WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg is proud to announce that the following awards will be bestowed at Autumn 2014 Convocation on October 17, 2014.
“We have incredibly talented and dedicated faculty and staff who go above and beyond to inspire and nurture students. In fact, it is one of the most notable characteristics of life at The University of Winnipeg,” said Dr. Annette Trimbee, President and Vice-Chancellor, UWinnipeg. “On behalf of the University community, I offer sincere congratulations to our award recipients.”
Andrea McCluskey
Andrea McCluskey, The Clarence Atchison Award for Excellence in Community Service
McCluskey’s untiring work in breaking down barriers to post-secondary education over the past 15 years at UWinnipeg has helped to dramatically increase enrolment by First Nation, Metis and Inuit students. Today approximately 12% of the UWinnipeg student body self-identifies as Indigenous, among the highest rates in Canada. As the Manager of Micro-Communities, leading both the Aboriginal Student Services Centre and International Student Services, McCluskey has a particular gift in creating a welcoming, safe and supportive “home away from home” for students who are navigating the unfamiliar university world. She offers academic supports as well as holistic, cultural and spiritual accommodations aimed at ensuring individual student success.
David Atem
David Atem, Marsha Hanen Award for Excellence in Creating Community Awareness
The challenges Atem has faced seem unimaginable. A former South Sudanese child soldier, Atem arrived in Canada as a war refugee and enrolled at UWinnipeg to pursue a Bachelor of Arts. He completed his studies in 2007, and is now a tireless Academic Advisor/Immigrant Access Advisor at UWinnipeg. He is known among students for his empathy and problem-solving skills, which help new students adjust to university. Atem believes that creating an “open door policy” is an effective way to break down barriers for newcomers and help them adjust to the post-secondary environment.
Chris Leo
Dr. Christopher Leo, Professor Emeritus
A well-known and highly-respected scholar, Dr. Christopher Leo has helped shape the lenses through which urban political structures and relationships are examined in Canada, and his research has shed light on political class and land conflict in East Africa. He lived in Kenya in the early 1970s and his internationally-recognized book Land and Class in Kenya remains a relevant study of social relations today. He also published The Politics of Urban Development, an investigation of the significance of urban expressway-focused Canadian political disputes. In the classroom, Dr. Leo’s critical survey of the history and current state of municipal governance in Canada kept his courses popular mainstays in the Department of Political Science. Dr. Leo retired in September 2012 and was named a senior scholar.
The CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY RECOGNITION AWARD – The University of Winnipeg Community
Renewal Corporation (UWCRC)
Since its inception in 2005, the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation has been setting new precedents in creating greener buildings in Manitoba, delivering sustainable food services, and fostering diversity and inclusion in inner-city development. UWCRC approaches sustainability through four lenses: environmental, economic, social and cultural, a model that is unique among universities in Canada and that is delivering tangible results for the campus and surrounding community. UWCRC spearheaded $200 million in new UWinnipeg development over the past decade, with all new buildings designed to achieve LEED Silver status or better. Established in 2009, Diversity Food Services pioneered delivery of healthy and sustainable food on campus. This joint venture between UWCRC and SEED Winnipeg delivers nutritional, local food while providing meaningful employment for new Canadians, Aboriginal people, community residents and University students. CRC is also overseeing redevelopment of the Merchant’s Hotel in Winnipeg’s North End into a community hub and a new mixed student-community housing project downtown.
The University of Winnipeg’s Autumn 2014 Convocation takes place on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 9:30 am in the Duckworth Centre (Spence at Ellice).
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist,The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
