She never really appreciated the impact the United Way has on the community until she served in the charity’s offices as a sponsored employee, says Sara McNorton.

“When I learned about the On Track to Success program, I knew I wanted to support it and the young people it is helping find their way,” says the human anatomy lab demonstrator. “I see so  many of those students end up on our campus, pursuing an education that may otherwise have seemed out of reach.”

McNorton now volunteers as chair of the campus campaign for United Way, which will launch its fundraising drive next week.

On Track to Success provides supports to high schoolers in target neighbourhoods throughout Windsor-Essex — financial assistance, individual coaching, and training in time management, study tips, and coping strategies.

Currently, 55 graduates from the program are enrolled at the University of Windsor, including 19 first-year students, notes Judy Bornais, associate vice-president external.

“Once the students are here, United Way provides additional support on our campus,” she says. “That is a direct result of the generous donors who have responded to the call. Together, we can ensure that students from vulnerable neighbourhoods feel supported and successful on our campus and in life.”

Canvassers will visit offices next week, delivering donor packages and posters, and employees will receive a personalized email message with a link to contribute online or through payroll deduction.

Public events promoting the campaign include:

• a free kick-off luncheon at noon Tuesday, Oct. 8, outside Chrysler Hall Tower;
• the Women United coffee break at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall;
• information sessions on “Why Donate to United Way” at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, through MS Teams.

Attendees at any of these events will have an opportunity to enter a draw for an extra vacation day. The draw is also open to anyone who purchases a United Way T-shirt or ballcap. All employee donors will be entered into a draw for a one-year parking pass, with an additional pass draw for any new donors or previous donors who increase their contributions.

The incentive prizes will be announced at a wrap-up event at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11.

To show your support and raise awareness, find more details on the campaign website and download the virtual background and email signature graphics to use for the week.

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. Ray of Hope centres 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.

A partnership with the Multicultural Council of Windsor-Essex that sees the Psychological Services and Research Centre provide free mental health services for refugees has multiple benefits, says professor Chantal Boucher.

A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Boucher supervises the Advanced Adult Psychotherapy Practicum, which brings doctoral students of psychology together with refugee clients struggling with social, cultural, emotional, psychological, and adjustment difficulties.

“The students gain community-focused training experience in culturally sensitive and responsive interventions,” Boucher says. “Their clients receive counselling and psychotherapy services that would otherwise not be available to them.”

She points out that many refugees experience significant hardships before and after reaching Canada, from torture and traumas to physical health problems and subsistence needs, presenting wide-ranging and complex mental health concerns.

Students work closely with case managers and language interpreters from the multicultural council, the largest immigrant and refugee resettlement and support service in the region. The council and the psychology department recently renewed their partnership.

“We truly value our partnership with the multicultural council, and I feel honoured to continue supervising this practicum for the second year running,” says Boucher. “Working together, we are better able to address the unique mental health needs of refugees living in our community, while offering advanced culturally responsive training for our UWindsor clinical psychology doctoral students.”

Science undergraduate Lladaneyah Gayle, whose anti-racism work earned her a 2024 Lincoln M. Alexander Award as part of the annual Lieutenant Governors’ Legacy Awards Ceremony, says, “I love to help people. Philanthropy is my passion.”

The award is given annually to young leaders who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in working to fight racism and discrimination, while promoting equity and inclusion in their communities.

“It is not just a big accomplishment for me, it is a big accomplishment for my parents, and it symbolizes how far I’ve come. It is also a pusher of what I can do next.”

When Gayle moved from Jamaica to Canada at age 10, she had a culture shock. But in recognizing her differences, she set out to inspire others to not feel so alone and she cofounded Windsor’s Black Youth Empowerment Program to help racialized youth become entrepreneurs.

“I saw a lot of negatives and it took a toll,” says Gayle.

“I had my parents make sure I wasn’t crashing but I wanted to ensure other racialized youth would never have to feel that way, so I started the program through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.”

The goal, says Gayle, was to empower those youth, through experiential learning, to overcome racism and all the oppression they might face.

She went on to accumulate a vast catalogue of achievements by pursuing volunteer positions, from joining the Greater Essex County District School Board’s Black Advisory Student Committee to becoming deputy prime minister in her school’s student parliament, to helping start a student ambassador program — all of which created high school events revolving around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“I joined the Black Advisory Student Committee so I could start to mentor others and ensure the school board was equitable for black students,” she says.

“What keeps me going is looking at what others can achieve, seeing what I’m able to do and what others are able to do. It’s a ripple effect. Making sure that everyone feels included.”

The 17-year-old’s academic career is just as stellar. In high school she made the honour roll each year and now Gayle is currently in her first semester a studying biochemistry and biomedical science. She has already joined several groups and has her sights set on acquiring a position in a research lab with the goal of going to medical school.

“I want to go into oncology research because I lost a family member to cancer. I know research is really big here and I have friends who are a part of it, and I’d like to be a part of it,” she says.

“There’s a real sense of community at UWindsor. I’m really happy to be here and I’m smiling all the time.”

Each recipient of the Lincoln M. Alexander Award receives a $5,000 cash award and a personalized certificate.

A variety of mental health resources for faculty and staff are now available online as part of the Employee Mental Health Strategy (EMHS).

The EMHS website, housed under the Office of the VP, People, Equity, and Inclusion, provides resources to support UWindsor employees in fostering a caring, compassionate, psychologically healthy and safe campus. These include guides to Fostering a Supportive Workplace and Supporting a Colleague in Distress, tips for maintaining healthy work/life balance, and quick-resource guides for off-campus mental health supports, including the Employee Assistance Program.

Resources for leaders on campus are also available, such as the Lead with Care Supervisor’s Guide as well as self-care tips for leaders. Leaders can also access information and registration for a new in-house mental health training program.

“These resources have been created based on feedback from the Employee Mental Health Strategy Implementation Working Group and the EMHS Ambassadors Team who collaborate to identify mental health needs on campus and in their areas,” says employee mental health co-ordinator Kate Hargreaves.

“The goal is for the website to be a quick-access hub for mental health materials for faculty and staff, whether that means access to supports and help lines, details about benefits, accommodations, and flexible work arrangements, or tips to help foster a caring workplace and maintain balance.”

As part of the Employee Mental Health Strategy, mental health educator Jenny-Lee Almeida will speak at a World Mental Health Day event Oct. 10 on navigating change, stress, and wellness. The first session is full, but limited seats are still available for the afternoon session.

At the recognition awards event hosted Sept. 12 by the Detroit chapter of the American Institute of Architects, urbanist architect and educator Dorian Moore received the AIA Gold Medal.

Prof. Moore is an assistant professor of architecture in the School of Creative Arts with a cross appointment in interdisciplinary and critical studies. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture and Community Development where he has taught for over 25 years and has developed an international resource for transforming urban environments through his practice and teaching in both Detroit and Windsor.

Moore’s expertise spans architecture, planning, and urban design on an international scale. He has travelled to and documented urban conditions in more than 400 cities globally. As vice-president of Archive DS design studio, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the built environment through innovative design and strategic city planning with projects in both the U.S. and Canada.

In 2022 Moore was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, an honour bestowed on just 3 per cent of all American architects.

Recently, Moore served as the project urban design manager for the mixed-use redevelopment of the 180-acre Michigan State Fairgrounds. He was part of a select group of architects and planners invited to Mississippi to work on the reconstruction of 11 cities along the Gulf Coast after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. His influence extends to Toronto, where he contributed to a visionary plan for the city’s underutilized "Port Lands." 

Moore served on the Mayor's Detroit Land Use Master Plan Task Force's Core Support Staff, which created a long-term framework for the development of the city. His passion for sustainable city-building was demonstrated by his leadership in previous urban design projects and his participation in this one.

New support advisors will help provide counsel to students experiencing trauma as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says Provost and Vice-President Academic, Robert Aguirre.

“We have recognized that the current humanitarian crisis is challenging for many of us on campus, particularly for those members of groups who have been most directly impacted,” Dr. Aguirre says. “We are pleased to announce that two members of our faculty have stepped forward in this critical time to act as supports for students.”

Riham Al-Saadi, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, will serve as the Palestinian Student Support Advisor. She completed all her studies at the University of Windsor: a bachelor of science in behaviour, cognition, and neuroscience; and master’s and PhD degrees in social work. A Palestinian-Canadian whose family sought refuge in Lebanon in 1948, Dr. Al-Saadi focused her doctoral dissertation on immigrant and refugees’ acculturation process and her positionality as a Palestinian with immigrant and refuge milestones.

Ira Lawrence Cohen serves as the Jewish Student Support Advisor. He is a sessional lecturer in the Odette School of Business, teaching courses in the Master of Management program, including international business and strategy management. Dr. Cohen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication arts, a postgraduate diploma in international business management, an MBA, and a PhD with a dissertation focus on solving the business challenges and developing the competencies of entrepreneurs through the application of action learning.

“I encourage students to reach out to either of these advisors for support in dealing with the impact of global conflict,” says Aguirre.

Contact details for the advisors:

Meet and greets for students to get to know the advisors are being organized for the coming weeks.