Message from the principal

Principal Keil celebrates graduation with some of the College’s most accomplished student leaders. All five are UTSLA recipients, featured on pp. 32-33. Left to right are Mukti Patel (HBA ’22 Innis), Amisha Punja (HBA ’22 Innis), Ella Ma (HBSc ’22 Innis), student Shivani Baldeo, and Emma Paulus (HBA ’22 Innis) (photo by Rahul Parhar).

A message from the Principal

“Storytelling,” as Eva-Lynn Jagoe reminds us in “Every perspective tells a story” (pp. 26-27), “can reinforce a sense of belonging and history.” Certainly that is true of the stories we craft about our youthful experiences. At Innis, we believe that we can help students ensure that their undergraduate years will prove the foundation of future stories that speak to resilience and the joy of community. Recognizing that positive experiences don’t always emerge naturally, we have committed ourselves to developing strong student supports, as evidenced by the mental health initiatives spearheaded by Sana

Imran, the College’s assistant dean, community wellness, and described by student Shivani

Baldeo on pp. 16-17. And we continue to build on the calls to action generated by the

Black Student Experience Working Group, as exemplified by a new mentorship program linking Black students and alumni (featured on pp. 18-19). Ideally, the Innis Renewal and

Expansion project, championed by invested alumni such as Greg Sutton and Laura Murphy and by the Later Life Learning community (profiled on pp. 20-22), will be the home to future heartening tales of college life. Alumni also have stories to tell, stories that can illuminate the knotty dimensions of identity (Charlotte Gill, pp. 10-11), the vital claims of diversity (Sharon Lewis, pp. 1213), and the value of empathy (Robin Whalen, pp. 14-15). And those stories resonate from across the globe (“On top of the world,” pp. 24-25) and spread into exciting new roles in an ever-evolving world (“Great job,” pp. 2829). And as we take note of those we lost (“In remembrance,” pp. 37-39), we are reminded of their centrality to our own stories and the indelible contributions that they made to a larger narrative. Here at Innis, our story keeps changing, as it should. We have witnessed exciting new arrivals, such as Vice Principal Eva-Lynn Jagoe, who has been enlivening the College since last January, and Acting Principal Karen Reid, who is already winning the hearts of students in the role she will occupy until the summer of 2023. And we must also acknowledge departures, as with Ennis Blentic, associate director of advancement at the College for nearly a decade, and a driving force behind the creation of this very magazine, who is moving on to a new position at the University. The one enduring story at Innis that never ceases to enthrall and inspire is one of students discovering their best selves in serving and bonding with their peers. One can discern that story throughout the magazine, writ large in the beaming faces of so many depicted within these pages.

Acting Principal Karen Reid and Principal Charlie Keil (photo by Rahul Parhar)