Hamdia Abdo and Selame BultoEthiopian-Canadian students Hamdia Abdo and Selame Bulto serve smiles — and traditional injera flatbread — from a display during the Celebration of Nations, Thursday in the CAW Student Centre.

Festival opens eyes to colourful kaleidoscope of campus cultures

The Celebration of Nations was a feast for the senses, Thursday in the CAW Student Centre, with sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from many lands on offer.

Hundreds of students, staff, and faculty enjoyed the cultural festival, which reflected the diversity of the UWindsor community with displays of artifacts and colourful dress, samples of foods and drinks, and musical and dance performances.

Anbuja Srikanthan, a second-year social work major, said the event gave her a chance to share her Sri Lankan heritage.

“No one really knows about our culture,” she said from behind a table staffed by members of the Tamil Student Association. “This booth will help us to spread the word about who we are.”

And Somali-Canadian Zaynab Mohamud welcomed the opportunity to counter what she called “negative misconceptions” about the east African nation.

“We are out here to give them a historical view of what Somalia is,” she said, distributing sweet pastries and tea to visitors.

“Peace for Pakistan,” with what organizer Ahsan Muhammad called a great team of volunteers, won an award for best booth.

See more images from the event on the UWindsor Facebook page.

Nintendo SwitchOne lucky residence student will win a Nintendo Switch gaming system for demonstrating knowledge of safe partying practices.

Activities encourage residence students to stay safe on St. Paddy’s Day

A week’s worth of sober fun for residence students will culminate early Sunday in a draw for a Nintendo Switch gaming console.

The “I Clover Sober” program is intended to provide residence students with alternatives to overindulging in alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day, says residence life team lead Lynn Charron.

“A lot of our students are underage and some make the choice not to go out to party on St. Patrick’s,” she says. “We don’t want them to miss out on having a fun and festive time.”

Activities held each evening through the week included an escape room, trivia competitions, and board games. Residents earned ballots by participating and answering questions on safe partying practices; they’ll be entered into a draw for the portable gaming system.

“Our events provide all students with an opportunity to release some stress, meet other students, and have fun engaging in some very green activities,” Charron says.

She says the focus is on safety rather than strict abstinence.

“We know that it is likely some of our residence students will drink on St. Patrick’s Day, so want to ensure they are equipped with information to keep them safe,” she says. “By providing it in a fun and entertaining way, we hope students hear the message and learn something.”

This year’s program was co-ordinated by Zoe Neale, the newest member of the Residence Services staff.

Lancer men’s volleyball teamLancer men’s volleyball will make its first-ever appearance in the national championship tournament Friday in Hamilton.

Lancers seeded eighth in national men’s volleyball tournament

The Lancer men’s volleyball team will take on the No. 1 ranked and Canada West champion Trinity Western Spartans in the opening round of the U Sports championship tournament, Friday in Hamilton.

This is the first trip to the final eight for Windsor; Trinity Western is seeking its third consecutive national title.

The Blue and Gold claimed third place in Ontario University Athletics to qualify for the tournament, led by the all-star trio of John Moate, Pierce Johnson, and Brad Gyemi. Moate was named to the national all-star second team Thursday.

The Lancers will take to the court at 8 p.m. March 16. Find a full championship schedule and team-by-team previews at goLancers.ca. Every game will be streamed live over the pay-per-view service sportscanada.tv.

Austin DiPietroTrumpeter Austin DiPietro will present his grad recital Sunday in the Sunday in the SoCA Armouries.

Student trumpeter to pose musical query

Austin DiPietro will ask a question of his audience as he prepares to receive a BMus degree from the University of Windsor: “So Now What?”

That is the title of the fourth-year student’s graduation recital, March 18 in the SoCA Armouries.

DiPietro, a trumpeter, will take to the Performance Hall stage Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public; find a list of grad recitals on the SoCA Music website.

brown paper lunch bagA brown bag session March 28 will engage faculty in addressing the challenges posed by students’ relatively limited knowledge of Indigenous people.

Session to share research on experience with Indigenous studies

A lunchtime session Wednesday, March 28, will engage faculty in discussion of the limited knowledge of Indigenous peoples exhibited by students in university classrooms.

Instructors Heather Krohn of nursing and Natasha Wiebe of education will lead the fourth event in the brown bag speaker series hosted by the Aboriginal Education Council and the Transnational Law and Justice Network, at noon in the Oak Room, Vanier Hall.

The series brings together instructors to share their experiences with, and ideas for, using course materials developed by Indigenous authors and researchers, and for drawing on, and learning from, pedagogical practices found in Indigenous communities.

Drs. Krohn and Wiebe will present their study, “My Eyes Have Been Opened:  The Student Experience of an Indigenous Studies Course.” Find more information, including registration instructions, on the event website.

basket of vegetablesLearn the benefits of eating every colour of fruits and vegetables in the March 2018 edition of “Workplace Wellness E-Digest.”

Newsletter offers map to path of healthy eating

Food has limitless potential. The potential to fuel our bodies, to discover through cooking with our kids, to prevent chronic disease, to heal what ails, and to bring us together through shared experiences with families and friends.

The March edition of Workplace Wellness E-Digest observes Nutrition Month with tips and recipes by dietitians to help unlock this potential.

Published by the Department of Human Resources’ Office of Employee Engagement and Development, the newsletter offers goal-setting strategies to support readers in their healthy eating journey.

It also lists the benefits of eating each colour of fruits and vegetables, and some info on the health effects — positive and negative — of caffeine consumption. Read the Workplace Wellness E-Digest.

Ron DossenbachOrgan refurbisher Ron Dossenbach restored the organ in the Morris Sutton Chapel to its Roaring ’20s condition.

Sunday event to recall rumrunner era

Several UWindsor instructors are on the program for a concert Sunday promising to recall Prohibition-era Windsor.

Showcasing music of the 1920s, “Prohibition and Pipes” will feature professor emeritus David Palmer at the keyboard of an organ originally owned by liquor baron James Cooper for his mansion in Walkerville, and resident writing professional Marty Gervais sharing anecdotes from his best-selling history, The Rumrunners.

A number of UWindsor alumni will embark on the historical journey along with these instructors from the School of Creative Arts: trombonist Michael Stone, trumpeter Bob Fazecash, and harpist Amy Ley.

The event, presented by 4th Wall Music, gets underway at 4 p.m. March 18 at the Morris Sutton Chapel, 68 Giles Boulevard East. Admission is $20, with a discounted rate of $10 for students and $5 for children under 12 years old. Learn more on the Facebook event page.