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The Career Centre is seeking students to compete in the WACE Global Challenge, a four-week virtual experiential learning program where multidisciplinary teams from universities around the globe tackle real-world projects that advance UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Supported by edtech start-up Practera, the program connects students with real organizations, helping prepare them for global workplaces. Participants will collaborate with international peers, solve real-world challenges, and build skills in innovation, cultural intelligence and consulting—enhancing their career readiness and global network.

The Career Centre encourages students from diverse academic disciplines to apply to form a dynamic team with unique perspectives, skills and experiences, representing the University’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

All current University of Windsor students are eligible to apply. Ideal candidates are self-driven, capable of managing multiple responsibilities, effective communicators, eager to gain a global perspective and adaptable to change.

Interested students can apply here, with an application deadline of Thursday, Dec. 12.

For questions or additional details, contact careerservices@uwindsor.ca.

The Muslim Medical Association of Canada – Windsor Chapter through the Windsor Islamic Association has gifted $1.2 million to the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law to help establish a Chair in Palestinian Human Rights Studies. This historic gift is the first of its kind in Canada and builds on Windsor Law’s access to justice mission.

“This gift demonstrated our commitment to supporting academic excellence and advancing the university’s mission in the areas of social justice and community building,” said Dr. Osman Tarabain of the Windsor Islamic Association. 

Windsor Law’s mission is to educate ethical, justice-seeking lawyers through teaching, research, advocacy and service. 

“From the social determinants of health to harm prevention, doctors and lawyers shared common goals,” said Faculty of Law Dean Reem Bahdi.  

“We were deeply grateful for this gift, which helped the faculty advance its justice-seeking mission.” 

The campus community is invited to gather on Friday, Dec. 6, to honour the 14 women killed in the 1989 massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal.

A ceremony reflecting on the ongoing fight against gender-based violence will begin at noon at the Memorial of Hope, located between Dillon and Essex halls. The event will include remarks from campus representatives, a reading of names, and a moment of silence.

How a house once scrawled with graffiti and packed with clutter was transformed into a UWindsor staffer’s dream home will be featured on the HGTV show Hoarder House Flippers, airing Wednesday.

Alumna Deidre Ritsche (BA 2008) and her business partner, Stephanie Bradt, real estate agents and co-creators of Border City Living, took on the Riverside-area project in 2022, giving the home a complete makeover from the inside out.

“We had to essentially gut the bathroom and kitchen,” Ritsche said. “We put in new custom finishes, all new windows, interior doors, and trim. We completely refinished the exterior — a big part of the transformation was the curb appeal.”

Each episode of Hoarder House Flippers follows a renovation team as they take on the task of restoring neglected homes across Canada. They dive into the hard work of clearing out items and breathing new life into these run-down properties, transforming them into stunning, in-demand homes.

The renovations on the Windsor house were thoughtfully executed, preserving elements of vintage charm while incorporating industrial-style updates.

“We just try to make people feel good about where they live,” Ritsche said. “We see the potential, and we like bold design decisions. It’s not just a cookie-cutter, for-profit house. We take risks with our design and take a very creative approach. Our aim is to show people what’s possible with houses that are maybe smaller or below the average price point.”

Viewers will see the demolitions, renovations, and design choices that impressed the renovators and won over future homeowner, Shelby Johnston, a digital media marketing and communications strategist in the Public Affairs and Communications department.

Two years ago, Johnston and her partner, both from the Chatham-Kent area, purchased the newly renovated home to be closer to the University, securing it just days after it was listed.

“We loved all the little details, design choices, and the fact that it was move-in ready,” she said. “The house has a cool retro feel with bold colours, but still timeless with modern details. They also replaced or updated almost everything, even the mechanical aspects. It wasn't your typical flip.”

Johnston, who had a preview of the episode, said her house being featured on the show now gives her a new “fun fact” to share at every corporate meeting.

“I was completely shocked when I saw the episode. It was great to see the ins and outs of the transformation, especially since all we knew before the renovations was the Google Maps image and what we’d heard from neighbours,” she noted. “It’s really interesting to see where it all started and compare that to how it looks now.”

When Johnston and her partner first went to look at the house, she said it was staged with pieces from local boutiques and featured artwork and antiques from Windsor and Detroit, all available for purchase.

“There are so many unique things that made us fall in love with this house, that we love sharing during our home tours. They even thrifted pieces from Detroit that we ended up being able to keep. It’s a fun story that these pieces are not only vintage but also featured on the show,” Johnston said.

Ritsche hopes the local love shown to the home will shine through in the episode and cast a positive light on Windsor’s potential.

“We’re uniquely positioned to have this thriving community with beautiful properties that, in the broader context of Canada, remain quite affordable. It’s about the transformations we’re making — taking homes that others might consider teardowns and turning them into something beautiful,” she said.

Catch the transformation on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 9 p.m. on HGTV Canada and Global TV, or stream it on StackTV via Amazon Prime.

The University of Windsor Alumni Sports Hall of Fame will induct five standouts in a ceremony Nov. 24.

Lancer athlete inductees this year include runner Tracy Higgs (BHK 1996), football player Damian Porter (BA 2001), hockey forward Jordie Preston (BA 2007), basketball forward Greg Surmacz (BHK 2022), and volleyball star Kyle Williamson (BA 2016).

In addition, the 2014 Queen’s Cup champion men’s hockey team will receive the Team Achievement award.

Higgs, a women’s track and field athlete, was a two-time national gold medallist in the 60 metre hurdles and 4x200 m relay. She competed on five national championship teams throughout her career and captained the Lancer squad for four seasons.

Porter received the Olympic Shield as the University of Windsor’s male athlete of the year for his outstanding play on the defensive side for the Lancers. He was a two-time all-Canadian and a three-time Ontario University Athletics all-star.

Preston is one of the men’s hockey program’s most decorated players. He was named an all-Canadian and an OUA all-star throughout his university career. He earned OUA player of the year honours in 2007 after leading the country in scoring.

Surmacz was a two-time all-Canadian, three-time OUA all-star, and most valuable player in OUA men’s basketball. He received the Olympic Shield as Lancer male athlete of the year and helped lead his team to a provincial championship and a national tournament berth in 2007.

Williamson was the first player in Lancer men’s volleyball history to earn all-Canadian status, which he accomplished twice. He was the OUA men’s volleyball player of the year in 2011, a three-time OUA all-star, and received the Olympic Shield as Lancer male athlete of the year.

The 2013-14 Lancer men’s hockey team captured the Queen’s Cup for only the second time in school history, and the first since 1997-98.

The induction celebration is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, in the Alumni Auditorium, CAW Student Centre. Seating is limited, so register no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20. Find more information and a registration link on the alumni association website.

Over the 26-year armed conflict in Sri Lanka, many Tamil families were forced to flee their homeland, seeking refuge in countries like Canada. Their stories are explored in the documentary Ray of Hope.

The film was produced, written, and directed by UWindsor alumnus Ryan Singh (BA 2000) alongside his collaborating partner Nikila Cole. Singh has worked on projects for NBC, Fox, CBS, Amazon, and the Oscar-nominated film The Breadwinner, centring on the experiences of Rathika Sitsabaiesan, a former Canadian Member of Parliament, who fled the Sri Lankan civil war as a child with her family.

“Rathika’s story is where we pick up from, but we surround her story with the experiences of other people who left as refugees and under unique circumstances. Each story is anchored by a period of the 26-year armed conflict,” Singh explained.

The decades-long war between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government ended on May 18, 2009. About four years later Sitsabaiesan, then an NDP MP, felt it was the safest time to return to Sri Lanka, with Singh there to document the visit.

Singh recalled that when he and Rathika Sitsabaiesan arrived in Sri Lanka, they were under surveillance for about two days before they heard authorities issued a warrant for her arrest, Singh said. Sri Lankan media reports stated she had been placed under house arrest, news that made its way to Canada.

“For 18 hours, we sat in limbo not knowing what was going to happen while governments talked to governments to try and find out what is the situation and how to deal with it,” he remembered.

While Sitsabaiesan was not placed under house arrest, the circumstances surrounding the trip and the events that took place changed the direction of Singh’s film, leaving him uncertain about how to proceed with the content.

He temporarily shelved the project, and while working on other pursuits, completed a series of programs he described as a “masterclass of understanding the principles behind filmmaking business,” which forced him to reconsider the story he wanted to tell.

“Knowing the power of storytelling, I realized that we needed to orient to finish it. So, I looked at it from a trauma-based perspective, not the focus on the dirty theatre of war. But what we are masking all the time? What is the impact of trauma and the generational effect? But what came out wasn’t a story about trauma. It was a story about identity. A story about culture, a story about statelessness, and a story about belonging,” Singh explained.

The film captures these themes by showcasing the lived experiences of Tamil refugees, emphasizing that their journeys are shaped not just by their struggles but also by their resilience. Through personal narratives, Ray of Hope dives into how trauma influences one’s sense of self and connection to community.

To help get the film off the ground, Singh reached out to Cole, who worked as an executive producer, co-director, and co-writer on Ray of Hope and was immediately drawn to the project.

The pair worked together to shoot B-roll and conduct and direct interviews with various Tamil people. Singh said the filmmakers worked closely with leaders, elders, Sitsabaiesan, and other subjects, even travelling to England and the United Nations in Geneva to speak with people from diverse areas to help tell the story.

“In front of the camera, we had older people who were highly impacted and or almost killed by assailants,” Singh said. “We had people who were much removed in terms of being born in Canada but still connected to the story because of their family’s relationship to it. So, it’s a real celebration of the diversity of Tamil as well as the celebration of the diversity of the people who helped them make it happen.”

Cole added the filmmakers took great care to keep it authentic to the Tamil people.

“We worked with consultants on every frame. I mean there’s not a frame that wasn’t scrutinized for authenticity and factual correctness,” she said. “But beyond that, our goal was always to make a film about this subject that anyone could relate to.”

Ray of Hope premiered over the summer in theatres and made its way through the film festival circuit across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. An official selection at 14 festivals, it was nominated for more than 60 awards and received 10, including Best Documentary Director at the Hamilton Black Film Festival and the Best Documentary Film and Audience Choice awards at the Romford Film Festival. The film won Best Documentary Film at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and Toronto Tamil Film Festival.

“The first time I saw it on the big screen with an audience of 500 people, they were glued the entire time. Ninety-five minutes and I could feel them. They were moved emotionally and at the end, they stood up — 500 of them gave a five-minute standing ovation,” Cole said of the experience.

“The film is heavy, but it’s also full of hope. It’s all full of resilience. A story of triumph.”

Living in Toronto, Singh runs Ryan Singh Production Ltd., producing documentaries, short films, and scripted narrative projects rooted in social justice.

When Mike O’Neil (MHK 1993, B.Ed 1994) ran off the football field after a Lancer game 35 years ago, one woman in the crowd caught his eye with a smile he would never forget.

“It was a home game; I remember the white uniform. We always wore white at home,” the former linebacker recalled. “She has this smile, and I’ll always remember that day.”

Fast forward to Saturday, Sept. 21, when the Lancers hosted the Ottawa Gee-Gees. O’Neil had a special surprise planned for that same woman, Michele Daignault (B.Ed).

At the time their paths first crossed, Daignault attended Western University, a rival school during O’Neil’s football days. Despite attending different schools, the two had mutual friends, and eventually, they connected. As O’Neil put it, “The rest is history.”

O’Neil carefully orchestrated the day of his proposal. They would attend the football game, but to keep his plans under wraps, he told Daignault he and his classmates would be honoured on the field at halftime.

Standing on Alumni Field at halftime, coach John Purcell took the mic to introduce O’Neil, who then got down on one knee and proposed to Daignault, who of course said yes.

“She didn't have a clue,” he laughed. “She even grabbed the ring to pass to me, thinking it was a token of appreciation for me.”

Among those witnessing the special moment were some of O’Neil’s former teammates, their old equipment manager, some of their children, and colleagues from the school board where both O’Neil and Daignault teach.

“She was so shocked and excited that I pulled it off,” O’Neil shared.

Reflecting on the day, O’Neil said the lead-up to the proposal was “very overwhelming” and expressed his gratitude to the University of Windsor, his family, friends, past teammates and coaches who helped make the moment possible.

“It was a full-circle moment to propose at the place I first saw her,” he said.

When asked what he would say to the young football player running off the field, knowing he would one day propose to the girl with the smile, he laughed and replied, “Good for you!”

When computer science graduate Laila Albalkhi celebrated her convocation in June, she already had her sights set on her next chapter: joining one of the world’s leading tech companies.

Albalkhi is now just over two weeks into her job as a software engineer at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash.

While no stranger to the company — having interned twice in Microsoft’s Toronto office during her undergraduate studies — Albalkhi said the application process for this position was intense. It included a 30-minute “behavioural” interview with human resources, followed by two 45-minute technical interviews where she was required to show her coding skills in front of a manager.

“It was very intimidating,” Albalkhi recalled. “I thought I bombed the first round. I figured my nerves had gotten the best of me, and I truly believed I didn’t get the job and that it was over. With that mindset, I approached the second round much more relaxed, thinking, I’ll learn from the experience.’ There’s a bit of luck involved too, and everything ended up working out — I got the job and I love it!”

During her four years at the University of Windsor, Albalkhi was an active member of the Computer Science Society and was part of the Outstanding Scholars program, both experiences she credits with helping her land the software engineer role.

“I think the biggest part of the prep initially was making sure my resumé was as perfect as it could be. When I was in my second year, I put my resumé on our resumé critique channel and I reached out to people I knew who had internships that year, people who were about to graduate, and a career advisor. I got a lot of really great feedback, telling me how to adjust my layout, what program to use, and all of that. Your resumé is your first foot in the door. If they like your resumé then they’ll call you for an interview,” Albalkhi said.

In addition to learning technical skills and team building in her classes, Albalkhi also credits her work in the Outstanding Scholars program and other extracurricular activities with gaining vital experience to help her stand out as a candidate.

She worked with professor Pooya Moradian Zadeh in her first year and had the opportunity to work with a non-profit organization to help create an information management system.

“I was able to put that research experience that was related to software engineering and the field that I was looking into on my resumé. I was also a teaching assistant at the time. So Outstanding Scholars had a huge role in giving me experience outside of my coursework,” Albalkhi said.

Now settled in the Seattle area, Albalkhi is enjoying her new city and looking forward to reconnecting with other former interns.

“The city itself is nice. It rains but I don’t have to shovel rain,” she joked. “And some of the friends that I interned with are also moving back so I’m excited to spend some time with them. It feels like a new chapter; I’m excited.”

Alumni Week festivities continue through the weekend.

The Sept. 28 “Saturday Afternoon on Sunset” community event offers family entertainment and activities from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside the Welcome Centre.

Lancer football will put its undefeated record on the scrimmage line Saturday, hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues at Alumni Field. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.

Organizers have cancelled the Engineering Car Meet originally scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 29, due to concerns about inclement weather.

Karl Mamer (BA psychology 1999) says his varied career in communications as a technical writer, columnist, educator, podcaster, and author owes a great deal to skills and experience he gained with student media at the University of Windsor.

Now documentation manager for the Toronto-based software company TouchBistro, Mamer co-hosted with his friend Terry Brown the comedy show “White Label Humour” on CJAM radio from 1987 to 1990 and served as a reporter and editor for the arts section of the Lance student newspaper from 1989 to 1991.

“Skills I picked up there led directly to job opportunities,” he says. “I was interested in going into writing copy for advertising. Unfortunately, I graduated into a recession and jobs that paid you to be creative were thin on the ground, so I learned that sometimes the way to where you want to go is to plot a path parallel.”

His experience at the Lance enabled him to find work in desktop publishing and, combined with his interest in computers, helped him open doors.

“It was the early days of the Internet, the gold rush days,” Mamer says.

He wrote a column for the Toronto Sun newspaper reviewing computer entertainment software, the Internet, and other elements of the industry, and that led to a publishing house commissioning his books Hot List & Cool Sites, Finding the News on Usenet, The Truth is in Here, and Fun & Games on the Internet.

Technical writing promised a career with stable employment and benefits; Mamer held a series of positions before his current role, while continuing to pursue side projects, including podcasting and self-publishing.

“When podcasting became a thing, that’s where CJAM skills came in: sound editing, levels — those sorts of things.”

He has produced more than 100 episodes of “The Conspiracy Skeptic” and appreciates the learning opportunities it has afforded him.

“Having a podcast means you can contact people you’d like to talk to and schedule a conversation, and it somehow makes you not seem creepy,” says Mamer.

When the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated his morning commute, he found himself with the time to complete two books: The Skeptic’s Book of Lists and The Conspiracy Skeptics Book of Lists.

“When you’re in your 50s, you wake up every morning at 5:30 whether you have to or not,” Mamer says.

He decided to make use of that time and the idea of a book of lists seemed fun.

“You don’t have to write in any order, just what you feel like that day,” he says. “Eventually, I thought I had enough content for a book.”

He designed both publications himself, again employing skills from his student journalism experience.

“I knew how to lay things out — leading, gutters, white space, all the technical stuff,” he laughs. “Then I completed it and threw it up on Amazon.”

He has already begun work on The Skeptic’s Book of Lists 2.

When he attended celebration’s last fall celebrating CJAM’s 40 years of broadcast, Mamer made a donation to found the station’s Innovation Fund, which supports a series of public outreach events.

“I had decided it would be nice to pay off my tab, given what I owed to student media,” he recalls.

“At the University of Windsor you can get a well-rounded education but you still need to pick up some skills applicable to employment. For me, it all comes back to my time in student media.”

Alumni Week continues today with Lancers for Literacy and readings by alumni authors Jim Weese (BHK 1980, MHK 1983) at 8:30 a.m. in room 140 of the Human Kinetics Building, Richard Peddie (BComm 1970, honorary LLD 2001) at 11:30 a.m. in room 123 of the Odette Building, and Dwania McLarty-Peele (BA 2011, BSc 2011) at 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Essex CoRE building. A Grab ’n’ Go breakfast for students begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday outside the Welcome Centre and Wednesday features both the Day of Giving supporting Lancer athletics and the barbecue lunch for the campus community starting at noon on the River Commons. Find a full schedule of Alumni Week activities.

Karen Riddell (BSN 1989) always knew she wanted to help people. With 35 years of health-care experience spanning regions and roles, from frontline nursing to senior leadership, she has been able to do just that.

Riddell, who is now serving as the acting president and CEO and chief nursing executive at Windsor Regional Hospital, said she considered several careers, including dental hygiene, marine biology, and veterinary medicine, before choosing to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother and pursue nursing.

“One of the things that I liked about nursing was you could have a lot of career opportunities, and it didn’t lock you into one geographic area or one particular job,” she said. “There were a lot of different things that you could do throughout your career.”

After graduating from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Riddell worked as a nurse in Michigan before moving to northern Ontario and then British Columbia, where she gained her first administrative experience in health care.

“When I first graduated, I had no interest in becoming an administrator or a manager. I really loved bedside nursing,” she said. “But while I was on the west coast, I was working on a brand-new unit and a lot of the staff were very junior. By that point, I had only been working for about five years myself, but I saw some gaps and supports that were available.”

She worked on developing educational resources for staff over a few months, and from there Riddell moved into the position of clinical educator and resource nurse for the hospital where she was working.

She moved back to Windsor, where she returned to work as a frontline nurse before advancing into management at Windsor Regional. She held the roles of chief nursing executive and vice-president before taking on her current position as acting president and CEO.

Riddell is the first woman and nurse to hold the top job at the hospital.

“I think it’s a really neat thing that there are more and more women becoming CEOs,” she shared. “When you look at health care in general, about 90 per cent of the workforce is female, but a much smaller percentage in leadership is female, so it’s nice to see that balancing more. I believe now more than 50 per cent of the CEOs in Ontario are women, which is a great thing from an equity and nursing perspective.”

She added, “Having someone with a health care background in leadership brings a unique perspective to the role.”

With experience at various hospitals and in different roles, Riddell said she values the insights she has gained from working with other practitioners. From a management perspective, she always considers what is important to frontline workers and patients, and how each decision will impact them.

“We always strive to do the best that we can. Of course, there are constraints in our system, but we do the best we can with the resources that we have. It is a huge challenge, and I think understanding how we can work better with our frontline because really, they’re the key to delivering the best care possible,” she said.

One of the biggest takeaways from her extensive career, Riddell said, is to “never say never” and to embrace new challenges.

“I feel very lucky in my chosen career. I’ve worked with amazing people and continue to work with amazing people in my career, and I couldn’t recommend a better profession, whether it’s nursing, specifically, or just health care in general,” Riddell noted. “It’s incredibly hard, but it’s incredibly rewarding.”

Alumni Week opens today with the Black Alumni Weekend and continue Saturday with the Lancer football game and tailgate party. Find a full schedule of Alumni Week activities.

Black Alumni Weekend offers an opportunity for alumni to reconnect and celebrate with a series of events focused on networking, sharing memories, and revisiting their university days.

The weekend begins with the Black in Black II Reception, a networking mixer at the Alumni Auditorium in the CAW Student Centre on Friday, Sept. 20, from 6:30 to 10 p.m.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, former Lancers can explore the campus with a self-directed tour, visiting their former classrooms, study spots, and hangout areas to friends and family at any time.

The day will also feature Black to the Future II, a panel discussion and mini-summit highlighting the Black Studies program, Black Scholars Institute, Black Student Support Services, scholarships, and more. The discussion, moderated by Black student support co-ordinator Kaitlyn Ellsworth, will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room 104, Odette Building.

At Alumni Stadium, fans can cheer on the undefeated Lancers as they face the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday. A tailgate party at 3 p.m. will precede the game, which starts at 4 p.m. UWindsor graduates with valid ID can purchase tickets for $10, and the first 1,000 attendees will receive a gift from the Alumni Association.

Later that evening, alumni can join the party with the theme of Old School/New School taking place in the CAW Student Centre starting at 8 p.m.

The weekend will conclude with a Sunday service at Sandwich First Baptist Church from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

For more information and to register for the events, visit UWindsor Black Alumni Weekend 2024.

The University of Windsor Alumni Association is welcoming back three standout Lancers, each with a book to their name, to discuss their works and leadership experiences.

Lancers for Literacy on Monday, Sept. 23, will feature authors and alumni Jim Weese (BHK 1980, MHK 1983), Richard Peddie (BComm 1970, honorary LLD 2001), and Dwania McLarty-Peele (BA 2011, BSc 2011).

Dr. Weese, former dean of UWindsor’s Faculty of Human Kinetics, will speak at 8:30 a.m. in room 140 of the Human Kinetics Building. An academic leader known for his global research and public speaking, Weese has authored several books, including The 5C Leader: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times, The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare, How to Excel, and How (and When) to Effectively Exit, and the children’s book The Grandpa Rules: Essential Lessons for Success in Life and Leadership, which is published in six languages.

Dr. Peddie, former CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, now co-owns the River Bookshop in Amherstburg. He will speak at 11:30 a.m. in room 123 of the Odette Building. After a diverse 41-year career in packaged goods, venue management, television, and sports management, Peddie retired in 2012 and has since become a community champion, philanthropist, and author. His best-selling book Dream Job chronicles his journey from aspiring to manage a basketball team to becoming president of the Toronto Raptors. Peddie has also written 21 Leadership Lessons and Great Small Towns of Ontario.

Dwania McLarty-Peele (BA 2011, BSc 2011), founder of Canadian Small Business Women, will host her book talk at 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Essex CoRE building. She will discuss her latest publication, Tomorrow is Another Day, which chronicles her journey through breast cancer amid a global pandemic. A proud graduate of the University of Windsor and St. Clair College, McLarty-Peele utilized her chemistry degree as a lab manager at Greenfield Global’s beverage and distilled spirits facility. She has written several books, including The Power Within: Inspiring Stories of Female Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Voices of Strength: Inspiring Stories of Female Entrepreneurs.

Learn more about this and other Alumni Week events at uwindsor.ca/alumni/.

Lancer varsity teams are gearing up for a 24-hour giving challenge, sparking some friendly competition as they race to gather donations.

The Lancer Day of Giving kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 25, with athletes competing to see which team can raise the most donations in a single day.

This fun challenge will help elevate the athlete experience, providing teams with improved resources, training, and opportunities.

Everyone is encouraged to donate — every dollar counts. Visit golancers.ca and help them score big!

Journalist Meg Roberts is no stranger to the fast pace of breaking news, but for three weeks during the Olympics, her days were a nonstop buzz of capturing the highs, lows, and everything in between.

Roberts (BA 2016), who currently hosts the 6 p.m. television news at CBC Windsor, worked 11-hour days, seven days a week during the Paris Games, highlighting all the viral moments on a digital show from the network’s Toronto studio.

“Hosting is a special job in a lot of ways because you get so close to the athletes and close to the content,” Roberts said. “We hosted a 15-minute live show in the middle of the day at 1:30 p.m., and I hadn't done that type of format before, completely off the cuff. We really tried to look for moments that resonated with so many Canadians and people around the world.”

She and co-host Dale Manucdoc covered all the captivating moments from the 2024 Games in Paris, from discussing the athletes and their performances to the chocolate muffins served in the Olympic Village that caused a sensation on social media.

“We wanted to focus on the human elements of the Games, like special moments between families and teammates,” Roberts explained.

This is Roberts’ third time covering the Olympics. She first worked as a field producer at the Tokyo Games in 2020, where she saw the Canadian women’s soccer team win gold. For the 2022 Winter Games, she was in Toronto focusing on social media and hosting and returned there for this year’s coverage.

“It’s intense,” she said.

“Every morning, we would go over what people were talking about online and which sports were doing well, and then we’d have our show at 1:30 p.m. Along with that, I had a lot of other commitments, like national television hits, a radio hit every single day, and then we’d film the second show, called Rise and Stream, which was a kind of lookahead for the next day.”

Roberts said covering the Games brings a unique energy that stands out from her usual day-to-day of covering hard news.

“The Olympics, as a whole, is such a positive experience in the sense that so many countries come together, rallying for the same thing, and that energy and the spirit of the Games propel you through those three weeks. It’s exciting every day,” she said.

“It’s almost like breaking news every day. When the men’s 4x100m relay team won the gold medal or when local athlete Kylie Masse won that bronze medal, making her the first Canadian swimmer to medal in three consecutive Olympics, those moments keep you on a high.”

Her biggest takeaway from each experience is recognizing the amount of effort and grit each athlete puts into their sport.

“For me, the most special part of the Olympics is getting to showcase the athletes and their success, but more so, their stories,” Roberts said. “It has taken major sacrifice for our Olympians and Paralympians to get where they are today, and being able to play a small role in telling Canadians their stories is something I do not take for granted and is special every single time I get to do it.”

It was the second week of freshman year — Sept. 15, 1995 — and Mary J. Blige’s “You Bring Me Joy” was playing on the stereo.

“All of us got up to dance. We kind of locked eyes, I smiled, he smiled, walked across the dance floor, and we started dancing,” Andrea Franklin (BA 1999) reminisced.

“The feeling was mutual when we first saw each other,” Jermain Franklin (BA 1999) added.

The husband and wife met at an off-campus event hosted by the University of Windsor’s Caribbean Student Association. They have been together ever since.

While studying communications, Jermain gained critical writing skills and volunteered to get a feel for the business, allowing him to dive headfirst into sports journalism post-graduation.

He reported in Toronto before securing a job at TSN in Calgary, where he built a distinguished career. He covered Stanley Cup finals, World Junior Hockey Championships, NBA finals featuring basketball superstars like LeBron James and Steph Curry, and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

“I feel truly blessed to be able to do that,” Jermain shared. “It’s a lot of fun.”

One of the biggest highlights for Jermain has been his return to Ontario as a host on TSN’s flagship news program, SportsCentre.

“To come back and be on the anchor desk, that was a big deal to me,” he said. “I’d say that’s been the most significant. It’s good to be back home.”

Andrea found her calling in helping others and making a difference in her community. While working at UPS in Calgary, she localized the “Pulling4U” event, where volunteers haul a commercial airplane, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the United Way.

Now, she serves as the company’s first community relations manager in Canada.

“It’s about finding projects and people to uplift and support,” Andrea explained. “Educating our employees on what’s happening around them, finding causes that matter to our people and finding ways to bring them to that cause.”

The couple carries their UWindsor experience with them throughout their careers and everyday life, from practical skills to the community they’ve built.

“Every semester, when I worked at the academic writing centre, we’d go to classrooms and do presentations about the resources available to students,” said Andrea. “As someone who’s shy, that experience helped me develop those communication skills.”

“I learned to survive, how to make everything work with what we had,” Jermain said. “I think what made that special is the friendships that we made, friendships I still have to this day.”

Now, their daughter Micah is attending their alma mater, pursuing a drama in education and community degree.

“It was nostalgic and exciting when she chose Windsor,” Andrea said.

“Since she grew up in Calgary, we thought she’d want to go back for university, but Windsor had the program she wanted. So, when she chose it, we had the warm fuzzies,” Jermain said.

The couple is proud of Micah’s choice because, to the Franklins, being a Lancer is special.

“I know what we bring to the table is different than any other school,” Jermain said. “The Ambassador Bridge right over the top of campus symbolizes a bridge to opportunities.”

As the University of Windsor celebrates Alumni Week, stories like the Franklins’ remind us of the legacy of our Lancer community. Share your story at www.uwindsor.ca/alumni/UWindsorLegacy.

Growing up as the youngest of six children, Beth Oakley (BA 1990, B.Ed 1998, M.Ed 2005) didn’t always get to hear her father’s stories.

Following her 2022 retirement from the University as director of the International Student Centre, she started meeting with her father to record and write episodes from his life. The resulting book, entitled I Wouldn’t Have Missed It, brought to press through Walkerville Publishing, will enjoy a launch next week.

Oakley describes her father, James O’Neill, as a natural storyteller.

“As the founder of interior design in Windsor Essex County, he has been the driving force behind the most beautiful interiors in this region,” she says. “As a teenager, he hired a ‘decorator’ to help him select wallpaper and paint for his dilapidated childhood bedroom in a Walkerville townhouse. Thus began a lifelong flair for interior design.”

O’Neill shared stories of a teenage brush with the law resulting from a cigarette smuggling operation, his brief career as a wedding planner, being left for dead on a freeway in Detroit, and reinventing himself during mid-life personal struggles.

“At age 92, he still feels that he’s loving life,” Oakley says.

He will read some of the stories during the launch, from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, at the Giovanni Caboto Club, 2175 Parent Avenue at Tecumseh Road. Find more details on the event website.

Lancer football fans from around the world will tune into OUA.tv to catch the action as the Windsor side hosts the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Saturday, Sept. 21, at Alumni Stadium.

After an undefeated start to the season, the Lancers are ranked in the country’s top 10 by U Sports.

A special promotion by the University of Windsor Alumni Association will enable grads to host their own watch parties — send a request to receive a kit with a Lancer-themed T-shirt, can cooler sleeve, and cheer sticks or pompons.

Those able to make it to the game will enjoy a tailgate party at 3 p.m. in the entry plaza to the stadium. The party promises a kid zone sponsored by Devonshire Mall with inflatables, face painting sponsored by the alumni association, and sales of Lancer merchandise. CKLW radio will broadcast from the event from noon to kick-off at 4 p.m.

UWindsor grads who show ID will qualify for a discounted ticket rate of $10 — the first 1,000 through the gate will receive a gift from the Alumni Association.

After years of journaling, writing essays, reflections, and short stories, Claudio D’Andrea (BA 1986) began noticing a common thread in his work — much of it was intertwined with music.

D’Andrea is now debuting his book Stories in the Key of Song, a collection of 10 short stories and one essay written over the last 10 years, all united by a musical motif. The collection launches Thursday, Sept. 12.

“It started unintentionally. I just love music. I love listening to it and playing it. I used to be a drummer back in the day, and I still get on my little electric drum kit and practice whenever I can,” D’Andrea said. “Music has always been playing in the back of my mind, so I think it naturally inspired my writing. It started showing up quite a bit, in small ways and large.”

A lifelong writer, D’Andrea has worked in journalism and the newspaper business for more than 35 years. He first dabbled in creative writing in high school and as a student at the University of Windsor, and then returned to the art form about 10 years ago.

Inspiration strikes D’Andrea in many forms — a photograph, a phrase, a Christmas costume he once wore, or a song lyric can spark a story.

“The last story in this collection began when I woke up one morning with the phrase ‘I meme mine’ in my head. Of course, it’s the famous Beatles song, ‘I Me Mine’ and I wondered, ‘Where did that come from?’ I thought it was a cool, unique expression,” D’Andrea said.

That phrase led to his story I Meme Mine, about a failed writer who finds success in the afterlife by mining George Harrison memes.

Stories in the Key of Song showcases a variety of literary styles and topics. According to publisher Black Moss Press, the collection spans everything from realistic character portrayals to horror, surrealism, and metafiction.

One story, Bus Stop, Bus Goes, was inspired by the 1960s pop-rock band The Hollies’ song Bus Stop, and D’Andrea’s own commute. It tells the story of an older woman with an ear for music who meets a young man on a Transit Windsor bus one New Year’s morning.

"I guess that theme was in my head, and I just thought of the main character in that story. I pictured her on the bus, this troubled character, with that song playing in my head. Those two things kind of dovetailed, and the story came together from there,” he said.

That story is also being adapted into a short film.

D’Andrea was approached by friend and videographer, Walter Riggi, to see if he had any work that might translate into film. He chose Bus Stop, Bus Goes because it is character-driven and dialogue-focused. D’Andrea, Riggi, and Christian Vegh — a local guitarist, songwriter, actor and model — have been working on the film together.

“We’ve gone through a few readings and revisions, and it’s been great,” D’Andrea said. “It’s been very different. It’s a different kind of writing, and my friend has been opening my eyes to seeing it from a videographer's perspective, which is where a lot of the changes come from. It’s been fun!”