In recommending Kate Hargreaves for the Governor General's Gold Medal, the department of English Language, Literature and Creative Writing described the two-time grad (BA 2010, MA 2012) as “the most talented and hard-working student we have had the pleasure to teach and mentor.”

Hargreaves received the medal as the top graduate student in her cohort at Saturday’s Convocation ceremonies.

During her academic career, she was active with the Windsor ReView and other literary publications, BookFest Windsor, poetry readings, and—befitting her undergraduate minors in communications and women’s studies—the Distinguished Visitor in Women’s Studies program and the Womyn’s Centre.

She has authored 25 refereed works in literary journals and earned a graduate tuition scholarship, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Canada Graduate Scholarship and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. In addition, Hargreaves received a 2012 grant from the Windsor Endowment for the Arts as an emerging literary artist.

“I totally credit my professors for my success,” Hargreaves said. “They really encouraged me to push the boundaries of my writing.”

She singled out her thesis supervisor Nicole Markotić as well as Susan Holbrook: “Both were incredible professors” and added that her courses in publishing with resident writing professional Marty Gervais helped her to gain real-world experience.

Following her graduation in June, that experience led her to a full-time job as a publishing assistant and book designer with the literary press Biblioasis.

“It was my dream that I would end up getting a job in publishing,” said Hargreaves. “I always admired the work of Biblioasis, so to be a part of what they’re doing makes me extremely happy.”

She is currently seeking a publisher for her master’s thesis, a poetry manuscript and critical essay entitled Leak. This April, Gervais’ Black Moss Press will publish another book, tentatively titled Talking Derby: Stories from a Life on Eight Wheels, which draws on her experiences as a member of the Border City Brawlers roller derby league.

Centred out for recognition during the University of Windsor’s 98th Convocation ceremonies Saturday were winners of the Board of Governors Medals, awarded to the graduating student with the highest academic standing in each program:

• Civil and Environmental Engineering: Rita Laith
• Electrical and Computer Engineering: Azam Mustafa
• Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering: David Impens
• Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering: Chen Feng

Cogeco cable will air recordings of the Convocation ceremonies by staff of the Centre for Teaching and Learning on its local access channel 11.

The morning session will air at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23 and at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 29. The afternoon session will air at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 27, and at 9 p.m. on Monday, October 29.

Many kids involved with sports grow up dreaming about being a professional athlete someday, but a group of grad students in kinesiology recently got an inside look at how they can turn their passion into a livelihood by visiting with employees from several sport organizations in Toronto.

Students in the Master of Human Kinetics, Sport Management program travelled to Toronto earlier this month and got to meet with people from the city’s Sports Council, the Toronto Blue Jays, and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment – the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, The Toronto Marlies and the Toronto F.C. soccer team.

“It really gave us a chance to get some one-on-one time with people who are working in the industry and gave us some good ideas about what we can do to be in the same position someday,” said Mike Ayotte, a member of the university’s men’s golf team who originally hails from Oshawa.

This was the first time in several years that students in the program went on such a field trip to Toronto, said professor Jess Dixon, one of two faculty members who accompanied the students on the expedition.

“We were able to leverage our vast alumni network and get the students inside these facilities to see what these organizations are all about,” said Dr. Dixon. “We really wanted them to get a sense of the breadth of opportunities that are available within the Canadian sport industry.”

On their first day in Toronto, the dozen students who attended were hosted for breakfast by employees of the Blue Jays, followed by a tour of the Rogers Centre where the baseball team plays. After lunch at Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant, they went to Toronto City Hall, where they met with members of the city’s sports council, which actively promotes sport and physical recreation. They stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, located at the Rogers Centre and some of them took in the Jays-Twins game that night.

The next morning they met with a group from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, followed by a tour of the Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors. Amanda Morrison, who is originally from London, said it was interesting to hear how many people “fell” into their positions.

“A lot of doors opened up for them because of positions that they were willing to take,” said Morrison, who has worked in a variety of jobs with the Knights, her hometown’s Ontario Hockey League Junior A team. “Many of them were willing to take on additional roles and responsibilities, and because of their passion and commitment, were able to work their way up."

Most students gravitate towards the “glitz” of pro sports organizations, but Kylie Wasser, from Burlington, said she found it enlightening to meet with those who worked in the municipal sector with the Toronto Sports Council, some of whom were working on preparations for the Pan-Am Games in 2015. Dixon said there are all kinds of opportunities working in municipal and other government sectors in sport and recreation management.

“It’s an important sector of the sport industry that’s often overlooked by many people,” he said.

Have you ever sat on a beach and asked where the sand came from and where might it be going? Maria Cioppa has, and the associate professor of earth and environmental sciences will discuss her use of magnetic techniques to understand beach erosion and sediment transport in a free public lecture Wednesday entitled “Where did that beach go?”

Working with colleagues and students at Point Pelee National Park, Dr. Cioppa has carried out a series of experiments and measurements designed to investigate potential sediment sources, rates of sand movement, and areas at high risk of erosion.

Cioppa’s research specialties are paleomagnetism and rock magnetism of hydrocarbon-associated rocks, environmental magnetism. Her October 17 lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Canada South Science City, 930 Marion Avenue, as part of the Science Café series. Sponsored by the Faculty of Science, the series offers discussion of important science research for the general public.

Filmmaker Susan Bazilli will be on hand for a campus screening of her documentary film Constitute!—which explores the work of the 1981 Ad Hoc Committee on Women and the Constitution—on Monday, October 15.

The event is the first in a series celebrating the 2012 Distinguished Visitor in Women’s Studies, the Women Behind The Charter. The screening is free and open to the public; it begins at 7 p.m. in room 203, Toldo Health Education Centre.

A community meet-and-greet reception continues the theme on Tuesday, October 16.

At a brown bag lunch event on Friday, October 19, “Legislating What Women Can Wear: the Niqab in the Courtroom,” a panel will discuss the Supreme Court case R.v.N.S.

Find a full schedule of events on the women’s studies Web site.

Bernie’s Grill in the CAW Student Centre’s Marketplace food court is offering a sociable special this week—two can dine for $9.99.

The deal offers two Bernie burgers, two regular fries, and two fountain drinks for under 10 bucks, October 15 to 19.

The 1972 movement of Asians expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was the first test of Canada’s “universal” immigration policy as applied to refugees. Former diplomat Michael Molloy will examine the reasons behind Amin’s decision and the Canadian reaction in a free public lecture Monday, October 15, at 7 p.m. in room 105, Memorial Hall.

Molloy will describe how a small, hastily assembled team—which included him—went to Kampala in September 1972 and moved more than 6,000 refugees to Canada by the November 8 deadline imposed by the Ugandan government. His talk will also examine the impact of the Ugandan experience on the refugee resettlement provisions of the 1976 Immigration Act and on the subsequent Indochinese refugee program of 1979-80.

Molloy is a senior fellow of the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and co-director of the Jerusalem Old City Initiative at the University of Windsor. He served as coordinator of the Middle East Peace Process at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2003 and was Canadian ambassador to Jordan from 1996 to 2000.

His appearance is sponsored by the political science and history departments and the Centre for Studies in Social Justice.