Vol 56 Issue 20

here’s who’s running for the

Words by Racy Rafique, Jake MacAndrew and Gabriela Silva Ponte

PRESIDENT

MARINA GERGES

Marina Gerges is running unopposed for re-election as president of the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU).

The fourth-year biomedical engineering student said it’s not the right time for her to leave her position.

“It’s important for us to just continue building on what we’ve done,” said Gerges. “Even though it was hard, I think that if I leave and we go backwards, it will just be harder for us to be able to do this again and continue the momentum of a working and functional students’ union.”

Gerges said she wants to address subjects such as mental health and improving communica tions between the school and its students.

Gerges is the sole candidate running for the position of president, after the TMSU revealed that the other presidential candi dates were deemed ineligible by the Chief Returning Officer, Adrian Aziz, as previ ously reported by The Eyeopener

Since her election last year, Gerges has amended the old Ryerson Students’ Union by laws, been accused and absolved of workplace racism and harassment and announced a fi nancial mismanagement investigation into the previous year’s TMSU, as previously reported by The Eye

Vice President OPERATIONS

Success Daka is a second-year computer engineering student running for his second term on the TMSU. Last year, Daka was a Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science director but is now running for vice president operations.

He said he is interested in the financial operations of the students’ union and making sure students get what they’re paying for.

“A lot of the students on campus don’t see the students’ union fighting for them. So when it’s time for them to actually get involved in what we’re doing, it’s kind of hard for them because they can’t see how it’s actually impacting their lives,” he said in an interview with The Eye

Daka said he would like to analyze the percentage of students using the TMSU’s programs and events to improve them and “make sure more people use them.”

“To do this we actually need to do the research and consultation with the student body, which I think we didn’t do enough of this year,” he said.

Daka said he is hoping to establish ways to help international students find housing. He is also working toward community outreach between students and academic services.

He added that he wants to continue the discounts the TMSU has in place.

Earlier this year, the students’ union introduced a discount on Adobe Creative Cloud and Grammarly for all students, as

Nathan Sugunalan

Nathan Sugunalan is a geographic analysis student and previously served as the Faculty of Arts senator. He later served as the TMSU vice president education after the position opened following Umar Abdullah’s resignation from the role at the July BoD meeting, as previously reported by The Eye Sugunalan is running under Dream, which is one of two slates with candidates in executive positions.

He was inspired to run for the position following the influx of independent candidates that won in last year’s TMSU election.

“We saw the independents win last year and it was such a big shift from [previous elections]. It was just really inspiring,” said Sugunalan. “Let’s take this as far as we can. Rebuild this place and just have a great experience for [undergraduate students and] whoever’s coming after us.”

He said one of the biggest changes has been the increased transparency within the union.

Sugunalan plans to bring in an external consulting firm to report on the progress of the union similar to the annual audits cur rently in place. Additionally, he would add a live updated budget on the TMSU website.

Angie Awadallah

Angie Awadallah is a third-year biomedical sciences major who has been on the TMSU for a year as a Faculty of Science director.

“It almost felt like a responsibility to run for this position in particular,” she said.

“It would be a shame to not continue this work. And to not build the organization up to the levels of success that I had in mind when I first ran for Faculty of Science director last year.”

She said the one-year term isn’t enough to fix both present and past issues within the students’ union.

Awadallah said she’s hoping to kickstart bursaries for equity deserving and underrepresented populations as well as hold the students’ union accountable.

She said this year’s team didn’t think there would be so many “hurdles” and “messes” to

Mahira Shoaib

Mahira Shoaib is in her third-year of business technology management.

Shoaib is running under one of two slates in the executive position category, Team Revolt.

“Throughout my academic journey, I have gained a deep understanding of the importance of effective operations management in achieving organizational goals,” said Shoaib in her candidate statement. “I have also developed strong leadership skills through various team projects and extracurricular activities, which I believe will serve me well in this role.”

If elected, Shoaib plans to improve TMSU’s operations and streamline its processes. “I believe that this is essential to ensuring that we can continue to deliver high-quality services to our members and create a vibrant and supportive community.”

Vice President equity

“This is the students’ money, we collect it and then after we put it to work for them, for whatever services that we have, whatever ser vices we develop, they can see where it’s going. And that’s one thing that I really wanted to…be more public with our budget,” said Sugunalan.

He said being more interactive with stu dents is on his list of priorities. He’s look ing to do that through hosting more town halls, conducting surveys and implementing community-wide grants.

Sugunalan said although he only joined the TMSU executive team in October of last year with many issues to fix, it motivated him to make strides in actions such as the bylaw amendments—which he said he was most involved with as an executive.

“I helped to rebuild the relationships with the other unions on campus,” said Sugunalan. “Over time, once they saw I was a more genuine person, they kind of opened up more to the TMSU.”

Aya Bakir

Aya Bakir is a second-year sociology student running for her second term on the TMSU. Last year, Bakir held the position of Faculty of Arts director and was a member of the TMSU’s Social Justice Committee. Her campaign is centred around improving trauma informed counselling on campus for racialized and queer students, adding more prayer space on campus for Muslim students and improving support for international students. Bakir said there is a disconnect between the union and services at TMU. She plans to connect them together in hopes of creating social justice events that are more cohesive.

clean up but that she is proud of their success.

TMSU’s executive positions

Photos courtesy of candidates and the TMSU

“I would really like to be proactive in terms of bridging the gap between the two and being an active leader in providing guidance and the sort of direction that such equity services would like to take,” said Bakir.

She is also trying to bridge the gap between the university and non-governmental organizations in the community.

Bakir said she is prepared to venture into the new role as she has already taken on many of the vice president equity responsibilities last year.

Bakir said her role in organizing response support for Irainians in response to the recent conflict, started conversations on the sexual assaults on campus and led fundraising for the earthquake in Syria and Turkey last February.

“I have had the past year to prepare me to better be able to do this job and I would like to take my shot at it.”

Shahram Farhadi

Shahram Farhadi is a fourth-year business technology management student representative for the TMU senate.

Farhadi is running under one of two slates in the executive position category, Dream.

Farhadi was a previous vice president events for the Information Technology Management Students’ Association and a Program Admin/Operations Lead for the Recreation and Athletics Centre.

He says TMSU events are currently sociallyfocused but he would like to add career-focused events like conferences and workshops for TMU students to grow their careers.

Trevohn Baker

Trevohn Baker is a fourth-year creative industries student running for the vice president equity position at the TMSU.

Baker has served as the BIPOC Students’ Collective coordinator for three years. He was also on Toronto Metropolitan Univer sity’s (TMU) Anti-Black Racism Student Advisory Committee and the Black student lounge initiative, where he says he played a “fundamental role.”

According to his TMSU candidate profile, Baker has helped with Black History Month initiatives at the TMSU, designed initiatives such as an emergency food box for BIPOC students, a Black natural hair care package, a menstrual product donation in 2022 and “complimentary” trauma-informed therapy for BIPOC students in the BIPOC Students’ Collective office.

“As VP Equity, Trevohn aims to bring ad ditional change to the resources provided for marginalized students on a much larger scale by actively working with TMU to address equityrelated concerns voiced by the students,” the profile reads.

Vice President student life

“A lot of [university students] are interested in professionally growing their career. That’s the reason why we’re here; for fun, but also an experience of actually learning and growing in your career,” said Farhadi.

Despite not being on the TMSU Board of Directors for the 2022-23 term, Farhadi noticed increased transparency throughout the union and upholding many promises such as Grammarly premium discounts.

“[The TMSU] did a lot of good things this year and I definitely want to be a part of that next year and take it a step further, improving much more and get to another level,” said Farhadi.

Molokwu wants to continue the initiatives she started this year, including the Tiny Desk Concert and special pub nights with diverse DJs.

Molokwu also said she wants to start having more conversations about socio-political issues that impact students on and off campus.

“The first thing would be the increase in security on campus as a response to sexual assault,” she said. “And though yes, security does make students feel safer, I personally feel as though there hasn’t been enough conversation on both sides.”

Molokwu said in her candidate profile that she plans to “revitalize our campus groups” through an increase in base and grant funding.

Kareena Bhatia

Kareena Bhatia is a second-year professional communications student and a TMU Board of Governors student member for the 202223 term.

Bhatia is running under Team Revolt. Her agenda includes making student life memorable by planning initiatives, investing in campus athletics and student groups, according to her candidate profile.

“I believe that student life is an important aspect of an individual’s time on campus. I vow to do everything in my power to improve campus experience for all,” said Bhatia in her candidate statement.

Ozi Molokwu

Ozi Molokwu is running for re-election as the vice president student life. Molokwu is a second-year international student from South Africa and Nigeria.

The second-year arts student was previously director of the Society of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities as well as the African Students’ Association.

Shirin kalavi

Third-year biomedical sciences student Shireen Kalavi is running for the vice president education position this year. She has previously served as a Faculty of Science director on the Board this year and is also currently a Undergraduate/Law/Chang Student Senator.

Kalavi currently sits as the chair of the TMSU’s Board Conduct Committee and is a member of the TMSU’s By-Law and Policies Committee.

Kalavi says she will advocate for additional study days between the last day of classes and the beginning of the examination period each semester.

“That will be on top of my agenda—to work on more study periods or extending the reading weeks, whichever way is better for students,” she said.

Kalavi also says she would hope to hold more regular town halls and office hours to take into consideration students’ opinions on these ideas.

Kalavi also hopes to make some changes within Career Boost, TMU’s student undergraduate work program.

“I would want to work to remove the $18 [wage] cap from Career Boost positions,” she said.

She also noted that, if elected, she would like to call on the university to provide more career boost job opportunities for international students.

“This year was a year that we made fundamental changes to the TMSU. So next year would be the topics that I would deeply work to help students [with],” she said.

Abeeha Ahmad

Third-year graphic communications management student Abeeha Ahmad is running for the position of vice president education.

“Now that we are back on campus, and have been since last year, there is a lot that can be done to make everyone’s experience much better,” reads her TMSU candidate profile.

Ahmad said she’s running to make sure students get to have experiences that they never forget.

“As a student who spent their first 2 years studying online, I felt that it was a huge loss for all of us because the university experience is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” her statement reads.

TMSU president Marina Gerges alleges she was “set up” for drinking and driving arrest

about it.”

Gerges then said she drank the drink, after which she started to feel “really, really tired.”

“I remember leaving Lavelle, vaguely. I don’t remember the walk back at all,” she alleged. “I barely remember even getting into my car. But when we get to the parking garage, I immediately go to the passenger seat of my car because all I wanted to do was sleep.”

Editor-in-Chief

Abeer “Rover Rover” Khan

News

Jake “Court W” MacAndrew Gabriela “GSP” Silva Ponte Racy “Teeth: Brushed” Rafique

Photo

Konnor “Supper” Killoran

Vanessa “Field Trip” Kauk Kinza “Clocked In” Zafar

Online

Thea “Just Wanted Potatoes” Gribilas

Madeline “The Exterminator” Liao

Features

Stephanie “Cutest Cardigan” Davoli

Arts and Culture Shaki “Dayquil” Sutharsan

By

volved with the TMSU participated in a scheme to get her charged for drinking and driving.

people involved with the TMSU, only 13 days into her presidency.

Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) president Marina

Gerges released a video statement on Instagram alleging she was “set up” to be caught drinking and driving by some individuals involved with the TMSU in various capacities.

“Call this what you want. But to me, it’s clear this was a set up,” said Gerges in one of two video statements posted to her Instagram page at around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The videos were posted following an email that was sent to some Toronto Metropolitan University students and obtained by The Eyeopener Monday night accusing Gerges of allegedly drinking and driving.

The email was sent from a personal Gmail account to the mailing list rsu-all@yourtmsu.ca, which the TMSU confirmed is “not a real mailing list.”

The students’ union said the sender hid the recipient emails in the BCC field in order to make the email “appear more legitimate.”

“This email consisted of a number of false claims about the TMSU, attacks against candidates in the ongoing election, and allegations specifically regarding the candidate running for President,” said the TMSU in a statement sent to its members this morning.

“I

Gerges addressed the drinking and driving allegations against her in her video statements, in which she alleged that several people in -

The Eye obtained a copy of Gerges’ driver’s record, which showed she received an administrative driver’s license suspension (ADLS)—an automatic 90-day suspension following a roadside police stop due to a number of reasons, including a high blood alcohol level—on May 14, 2022.

Drivers can face charges if their blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 or more or if their concentration is in the warn range of between 0.05 and 0.079, according to the Government of Ontario website.

However, she was only convicted of a careless driving charge on Sept. 19, according to Gerges’ driver’s record, obtained by The Eye

According to the Highway Traffic Act, careless driving is an offense for someone who drives on a highway “without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons.”

In her video statement, Gerges alleged she was invited by a TMSU staff member to a Dave concert, in which other staff and members were in attendance.

Gerges alleged that by the time the concert rolled around, she no longer wanted to attend but was told that the ticket had her name on it, so if she didn’t go to the concert she would have to pay $300 for the ticket.

Gerges alleged that the Dave concert was a “set up” by several

Gerges said she drove to the concert after a different TMSU staff member allegedly told her, “you can’t Uber, you have to drive because I didn’t drive and I was hoping you were going to take me home.”

She alleged that the staff member then stayed with her on the phone for her whole drive to the concert and offered to buy her alcohol from the LCBO.

Gerges alleged she fell asleep in her car and the TMSU staff member got into the driver’s seat, took her keys from her purse, unlocked her phone and used the GPS connected to her car to bring her to his home in Brampton, Ont. She alleged that the staff member was also drinking that night.

She alleged the staff member woke her up in Brampton, Ont. in her car and she said she was disoriented and tired.

“I didn’t know why I was in Brampton and why I found myself driving home in this state on a route that I had never taken before,” she said. “I get into the driver’s seat, he looks at me and he says, ‘You’re good to drive right?’ And I remember just thinking I have to get out of here and home immediately.”

Business and Technology

Natalie “Busy Bee” Vilkoff

Communities

Negin “Cutest Outfits” Khodayari

Sports

Gavin “The Mole” Axelrod Jack “Chipotle L” MacCool

Fun and Satire Zarmminaa “Bubble Trouble” Rehman

Media

Sonia “Meetin’” Khurana Youdon “Chickadee” Tenzin

Web

Nishil “Happy” Kapadia Sam “Spring!” Chowdhury

“Even though he told me that he was a huge fan of Dave, he waited outside for me the whole time and he missed the entire concert,” Gerges alleged.

After the concert, Gerges alleged that her and the TMSU staff member decided to drive to Lavelle, a club in downtown Toronto.

Gerges said she had not been drinking at this point. After parking in a parking garage, Gerges alleged that she had “one or two shots” of vodka before walking to Lavelle.

“I decided that I could sleep over at my friend’s house downtown, which is fine because my car was parked in a parking garage and it was already really late and I could just leave it overnight,” she alleged.

Once at Lavelle, Gerges said she went to get a drink at the bar but it was closed.

She said the TMSU staff member allegedly gave her a drink but she did not know where the drink came from. She said she asked the staff member where he got the drink and he said, “don’t worry

As she drove, Gerges alleged her highway settings were turned off on her GPS, which she said was “extremely weird” because it was taking her “twice as long to get home.”

“I didn’t want to play with my phone as I was driving just because of how tired I was too,” she alleged.

After about 10 minutes of driving, Gerges said someone allegedly called the police.

“I hate making things about myself. I hate being a victim. And I was never going to speak about this but I’m being backed into a corner,” said Gerges in her video statement.

“I remember leaving Lavelle, vaguely. I don’t remember the walk back at all”

In the post caption, Gerges said “maybe this has something to do with the fact that the previous team had cheques issued to their personal accounts from the TMSU bank account.”

The Eye previously reported that the TMSU is investigating past financial mismanagement from the 2021-22 term.

General Manager

Liane “Knows Things” McLarty

Advertising Manager

Chris “Answers The Phone!” Roberts

Design Director

J.D. “Done It All” Mowat

Contributors

Dexter “MVP” LeRuez

Daniella “At the MAC” Lopez

Ilyas “Right Decision” Hussein

Ishitaa “Petition To Name Mascot” Chopra

Guia “Cute Building Expert” Montellano

Julia “Mystery Solved” Lawrence

Denise “Markham Girlie” Xiao Berry “Insert Mascot” Shi

Emerson “Fe-No-Ra” Williams

Oceanne “Lucy” Li

Kate “Bagel” Walker

Catherine “Advisor” Abes

Kim “Always Serving” Jongin Choco “Choco” Choco

Park “Solo Moment” Jimin

Jeon “5 Hour Lives” Jungkook

Min “Flustered” Yoongi

Kim “Smoke Sprite” Namjoon

Kim “I Miss You” Seokjin

Jung “Don’t Leave” Hoseok

Kim “HE” Taehyung

Racy Rafique, Jake MacAndrew and Gabriela Silva Ponte

KONNOR KILLORAN/THE EYEOPENER

“Call this what you want. But to me, it’s clear this was a set up”

“I remember just thinking I have to get out of here and home immediately”

was never going to speak about this but I’m being backed into a corner”

“I hate making things about myself. I hate being a victim”

Behind the Scenes

By Julia Lawrence

On top of her lead role in the new CBC Gem series Macy Murdoch, second-year performance acting student Shailyn Pierre-Dixon is still a regular student practicing scenes with classmates.

Macy Murdoch is a new CBC Gem original tween series, where Pierre-Dixon plays William Murdoch’s great-great-great-granddaughter, Macy Murdoch, who gets involved in solving a centuryold mystery. The show is a spinoff of the longtime running series, Murdoch Mysteries

Pierre-Dixon’s studies as a performance student are different from most programs at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Some days, she stays on campus from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with classmates working on studio and movement-based assignments.

“I am running on adrenaline at this point,” she says. On top of class assignments where she’s instructed to dig deep into a character, PierreDixon also has to do that in her new role, which she says can be physically and mentally draining.

At the end of the day though, Pierre-Dixon is enjoying her time at TMU. “I also have my electives which are very essay-based. I’m do-

ing all the things at once—I’m just tired but I love it.”

Shailyn Pierre-Dixon and the mystery of work-life balance as a student-actor

“It definitely made us work harder to connect with one another. It was sad but also a good learning moment,” Pierre-Dixon says. “You could connect so much with just the eyes. It doesn’t have to be a whole facial expression you’re connecting with.”

ing her that auditions are all a part of the process and that she should enjoy it as it’s a chance to act.

“That shaped the way in which I saw auditioning and it became less of a chore and less of this dreadful thing where it’s, ‘What if they say no?’” she says.

than anything because right after, it was, ‘We already know what kind of work you do and we were hoping that you’d be available for the role of Macy Murdoch.’”

When Pierre-Dixon came to TMU, she didn’t expect to learn much because she already had experience on sets as an actor. But she says her goal has always been to get an education—no matter how her acting career went.

Although she went to school for the atmosphere, Pierre-Dixon has learned how to connect to a character while separating her personal life and the role in school.

“I feel like I’ve learned how to safely connect to specific emotions that I might need to access in a scene without going into trauma and having to take from my own personal life and apply that to the character,” she says.

During Pierre-Dixon’s first year at TMU, she had to act while wearing a mask due to COVID-19 protocols at the time.

It was difficult for her as she says she was unable to see half of her scene partner’s face, making facial expressions hard to read.

Pierre-Dixon’s first on-set acting experience was when she followed her mother—and now manager—one day to watch her act.

The crew needed a background child and she immediately fell in love with acting through the experience. Since then, she’s worked with her mother to prepare for auditions and acting coaching.

“I’m constantly being inspired by her work, what she’s doing and her drive when it comes to acting because it’s her dream that I’ve also taken on,” she says. “I think she’s definitely my main inspiration for everything I do but acting especially.”

During Pierre-Dixon’s acting dry period in high school, she felt frustrated after facing multiple rejections during auditions.

She remembers her mother tell-

“It became more of an opportunity for me to really explore the different characters I can play and explore my love for acting more than anything.”

In Shaftesbury’s October press release, it said the show “will engage young viewers on CBC Gem with fresh, relatable teen characters and an all-new mystery set in the hit Murdoch Mysteries universe.”

Throughout Pierre-Dixon’s career as an actor, she hopes her audience can see her as a Black woman on screen. “I hope other young Black women will see me and be like, ‘I understand what this character is going through. I can also do this. I can also be an actor.’”

She recalls being so excited to find out she would be getting the lead role in Macy Murdoch. “It was my first time being number one on the call sheet, which is a big deal and I’ve never had a show based around me.”

The actor previously finished filming her role as Willow on Life with Luca, which came out on Disney last month. Afterwards, she heard from Shaftesbury, the same production company behind Life with Luca, that they’d like to meet her for an audition for the character Macy Murdoch.

“I was at home and I got a message from the producer,” Pierre-Dixon recalls. “It felt more like a formality

To Pierre-Dixon, the future of her career as an actor is full of possibilities. She says she’d like to explore playing roles that reflect the human experience that also have an otherworldly aspect to them.

“With acting, my main thing is I want others to connect to what I’m doing. I want them to feel seen.”

“It definitely made us work harder to connect with one another”

“I’m doing all the things at once—I’m just tired, but I love it”

“I hope other young Black women will see me and be like, ‘I understand what this character is going through’”

“I think she’s definitely my main inspiration for everything I do, but acting especially”

KINZA ZAFAR/THE EYEOPENER

Career Crossroads

As he joined a Zoom call with his coaches in March 2022, Aaron Rhooms didn’t expect what was coming for him. He assumed the call would discuss his season—what he thought he excelled at and what he could improve upon.

Yet, the second-year business management student, who was busy studying accounting just moments before, was now being told some of the best news a first-year athlete could hear.

“You won Canadian Rookie of the Year!” his head coach David DeAveiro told him. As his mind was still preoccupied with his earlier studying, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Sorry, what did you say?” he questioned both DeAveiro and assistant coach Jeremie Kayeye.

They repeated the statement.

Wow was the only thing the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold basketball player could think as he sat in shock in his bedroom for the next few moments. When it finally registered, he raced downstairs to tell his mom the good news. Much like her son, she was also in shock but Rhooms recalls her face lighting up upon the realization. The following moments consisted of Rhooms running around his house, screaming with joy.

“It meant a lot,” he says of winning the 2022 U Sports Rookie of the Year. “It was definitely a testament to all the work I’ve put in. A testament to the sacrifices not only I made but [to] my family, teammates and coaches for having faith in me.”

U Sports is the national governing body of university sports in Canada. In the 2021-22 season, there were over 14,000 student-athletes nationwide, according to the organization’s annual report.

Rhooms became the first player in TMU men’s basketball program history to win the award. Since winning the award, Rhooms’ goal of playing basketball professionally has only solidified.

“I’ve always had the dream but last year was a realization [that] it could actually happen.”

Rhooms remembers running around on a basketball court when he was as young as five-years-old. By the time he turned nine-years-old, Rhooms started playing competitively with the Oakville Basketball Club, a local league.

But standing five feet 10 inches tall at nine-years-old didn’t alleviate young Rhooms’ nerves at tryouts. After all, it was still his first time in a competitive environment. Yet, he soon realized that his skills gave him an advantage over most of the kids there.

While Rhooms felt confident at his extracurricular basketball club, things changed in high school. Rhooms recalls that his teammates at St. Martin Secondary School in Mississauga were “taller and faster” than he ever experienced.

In his first game with the Mustangs—his high school team— he scored 27 points. The hesitation of not being good enough quickly faded as Rhooms knew he belonged on the court. Throughout his four years with the team, they had their ups— like being ranked second in the province—and their downs— like COVID-19 forcing an early end to their season.

“It ended on a bad note but the first few years were pretty good,” Rhooms said.

When he finished high school, Rhooms’ goal was to play on a Division I (D) basketball team in the United States but the pandemic made it difficult as he couldn’t visit different schools and reaching out to coaches was tough. D1 is the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, sanctioned by the

Words by Daniella Lopez

Visuals by Denise Xiao

Photo by Konnor Killoran

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the organization that regulates student-athletes in the U.S.

Only 3.5 per cent of high school students will continue playing basketball in the NCAA. The percentage drops to one per cent when looking at D1 schools, according to the organization. The percentage of athletes playing at D2 and D3 schools is also low.

Of the small percentage of athletes who make the jump from high school to post-secondary athletics, the adjustment period is difficult, say the auof the 2015 book Student Leadership Development Through Recreation and Athletics

According to the book, student-athletes to “balance athletic, academic and social demands of the college experience.”

While he knows it’s rare to make it to the NBA, with all his experience and accolades at just 20-yearsold, Rhooms’ desire to play professionally after graduation is only getting stronger—and he feels his dream is slowly becoming potential reality.

For some student-athletes, their entire lives revolve around their sport. They spend hours practicing, reviewing footage and travelling for games, all while maintaining their studies. University sport provides a space for these athletes to determine whether they wish to pursue their sport as a lifelong passion or continue another path. Making the life-altering decision can be tough but some TMU athletes value their time within their varsity programs that allow them to develop and discover themselves both with and without their sport.

The decision for athletes that choose to let go of their sport isn’t linear. Whether it be the lack of available opportunities for graduating student-athletes, the uncertainty sport brings or simply the lack of desire to continue playing the game, many athletes usually retire after graduation.

In the U.S., most student-athletes don’t continue their sport post-graduation either. According to the NCAA, only two per cent of athletes will make it to major professional sports leagues such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Major League Baseball. For the NBA specifically, only 1.2 per cent of athletes will make it from the NCAA. In U Sports, the number shrinks: there hasn’t been a U Sports athlete drafted by the NBA since William Njoku in 1994, who played for Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, according to the NBA Advanced Stats draft history.

However, the creation of new opportunities has made the pipeline from student-athletics to professional sport somewhat easier. In 2018, the Canadian Premier League (CPL), a professional men’s soccer league and U Sports announced a partnership where CPL teams would draft the top soccer talent from Canadian universities. The student-athletes would play with their respective universities and once drafted, play in the CPL during the spring and summer before being eligible to return to their universities. Two TMU players have

been drafted—Ameer Kinani in 2023 and Jacob Carlos in 2022.

A similar partnership was announced in 2019 between the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and U Sports, allowing CEBL teams to sign two U Sports athletes during the summer and help them develop their skills. Rhooms was the only TMU player to be selected in the regional round of the draft in 2022.

Leagues like the CEBL are stepping stones for many basketball players, says DeAveiro. He notes the goal for most young male basketball athletes is to make it to the NBA.

“We’ve seen some guys go from the CEBL to the NBA. We’ve seen some guys in the CEBL go to Europe and then from Europe to the NBA. So there’s many different pathways,” says DeAveiro.

But these professional opportunities are often just for male athletes and female student-athletes aren’t as lucky. There are only two professional female sports leagues in Canada— the Premier Hockey Federation and the National Ringette League. None of them offer a similar student-to-pro pipeline like the aforementioned men’s leagues. If women want to continue their sport, playing overseas or trying out for Canada’s national teams are often the only options. Though a professional women’s soccer league in Canada is set to launch in 2025.Despite efforts like Title IX in the U.S., which mandates that schools provide equal opportunities for men and women in sports, the disparity between male and female professional athletes is drastic.

In all, the difficult decision of whether to continue their sport professionally after graduation hits home for some TMU student-athletes. Whether they go pro or not, athletes say the opportunities that post-secondary sport provides, both on and off the court, will shape their lives physically, socially and mentally.

Jyoti Ruparell doesn’t consider herself to be the most athletically-inclined person and she especially felt this way as a little girl. She described herself as “the bigger kid” and because she was always picked last in gym class, she didn’t believe she was athletic.

However, things began to change the first time she picked up a volleyball and played the sport in gym class at her eleschool in Okotoks, Alta. While Ruparell can’t exactly remember how it felt when trying the sport for the first time, the introduction of volleyball in her life made her love for the sport slowly grow.

Around the same time, the now fourth-year graphic communications management student began dipping her toes into more sports like basketball. By the time seventh grade rolled around, Ruparell decided to try out for all the sports teams her school offered. At the tryouts, she recalls her peers looking at her funny, indirectly saying why are you trying out? Nonetheless, she made the teams for every single sport—volleyball, basketball, track and field and badminton. By the eighth grade, Ruparell realized that she wanted to play sports competitively and began joining leagues outside of school.

Her first experience with competitive volleyball was with Ace Volleyball Club in Calgary. As a first-year player, she says it was “tough and scary” and remembers how the team had to overcome a lot during that season, such as conflicting personalities between some players and coaches. Yet, she recognizes the club ultimately laid the “groundwork” for her to fall in love with the game.

“I saw the light at the end of the tunnel [which] was con-

As another U Sports season ends, some TMU student-athletes play their final games while others hope to keep the dream of “going pro” alive

small thors have and

more of a letes

mentary

tinuing to play the sport I loved but maybe not with them.”

Ruparell bounced around from clubs until her under-17 (U17) year, where she found a home with the Junior Cougars, part of the Mount Royal University Cougars Club program. Because she was born in September, Ruparell could still play U17 the following year and joined the University of Calgary Dinos as part of their junior program.

“My goal was to make that team and play for that team... They took me from someone who was struggling in certain areas of my game and developed me into a more wellrounded player.”

While young female volleyball players like Ruparell may have the opportunity to join extracurricular leagues and play on their university’s teams, they have limited options if they want to pursue the sport professionally after completing their post-secondary education.

The National Beach Volleyball League and the Canadian Volleyball League are the only options for athletes to continue playing the sport in Canada, though the latter hasn’t played a season since 2019 due to COVID-19.

However, there are no professional women’s volleyball leagues in Canada. If a player wants to continue the sport professionally, it’s often common for them to attempt to play in Europe, says Brett Hagarty, an assistant coach on the TMU Bold women’s volleyball team.

As such, transitioning out of collegiate sports isn’t as straightforward as one may assume. For instance, a 2019 article from the Journal of Amateur Sport, says former female student-athletes often feel lost after leaving their sport as it’s been closely tied to their identity for so long.

Sometimes, former student-athletes may coach to continue staying involved in the sport and share what they’ve learned with younger athletes, says Hagarty. According to a 2019 article in the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, female athletes are more likely to want to pursue a career in coaching in the immediate years after they graduate if they are coached by a woman.

“Having more of a female coaching presence in volleyball is important and something I encourage young athletes to get involved in,” Hagarty says. “I feel [coaching] is a really great way to stay involved in the sport and give back what you have learned over the years.”

Becoming a coach felt like the natural progression for Hagarty herself, a TMU volleyball alum who joined the team as an assistant coach this season. Coaching gave her the ability to connect with younger athletes and those she already knew, like Ruparell.

Hagarty was in her final year as a member of TMU’s women’s volleyball team at the same time Ruparell was a rookie.

“It was nice to see someone so young, eager and hardworking to come in and bring the culture through,” Hagarty says

of Ruparell.

Though the university experience was new and intimidating, Ruparell says she felt like “a kid in a candy store” when she first came to TMU. She described herself as a traditional rookie: “terrified of everyone and everything.”

Now, Ruparell is set to graduate from TMU at the end of the semester. She’s frequently asked the question: “What’s next?” in regards to graduation and volleyball because she’s in her third year of playing eligibility out of five. U Sports athletes are allowed to compete for five years.

Despite all the time and energy she’s poured into her volleyball career, Ruparell is not interested in pursuing the sport professionally after graduation but acknowledges that it will be a big change to let it go.

“It’s always a bittersweet thing graduating because you have so much love for the program and people…but I’m ready,” she says.

Playing the sport professionally after graduation has never been her goal. While there was a point in time where Ruparell says she looked up to the players on the national team and wanted to be like them, that dream eventually faded.

She’s not alone in thinking this. Hagarty says in her experience, most varsity athletes’ goals after graduation aren’t to continue playing the sport professionally.

“A lot of varsity athletes want to extend their playing career for these five years, get a quality education and then start their professional lives.”

As a supporting player, Ruparell says “a pro career wasn’t realistic.” Nonetheless, she emphasizes the difficulty for female volleyball players to make a career out of their sport.

The pay gap between female and male athletes is also large compared to most careers. In 2022, the highest-paid NBA salary was over $48 million per ESPN. In the WNBA, it was just over $228,000, according to Sportrac. Additionally, women’s sports received only 5.1 per cent of media coverage on network news in 2019, per a 2021 study in the Communication and Sport Journal.

Though these aren’t deciding factors for Ruparell in choosing not to go pro, she acknowledges the conversation surrounding the disparity between women’s and men’s sports needs to be discussed.

Since she decided not to pursue playing volleyball professionally, Ruparell says she used COVID-19 as a way to branch out and find other interests, like content creation. She’s worked as a social media manager for several organizations,

most notably the CEBL. She’s worked with brands and has even had modelling agencies reach out to her but she’s unsure if she’ll pursue that career path.

“A lot of people have their sport as their one and only love,” she says. “I love my sport but it’s not my entire world.”

Nevertheless, Ruparell will always have a love for volleyball and says coming back to mentor younger players one day isn’t out of the question.

“Maybe I’ll come back and coach and help out here and there for whatever team,” she says. “[But] I’m very okay leaving because I know that I have a lot of other career ambitions.”

Rhooms was recruited to play at TMU in the summer of 2021 by DeAveiro. He was participating in a recreational league in Burlington, Ont. and noticed DeAveiro would attend almost every game, sitting right in the front row. In addition to watching him play, Rhooms recalls how DeAveiro would talk to his mom at every game.

“You’re not only recruiting a player,” DeAveiro says. “You’re recruiting his family.” Since the men’s basketball team is so closeknit, it was critical for DeAveiro that Rhooms could recognize the importance of players’ families at TMU. “When you’re trying to get a player, who I think was as good as Aaron when I saw him, it’s important that he sees you at most of his games and you build that rapport and trust with him,” DeAveiro says.

Rhooms became DeAveiro’s first recruitment even though the head coach joined the program during the 2020-21 season. DeAveiro says it was a special moment for him to the Rookie of the Year news with Rhooms, was the one who brought him onto the

“It’s quite thrilling that my first guy happened to be Rookie of the Year and Aaron had enough faith in us that he chose [TMU] as his school to attend.”

Rhooms is thankful to DeAveiro and Kayeye for giving him the opportunity to play at TMU.

“I was able to find a spot that allowed me to play how I wanted to and [has] supported me in every step.”

In not even two full years at TMU, Rhooms has made a big impact in the U Sports world. In addition to being named the Rookie of the Year, he was also the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division Rookie of the Year in 2022. Additionally, he also made the OUA East Division’s in 2022 and 2023 as well as the allrookie team. Mak- ing a “first team” as an athlete is a high honour and is given to the best players in the sport.

“Being a student-athlete is definitely challenging because you have to give 100 per cent to being a student as well as being an athlete,” he says.

Rhooms always dreamed of playing in the NBA as a child but as he got older, he thought the dream might be “out of reach.” Slowly, he’s realizing that his dream could become tangible as his basketball career is steadily progressing.

During the 2022 CEBL-U Sports Draft, the Scarborough Shooting Stars selected Rhooms 10th in the second round.

He’ll never forget getting a call from the team’s president telling him that they wanted him on the team and eventually seeing his name pop up on the draft list. Standing right beside him was his mother, who was immensely proud. He says just seeing her reaction to that moment has made his time commitment and effort toward basketball worth it.

“I can’t even say how many sacrifices she’s made for me,” says Rhooms. “She’s my reason, I like to say.”

Rhooms says he’s committed to “staying the course,” which involves him putting in hard work both on and off the court and continuing to progress his relationships with the coaching staff. Remaining close with his coaches, who have connections Rhooms says he’s interested in “tapping into,” will hopefully earn him a professional contract sooner rather than later.

“If anybody has a dream, I want them to use my story as an example,” Rhooms says. “At the end of the day, you are ready, you are capable, you are deserving. Just continue to keep moving forward.”

been share Rookie as he team.

first team

Women’s basketball release call to action

Athletics Department Action Plan

On March 16, the following steps were released by the Department of Athletics and Recreation. These steps were in response to the stance the women’s basketball team took by kneeling during the anthem on Feb. 18 against the Brock University Badgers on the squad’s senior night celebration.

The steps outline the establishment of a BIPOC Working Committee and the potential for a BIPOC Student-Athlete committee that would provide a platform to raise the concerns of TMU’s racialized student-athletes with the department administration.

By Gavin Axelrod & Jack MacCool

Deep inside the Mattamy Athletic Centre, on the wall of the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) women’s basketball team’s locker room, read the words: At the same time you are moving forward, you are also returning.

These words symbolize contribution to the team and program during the time athletes are at the university—but they also mean leaving it in a better place than they found it. And despite their season ending on Feb. 25, the team is still making an impact off the court.

The 2022 national champions released a call to action on March 16 in response to a lack of “branded initiatives” by TMU’s department of Athletics and Recreation during Black History Month. It’s not the first time the squad has been at the forefront of social change at the university either, as they were the first team to drop the “Ryerson” name from their branding and only use the title “Rams” last year.

“I’m proud of us for having the power and the strength to speak up,” said fifth-year senior Eve Uwayesu. “But it also is sometimes unfortunate that we have to be the first people to do that, so that we can kind of lead the way for everybody else.”

linked arms during the singing of “O Canada.”

“Having seen no visible or outward facing promotion by the department was disappointing,” said Uwayesu. “And I think that disappointment kind of seeped in even earlier in the month after the second or third of February [went] by.”

Conversation about what the team could do to make their concerns heard began the week leading up to the Feb. 18 game. Uwayesu said members of the team noticed the lack of Black History Month initiatives in the early portion of February and discussed amongst each other and the coaching staff what could be done to make a change.

From there, players met with leaders within the department to hear what their plans were for celebrating Black history going forward. Between the team and the athletics department, they came up with a number of steps in order to best support Black student-athletes.

The department said it will establish a Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) Working Committee to oversee various initiatives and ensure recognition and celebration through TMU Bold media channels and at game day events.

The committee will work with TMU’s athletics department to en sure a communication plan is devel oped and delivered annually through the creation of a devoted webpage on the TMU athletics website.

Uwayesu. “Personally, that is my approach in terms of every space that I go into. But that’s also stemming from [how] most of the spaces I enter aren’t always welcoming or inclusive to my identity.”

The women’s team has received the support of their coaching staff, the athletics department and other members of the student-athlete community at the school after their call to action was posted to social media. Athletes across the varsity sports teams reposted the call to there social medias sharing the same views on the lack of Black History Month initiatives.

1. Establish a BIPOC Working Committee that will provide recommendations and consultation for actions to enhance the recognition, education and celebration of diverse TMU athletics staff and student-athletes.

The statement comes nearly one month after the team knelt during the national anthem before their senior night game on Feb. 18—a night in which the team thought their message could reach the most people.

The team wore all-black t-shirts rather than their typical TMUbranded warmup apparel and

All of these steps are to be com pleted under recommendation timelines included in the statement. The committee members must be established by March 20, hold its first meeting during March and sub mit recommendations to the athlet ics department by April 30.

“It feels good to know that I’m leaving the school having impacted it in some way and that it’s going to help future generations,” said

TMU’s Athletics Department sent an additional statement to The Eyeopener and said it stands in support of the school’s student-athletes. The statement added that the department takes a systemic approach to equity and inclusion, with an aim to prioritize the integration of an anti-racist, anti-oppressive lens.

“We listened to our studentathletes and agree that not hosting an outward-facing Black History Month celebration in athletics & recreation is a missed opportunity to make our important commitments visible, and call others to action while the attention of our community is cued around Black history and issues of race and racism,” the statement read.

“When we decided to go as Rams, that was a player-led initiative,” said the team’s head coach Carly Clarke. “Here, the players are standing up and using their voice and I just continue to be immensely proud of the leadership that our team, our program and our players take in these moments.”

Uwayesu knows that social change isn’t always a quick or simple process. She understands that even though the team has released their call to action, to see substantial change quickly is difficult. She said it doesn’t just take one statement or call to action to change the structure of the culture at TMU.

“So I can’t say in a month it’s gonna be better, I can’t say in the year it’s gonna be better,” she said. “But I know that the steps are moving that progression forward.”

2. The BIPOC Working Committee will be comprised of various members of the community including student-athlete representatives, campus staff representative and athletics staff (counselor, coach, marketing, and administration).

3. Specifically, the BIPOC Working Committee will oversee the creation of an annual diversity calendar of events to ensure recognition and celebration through TMU Bold media channels and/or at game day events.

4. The BIPOC Working Committee will work with TMU’s Athletics & Recreation department to ensure that a robust communication plan is developed and delivered annually through the creation of a devoted webpage on TMU Bold athletics, which includes: Values and inclusion statement, the names of Working Committee members, contact information, links to campus resources and professional resources and links to Athletics & Recreation’s Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) calendar.

5. Explore whether a BIPOC studentathlete committee should be created to provide a forum to raise the voices of our racialized student-athletes with the department administration.

All steps are to be completed under the following recommendation timeline: Establish committee members by March 20th, hold first meeting during March and submit recommendations to athletic department by April 30.

KONNOR KILLORAN/THE EYEOPENER

“I’m proud of us for having the power and the strength to speak up”

“Having seen no visible or outward facing promotion by the department was disappointing”

Bold storylines entering next year’s TMU athletic season

By Ilyas Hussein

A few weeks ago the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold had one of its darkest days in sports history. On Feb. 25, 2023, five out of the six varsity teams that play during the winter semester were eliminated in their respective playoff matches with the only other one—men’s hockey— being eliminated the week prior.

Following the sporting season’s sudden end on the chilly winter night, the teams began to set their sights on the fall. The coming year holds a lot of interesting narratives for the Bold as they are set to host the 2024 U Sports men’s hockey nationals and have a number of young teams looking to take it to the next level.

Here are five of the biggest storylines heading into the 2023-24 year.

A return to the Promised Land for men’s soccer?

With the soccer season taking place so early on in the school year, some may have forgotten the amount of success the men’s team had. An Ontario University Athletics (OUA) silver medal and a fifth-place finish at nationals to boot made them the most accomplished program at the university this season—even winning The Eyeopener’s 2022-23 Team of the Year award.

Yet, with eight graduates and the potential loss of second-year forward Ameer Kinani to the Canadian Premier League’s (CPL) Vancouver FC, the squad will feature a different look next season. Head coach Filip Prostran will look toward his remaining players and potential recruits on both sides of the pitch to achieve similar results. One of those will be secondyear winger Justin Santos who had 13 goal contributions across 15 games played this season.

With a large number of recruits on the way, the push for nationals once again looms large and it will be intriguing to see if they can return to the prized tournament for the second straight year.

The women’s basketball team’s roster rotations

Women’s basketball head coach Carly Clarke has a tough task ahead of her next year.

With the emergence of third-year guard Kaillie Hall playing the point guard position after first-year Kait Nichols went down with a knee injury during the holiday break, the long-tenured bench boss will have to figure out the team’s rotation.

“I thought Kaillie was outstanding…playing a position she hasn’t normally played,” said Clarke of Hall following their Jan. 4 win over the Guelph Gryphons who were nationally ranked at the time.

As Nichols is set to return to the lineup, Clarke will have to decide who will be her everyday point guard. In the end, it’s a good problem to have as Hall and Nichols have both shown, to varying degrees of success, that they’re capable of being the floor general. The loss of graduates Eve Uwayesu and Tiya Misir also opens the door for more minutes and could

result in Hall and Nichols sharing the boatload of playing time.

This year also marked the end of the road for fourth-year forward Rachel Farwell. The departure of the Rothesay, N.B., product—the last remaining starter from the 2022 national championship-winning side—will be a tough void to fill. Second-year forward Haley Fedick will likely be thrust into a larger role with Farwell’s minutes up for grabs but the depth at the wing will need to be assessed through new recruits heading into next fall.

Young volleyball squads primed for development

For the men’s volleyball team, the loss of long-tenured fourth-year Lhexen Rabit is significant. The libero featured in every match for the blue and gold this season and finished third in the OUA in average digs-per-set. He’ll be departing alongside fourth-year setter Saad Shaikh and fourth-year outside hitter Omari Young, who both played prominent roles for the Bold throughout the year.

This leaves the program—one that hasn’t made it past the Forsyth Cup quarter-finals since 2017—in the hands of an extremely young team as only one player, Alex King, is set to enter their graduating year. King and second-year outside hitter Jacob Walker will likely take the mantle as the most crucial factors for the squad next year as they were both named as OUA firstteam all-stars.

Their counterparts on the women’s volleyball team find themselves in a similar situation. The exit of their five graduating seniors—Julie Moore, Bethany Smith, Alicia Lam, Katelyn Grasman and Jyoti Ruparell—is poised to make an already young squad more youthful. Moore was named as an OUA first-team allstar and replacing her hitting from within could prove to be a difficult

task, even with third-year Ashley Ditchfield and second-year Scarlett Gingera hoping to take another step forward in their development. Meanwhile, they have a prepared setter waiting in the wings of Lam. Second-year Sarah Zonneveld split the role of the team’s starting setter with the former national champion this year and will most likely play a key role in the coming year. The blue and gold also have one of the top liberos in the province with second-year Mary Rioflorido, who was among the top in the majority of the libero statistics this past season and was named to the OUA secondteam.

Both budding cores will look to blossom in the 2023-24 season, so keep an eye out for them as they look to return to volleyball royalty.

Can the men’s basketball team continue building toward success?

For a university once known for its men’s basketball prowess in the 2010s, the program has yet to make it past the Wilson Cup quarter-finals in the 2020s.

However, the squad has hopes to return to the semi-finals and beyond.

After narrowly bowing out to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, the promise of the year to come has restored faith in the program.

“Plenty of learning experiences, we’re going to be right back here in the same situation next season,” head coach Dave DeAveiro told The Eye after their defeat to the eventual OUA champions.

This season’s addition of thirdyear guard David Walker to an already talented and deep squad, featuring the likes of 2021-22 U Sports Rookie of the Year Aaron Rhooms, has made this team an even more dangerous threat.

Fortunately for DeAveiro, most of his key players will be returning next season and it seems as if one

more pivotal addition to the roster could push them over the edge.

Regardless if they do add one or not, it will be captivating to see if they can continue to build on this progress as DeAveiro finally has a grasp on what the makeup of his team actually is.

Men’s hockey team seeks redemption with nationals at TMU This list would not be complete without the story of the men’s hockey team hosting the national championship at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) next season.

Their 2022-23 season was described by head coach Johnny Duco as “a tale of two hockey teams,” following their exit to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the Queen’s Cup playoffs.

The Bold won 11 of their first 16 games and were consistently nationally ranked during the fall semester but lost six of their last eight to finish fourth in the OUA West Division.

They were without star secondyear forward Kyle Bollers after he attended the 2023 FISU Winter Universiade and came back from the tournament with a shoulder injury— keeping him out for the year.

Star first-year netminder Kai Edmonds also missed time as he represented Team Canada at the 2023 FISU Winter Universiade as well.

If those two are both back in the fold for next season and the recruiting class is encouraging, then the Bold’s men’s hockey team stock will immediately rise. They’ll look to redeem themselves from a disappointing end to what seemed to be a promising season as they have secured an automatic berth to next year’s nationals as the host. Although the team was awarded The Eye’s 2022-23 Storyline of the Year award, they might already have a case to go back-toback with the tournament marked on the calendar.

KONNOR KILLORAN/THE EYEOPENER

MATTHEW LIN/THE EYEOPENER

Women at TMU navigate harmful comments about their bodies

By Zarmminaa Rehman

Trigger warning: mentions of anorexia and dieting

Claire Fitzpatrick was on a break during a lecture when her classmate began “joking” around. They made an insensitive comment at the expense of people with diabetes, which upset the third-year social work student, who is diagnosed with the condition.

When Fitzpatrick called out her classmate’s misinformed remark, she was stunned by the response.

When she told her peer not to make jokes about medical conditions, her classmate replied, “‘Oh but you don’t actually have diabetes [be] cause you’re thin,’” Fitzpatrick said. Oftentimes, when the discussion of women’s bodies comes up, their physical appearance is the first thing to be noticed and scrutinized.

during pregnancy may experience.

Type 2 diabetes is linked with diet, weight and exercise, however, according to diaTribe Learn, a website that helps people understand more about diabetes, the stigma attached to the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes generally shows that people who are overweight, obese or just generally bigger are more likely to be guilted for having the condition.

But weight-gain can be a common side effect of many circumstances, either directly or indirectly. Not all weight gain or weight loss has a single, one-size-fits-all explanation. According to a 2021 article in Healthgrades, an online resource for medical information, conditions such as hypothyroidism, where your thyroid—responsible for the hormone that regulates metabolism—is underactive or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)—where the ovaries produce aberrant levels of androgens, the male sex hormone—can be the reasons for fluctuating weight changes in women.

just constantly be commented [on] how thin I looked.”

In society, there are often assumptions that misinterpret the relationship between a woman’s health and physical appearance. According to an article by The Atlantic, people have the tendency to associate certain body types with particular health conditions and negative characteristics. This tendency can be labeled as “weight stereotyping” which is the way people may judge others—especially women—on their physical appearance.

Some women at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) say they’ve been on the receiving end of inappropriate comments about their bodies, while others have been exposed to harmful beauty standards in the media. This can cause an unwanted relationship to fester between women and their bodies, as well as impose unrealistic standards of health and body image onto women at a young age.

At the time, Fitzpatrick found the situation to be absurd and funny but the more they thought about the incident, it became more unbelievable to them how someone could so easily make assumptions about others.

“It left kind of a bad taste in my mouth about the way people were talking about…their assumptions on people’s health based on their body,” Fitzpatrick says.

Though Fitzpatrick’s classmate made an ignorant comment, that situation can also be a reflection of how some medical conditions are portrayed in society. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S., there are three main classifications of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes—which women

According to a 2022 article in Women’s Health, other reasons can include mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, fluid retention, pregnancy, menopause, medication use, menstruation and an overactive thyroid.

Amanda Raffoul, who works at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and is an instructor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says the definitions of wellness and health change across different professional spectrums.

She says that one aspect that is uniform is that wellness and health encompass mental and social-well being, in addition to the physical health of your body.

Raffoul highlights the significance of the relationship between body image and body esteem. “It kind of boils down to the way you see and feel about your appearance and your body [as well as] how it moves and feels,” she says. “It can include your feelings, your perceptions, your experiences with weight, with height, with skin tone and colour.”

Sometimes in spaces that promote health and fitness, such as sporting environments, women may be subjected to uninvited comments about their appearance.

She remembers being confused as to why this was a topic people felt the need to talk about or why anyone considered it their business to comment on her appearance. When in reality, they knew absolutely nothing about her, Eshel says.

“I guess [those people] were thinking [then] that I was anorexic or something but I really wasn’t.”

lishing rules…and standards…that women should try to fit into,” Bernier says. “The way that you are expected to act and to behave and to look as a woman has been under security for a long time.”

To a certain degree, ideal body types can even be seen as fashionable trends that come and go like seasonal collections. Bernier says the acceptable physical appearance for women is ever-changing, becoming more prominent in the 1950s due to the birth of Playboy and televisation of beauty pageants.

“The centerfold models [of magazines] were getting thin[er] and thinner, same for Miss America women and then in contests,” she says.

encers have been scrutinized for advertising weight loss products that promote weight loss, such as appetite suppressants and detox teas—to their followers.

The constant pressure for women to reduce their weight and have a “fit” body is exhausting and quite frankly, unattainable. Raffoul says for younger people, the media they consume may negatively impact how they feel about themselves. The constant influx of health content and messages about being thin or fit may cause one’s body esteem to decrease which impacts their body images.

Whenever these types of situations occurred, Eshel’s mother would usually be the one to shut them down. Some people even went as far as to suggest buying burgers to feed Eshel, she says. “I [would] be in shock but my mom would always just shut it down and tell [them] that’s not their space to say those things.”

Growing up in a positive home environment made Eshel feel secure enough that she didn’t need to change herself in order to love her body. Despite the comments strangers made about her appearance, Eshel says it didn’t drive her to avoid any events but rather to avoid situations where other people’s health and body were unnecessarily the main topic of discussion.

“I always just try to change the subject. I feel like…it shouldn’t be like a really main topic for people to converse [about].”

In the fashion industry—and now the world of social media influencers—the ideal body and appearance for women is shaped by what they see in the media.

Bernier also says despite health and wellness accounts on social media, there are two sides to the content.

“Social media can be the best or the worst. It can…show candid examples of women…going through pregnancy and having stretch marks,” she says. “There are also lots and lots of accounts that are very into influencing within the traditional beauty standards…that are not necessarily the healthiest.”

For example, celebrity influencer and TV personality Kim Kardashian came under scrutiny in May of 2022 for boasting about her 16 pound weight loss in the span of three weeks to fit into her Met Gala dress.

“As a public health researcher…I’d love it if we could introduce more regulations on types of social media algorithms, that kind of push content to vulnerable young people,” Raffoul says.

“Public health policies should not focus too much on weight, weight loss or pushing for weight loss as a goal,” she says. “That can pressure people to engage in really harmful dieting behaviors.”

From around the ages of 10 to 12, second-year nutrition student Daniela Eshel participated in gymnastics. Due to her thin frame, people would approach her family during events to express concern about her body, saying she was “too skinny.”

“They thought I wasn’t eating. It was really kind of traumatizing, to

Edith Bernier is an author, consultant on the prevention of weight and size discrimination and founder of Grossophobie.ca, a Québécois website containing information, references and resources on fatphobia awareness. She says many women—whether they’re trans or cisgender—face increased policing on their physical appearances as compared to men.

“There has been more focus on the body of women and on estab-

Similarly, in the fashion industry of the early 90s, a new “ideal” body was amplified in the trend of “heroin chic” in which top models had the appearance of “pale skin, dark under-eye circles and having a thin, svelte figure.” The trend was harmful as the “look” was not only achieved through makeup but through use of heroin and other opioids which portrayed a glamorized version of heroin use in magazines and media.

To achieve thin and “ideal” body types, other celebrities and influ-

Fitzpatrick, who experienced disordered eating habits during high school, said they affected her relationship with her body and has since worked on improving how she views her appearance and chooses to self express herself.

For young women like Fitzpatrick and Eshel, it might take a while to shake off negative comments about their bodies and move forward. But while they’re taking healing steps, their journeys will be different as they try to become more confident in their bodies and grow their self-esteem.

“I’ve sort of worked through that to a place of body neutrality where my body is a tool by which I navigate the world but not my main thing about myself,” says Fitzpatrick.

“They thought I wasn’t eating. It was really kind of traumatizing”

“The way you are expected to behave and look as a woman has been under scrutiny for a long time”

“My body’s like a tool by which I navigate the world”

“Public health policies should not focus too much on...weight loss”

KINZA ZAFAR/THE EYEOPENER

Some students say physical appearance does not always reflect overall health

Enough is enough, I need a name

By Ishitaa Chopra BERRY SHI/THE EYEOPENER

Bold and beloved—not! That is what Eggy had told me when they gave me their reins to be the new mascot of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). They told me students and faculty would love me, adore me and even make secret handshakes with me. I thought I’d have inside jokes and be subjected to constant high fives. There was a promise of apparel made with my name that the campus bookstore clerks would sell for an exceedingly high price. I thought people would chant my name every time I walked past them but what do I get instead?

I get ignored and side-eyed. Ignored by students, faculty and ruthless campus pigeons. It is embarrassing that even other fellow birds refuse to acknowledge me. Talk about lack of camaraderie and allyship.

I wanted to be their God; rather, I was told I would be their God.

I remember the day like no other. Eggy and I were sitting on the steps of the Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC) and it was sunny but relatively cloudy. I remember it drizzling. I could feel the water seeping into my feathers and with every new drop falling from the sky, I dreamt of dancing with the students and the players when the TMU Bold won. The sheer feeling of celebration poisoned my veins.

Dammit, I was supposed to be the one dancing to “Hotline Bling” by Drake for every newly accepted student in their congratulations video and “Y’all ready for this” by Jock Jams at all the games. Hello! I’m supposed to be the school’s identity. I wanted to have the fame and fortune that other mascots receive, if not more.

Now, I scan the crowded hallways of Jorgenson Hall, waiting to be recognized. I long to be loved but I get nasty looks from students. I do not blame them. I do not have a name. I am an outsider and do not fit in. I am different but I do not want to be.

I could be Chandler Bing to your Joey Tribbiani, Taylor Swift to your Selena Gomez and Harold to your Kumar. Truthfully, I just wanna be yours.

Could you imagine how much I would thrive in a university like TMU? People are already chasing

each other with little mics asking to be interviewed. Every Monday, students stand in long lines to pet a furry creature and most importantly, students constantly post their silly little dances on TikTok. I love talking and dancing and I am a furry creature too! I am perfect for the job.

Eggy enjoyed everything—the orientations and the farewells. The laughter and the tears. But me? I sit on those same cold hard SLC stairs in the snow, ice seeping into my already cold veins. I can’t help but develop resentment toward Eggy. Hell, I still see their stupid horns on people’s sweatshirts. What is so special about Eggy that I do not have? What do they offer that I can’t? They may have horns but I have wings. I symbolize vision, intuition and bravery, yet I sit here all

lonely and blah.

All I ask is for a name. It doesn’t even have to be a good or catchy name, just something I can call my own. I want to go to Balzac’s or Starbucks and have the baristas write my name down on the paper cups. I want my name to be called out at coffee shops. Oh what I would give to wear the “Hello, my name is…” tag. I want to go to the Woodbine Beach to write out my name in the sand, even if it will inevitably be washed away. During the weekends, I want to walk into Warehouse, hand-in-hand with the students and hear the bouncer call out my name (no pun intended). How am I even supposed to introduce myself? How am I supposed to make friends if I do not have a name? How am I a mascot for a university without a name?

Cutest TMU buildings on a scale of 1-10

being cute, it is not cute. UwU? More like Eww. Four out of 10.

Yonge-Dundas Square

By Guia Montellano and Zarmminaa Rehman

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is uniquely different from other traditional university campuses. Maybe it’s because of its location in the heart of downtown or maybe it’s the theatres-turned-classrooms it subjects students to take three-hour lectures in. TMU has at least more than 15 campus buildings and below are five prominent buildings rated from one to 10, based on their cuteness in no particular order.

Sheldon

& Tracy Levy Student

Learning Centre

The Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC) is the most

recognized building on campus as it serves as the “symbolic front door” of TMU. But is the typical glass architecture and distinctive shape worth all the jazz?

With eight floors, each has a variety of characteristics inspired by nature and is colour-coordinated. Yet, there is still no floor to collect your thoughts and have inner peace. You would think a building made for studying would have enough spaces but it’s like there are 24/7 Non Player Character students permanently glued to those chairs—how can you even sit for that long?

The SLC is nothing but a lie and illusion, there is no learning happening there, it’s all bark no bite. This building has nothing to use as evidence of

When we “discovered” this campus location, it was unbelievable that TMU was linked with the Cineplex theatres. Because what other universities subject their students to a false reality of comfortable chairs, an endless aroma of popcorn and not a single stable desk. While it’s a fascinating spot for classes, some students say it’s hard to learn and focus on the environment because it’s unserious in a way that students feel like they’re there for the cinematic experience, not Introduction to Psychology II.

Despite the dismal learning atmosphere, it’s cool that TMU has the Cineplex theatres in Yonge-Dundas Square as their lecture halls, so we’ll give this building a three out of 10. She’s trying but we’re afraid she’s not giving, like anything.

The Image Centre

For some people, the perfect time for leisure and to be at peace is consuming art. At TMU, we have The Image Centre (IMC). It’s peaceful, quiet, and inspiring. This gem is also not visited much by the students, even though

How hard can it be to come up with a name? Elon Musk named his child X AE A-XII Musk and the Kardashian clan named their children using the game “Pencils down: name, place, animal, thing!” Maybe, it would be easier to have students sit in a circle and play a game of telephone. Whatever lethal combination of letters that comes out of the last person shall be my name.

Or I could be like Adele, Snoop Dogg or Lana Del Rey and name myself. I want a name like Youppi! from the Montreal Canadiens, The Raptor or Burnie from the Miami Heat. Wouldn’t you agree that Mr. Met from the New York Mets would suit me better? Perhaps, I could be named after a famous bird. How does Feathers or Birdie sound? Maybe Tweety, Big Bird or Woody Woodpecker? Something has to fit.

It has been more than 200 days. TMU picked me, it chose me but it won’t love me or name me. So, for the time being, I would like to formally refer to and more importantly, make others call me Famms. For now at least. The F stands for friendly, fashionable, fresh, fluffy and straight-up fantastic. But more importantly it stands for, as Dominic Toretto would say, family, since some students call their peers “fam” lovingly. I would like to be considered family. Do I not deserve it?

Read more to find out some shocking revelations about buildings you “thought” were cute

it’s in the heart of the campus—right beside Lake Devo. The thing with the IMC though is you can never catch it open, their hours are inconsistent and some people say that the only people in the building are always doing the mannequin challenge. Even though it’s beautiful and peaceful, what’s the point if students freeze when they enter? So it gets a five out of 10.

Jorgenson Hall

Located at the end of the library and the Podium building lies Jorgenson Hall. The building is hard to find because of its location and its entrance but once you do, you’ll find that it’s a good hidden area for students to study and hang out. The elevators are already hard to find and there have been rumours that they lead to a secret lair somewhere inside. If you press the right sequence of numbers you too would be able to go to this secret lair. What goes on in the lair? Nobody knows.

Overall, the building looks dull and has old architecture and design but it is a good place for some “you” time if you don’t want to get caught up with the crowd. Who doesn’t want to find out if the secret lair and elevator codes are real? Jorgenson gets a six out of 10, mainly for its mysterious-

ness and tiny bit of cuteness.

Recreation and Athletics Centre

We love a building that is not an eye sore and understands the value of being useful. The Recreation and Athletics Centre (RAC) really understood what it needed to do to appeal to students. It’s underground and is recognized by its beautifully renovated white brick archway that relieves students from looking at the worn walls of Kerr Hall. This building gets an eight out of 10; it is functional and cute.

Pitman Hall

We saved the best for last of course— Pitman Hall. The beautiful ivy covered wall accentuates the building’s tall frame just right when the evening sun hits it. Not to mention, the cute little decorations highlighted on the windows ranging from signs to cute little sticky note hearts. Sure, Pitman has had its fair share of horror stories but if you forget whatever is on the inside, you’ll surely see the magnificent outer beauty of this campus gem that lies in-between the mid Architecture building and the Rogers Communications Centre. She’s more than a 10, she’s an 11.

Falcon is done waiting around for TMU to do its job, he has to make his own destiny

VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER

Interested

It’s that time of year again!

Eyelections are back once again. Join us for our annual in-person elections where every position will be open!

It will be an exciting night of speeches as we welcome new editors onto our masthead for the winter semester.

Elections will occur on April 14 at 4 p.m. The location is to be determined and will be announced soon.

Who can run?

All full-time, undergraduate students enrolled at Toronto Metropolitan University are eligible to run for a masthead position.

What positions are available?

• Editor-in-Chief

• Arts and culture editor

• Features editor

• Business and technology editor

• Communities editor

• Online editor (2)

• News editor (3)

• Photo editor (3)

• Media editor (2)

• Sports editor (2)

Who can vote?

All masthead members and any

volunteer who has contributed at least three times this semester can vote. Articles and videos count as one single contribution. Writing a feature counts as two contributions. Fact-checking and copy editing two articles counts as one contribution.

If you are running: You must be nominated by three people. Self-nominating counts as one. The other two nominations must be from current Eye editors. The nomination form will be available on The Eye’s Facebook page. Nominations are due by April 13 at

11:59 p.m.

You must also put a poster up in The Eye’s office by April 13, at 11:59 p.m. You can also add the poster to our Facebook page. The poster must include your full name, your face (any sort of selfie!) and the position you are running for.

You must email a transcript of your speech to editor@theeyeopener.com by April. 14 at 12 p.m.

If you are running for a photo editor position, you must email your portfolio to editor@theeyeopener. com by April 14. at 12 p.m.

Election night:

The election location is to be determined. Nominees must be present to give their speeches. Speeches are two minutes maximum. Current editors and audience members will be able to ask questions to candidates following the speeches.

For voters, if you are not available to attend the elections on the night of, all of the speeches will be available in written form on Google Drive. For any accessibility needs for the election night, please email editor@theeyeopener.com.

Stay up to date:

Follow us on Instagram to stay up to date with all eyelection information!

MADELINE LIAO/THE EYEOPENER