publisher in early 2022).
Adrian Van Den Hoven. “Charlotte Brontë’s novel The Professor and Belgium.” Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies, Spring, 2022.
Adrian Van Den Hoven. “The Tree in Jean-Paul Sartre’s novel Nausea.” Earthly Engagements: Reading Sartre after the Holocene. Eds. Matthew Ally & Damon Boria. Lexington Books. An Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. Washington. D.C. USA. 2022.
Research in Progress
Adrian Van Den Hoven. A Translation from the Dutch entitled: The Franciscan Friar and the Husserl Archives at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (KUL). Completed 109 out of 289 pages. This is the story of the Franciscan friar Van Breda who managed to smuggle Edmund Husserl’s unpublished manuscripts out of Nazi Germany in the late Thirties and established the Husserl Archives at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. N.B. Edmund Husserl also published several works on phenomenology.
Adrian Van Den Hoven. Review of Francophone Literature in the Low Countries (1200-1600). Eds. Alisa van de Haar & Dirk Schoenears. Amsterdam University Press, 2021. Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies, Spring 2022.
Jake Soderlund “Media Framing of ‘Françafrique’ in Military Interventions: Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and République Centafricaine, 2011-2014.” (With Tanja Collet and Tom Najem).
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We Have a Question For You . . .
Are you still teaching for the University? If so, what are you teaching and how much are you teaching? Or are you engaged in Mentoring students?
Let us know. We are doing an article (or perhaps a series of articles) for the e-Bulletin on Retirees who are still active and involved with the University in teaching and mentoring students. So let us know. Write to us at belman@uwindsor.ca.
And Thanks
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It's Dues Time Again
For those of us for whom Y2K seems like only yesterday, this is a reminder that it is a new year and time to pay our very modest annual dues. And for all of us who remember non-electronic payment with nostalgia, this is our opportunity to do it the old way with pen and chequebook. Please send a cheque for 2022 dues made out to WURA for $25.00 to our treasurer:
Norman King
#103, 1935 Normandy St.
LaSalle, ON N9H 1P9.
You may also make a direct deposit if you prefer through email to: nking@uwindsor.ca. If you wish to save yourself some time, you may also pay for more than one year (2022 + 2023, or for the past year 2021 if you have not already done so). And if you have forgotten your present dues status, please send an email message to nking@uwindsor.ca, or a postal note to the above address.
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Editorial Notice
The WURA e-Bulletin is published by the University of Windsor Retirees' Association.
Editorial Board:
Richard Dumala (Lead Editor)
Stuart Selby
Bruce Elman
Submissions to the e-Bulletin should be a Word file sent
electronically to: Richard.Dumala@uwindsor.ca.
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