Mount Royal University Summit Spring 2016

Spring 2016

Semblance of faith A campus community defies dinner party etiquette and dares to talk religion

Also in this issue:

As Albertan as beer, horseshoes and rock ‘n’ roll

|

Call the midwife!

|

Campus violence — coming out of the shadows

Chart the best course for your life in the years ahead.

Start with preferred insurance rates.

Take advantage of your group privileges: You could save $415* or more when you combine your home and auto insurance with us.

Supporting you... and Mount Royal University.

Your needs will change as your life and career evolve.

As a Mount Royal University graduate, you have access to the TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program, which offers preferred insurance rates, other discounts and great protection, that is easily adapted to your changing needs. Plus, every year our program contributes to supporting your alumni association, so it’s a great way to save and show you care at the same time. Get a quote today!

Our extended business hours make it easy.

Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (ET) Saturday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET) HOME | AUTO | TRAVEL

Ask for your quote today at 1-888-589-5656 or visit melochemonnex.com/mtroyal The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. It is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc. in Quebec, by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in Ontario, and by TD Insurance Direct Agency Inc. in the rest of Canada. Our address: 50 Place Crémazie, Montreal (Quebec) H2P 1B6.

Due to provincial legislation, our auto and recreational vehicle insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *Nationally, 90% of all of our clients who belong to a professional or an alumni group (underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY) or an employer group (underwritten by PRIMMUM INSURANCE COMPANY) that have an agreement with us and who insure a home (excluding rentals and condos) and a car on July 31, 2015 saved $415 when compared to the premiums they would have paid with the same insurer without the preferred insurance rate for groups and the multi-product discount. Savings are not guaranteed and may vary based on the client’s profile. ® The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

9

Contents SPRING 2016

14

9

16

QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE Gamification evens the playing field in classrooms

14

A SOCIAL CONNECTION Has social media stopped students from connecting on a higher-level, or helped facilitate more meaningful relationships?

C A LL THE MIDWIFE! 16

Mount Royal’s midwifery grads fill a much-needed

22

gap across the province

RAPID MOMENTUM 22

Four years into their new conference status, the Cougars are beginning to take a bite out of the competition

38

ON THE ROAD 38

Eat, play, study — student travellers globetrot to a higher level of education

COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS 41

Professor calls for stricter survivor-focused protocols when it comes to campus violence in Canada

41

50

A S A L B ER TA N A S B EER , HORSESHOES AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

29

REAL LIFE SUPERHEROES 46

Above and beyond the call of duty

46

The University’s quirky and kindred donors stand out amongst the pool

C OV E R S TO RY: SEMBL ANCE OF FAITH A campus community defies dinner party etiquette and dares to talk religion

50 IN EVERY ISSUE: 2 Letter from the president | 4 Bleed blue, highlights from the MRU community | 20 Organized chaos (office of a genius) | 56 Alumni Q+A

FROM THE

President

Universities are natural laboratories of diversity and inclusion. Curiosity is wonderfully rampant. Disparate ideas are welcomed. And it’s easier to gather diverse groups to actively listen and understand each other.

But we can’t take this for granted.

Many students come from homogenous communities, where they naturally surround themselves with like-minded people. Exposure to diversity at university is part of a positive educational experience. When students arrive on campus and can comfortably express who they are in public for the first time, their sense of relief can be overwhelming.

For these reasons, post-secondary institutions are key to teaching students to listen, understand and respect different perspectives, experiences, lifestyles and cultures.

At Mount Royal University, a wide range of champions and initiatives focus on nurturing a respectful and inclusive campus. It’s important that these efforts aren’t left to one group (although our Diversity Committee and Diversity and Human Rights Services are tremendous).

Students, alumni, employees and community partners wave the flag of inclusion through initiatives that run the gamut from the Positive Space Committee, Pride Centre, Global Citizen Centre and CREATE a Better Now conference, to the “Living Library,” Iniskim Centre and Humans of MRU on Facebook. We’re also implementing an Indigenous Strategic Plan and a Diversity and Meaningful Inclusion Strategic Framework.

There is no end to the work of creating a respectful and inclusive community, as individuals and together as Mount Royal University. No matter what your ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, ability, sexual orientation, education and religion, our message is that, “You belong.”

Sincerely, David Docherty

2

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

V I C E P R E S I D E N T, UNIVERSIT Y A DVA NCEMEN T

What’s your favourite video game and why?

(Discover what “Gamification” in the classroom is, page 9)

Carole Simpson

MEET THE

DIRECTOR, MARKETING A N D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

team

Melanie Rogers

MANAGER, A LU M N I R EL AT I O N S AND ANNUAL GIVING

EDITOR-IN- CHIEF

Buffy St-Amand

Summit is an award-winning magazine, published in the fall and spring of every year. Each issue introduces you to the exceptional students, faculty, alumni and supporters of Mount Royal University.

Summit tells the University’s ongoing story to its various audiences, showcasing the aspirations, achievements and contributions of the Mount Royal community. In doing so, the magazine illustrates Mount Royal’s profile as a Canadian leader in undergraduate education.

Carole Simpson

EDITOR Theresa Tayler Bachelor of Communication (Applied) — Journalism (2005)

ART DIRECTOR Michal Waissmann Bachelor of Communication (Applied) — Electronic Publishing (2007)

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT “TETRIS — IT’S SORT OF LIKE DESIGNING SUMMIT’S BLEED BLUE PAGES.”

M A R K E T I N G A N D ED I TO R I A L C O O R D I N AT I O N COPY EDITORS Jonathan Anderson Bachelor of Communication — Public Relations (2013) Frankie Thornhill

“TWO DOTS. AND I AM WAY BETTER THAN MICHELLE.”

COVER Photography: Colin Way Design: Michal Waissmann

P H OTO G R A P H Y A N D I L LU S T R AT I O N S

“COUNTER-STRIKE. I’M PRETTY GOOD WITH A PRETEND AK47.”

Kelly Mellings Roth & Ramberg Christina Riches Bachelor of Communication — Information Design (2014) Mandy Stobo Michal Waissmann Colin Way Chao Zhang

SUMMIT WEBSITE NOW AVAILABLE! You can enjoy Summit online by visiting mtroyal.ca/summit. If you would like us to deliver a print copy to your office or home, simply email summit@mtroyal.ca with the following subject heading: “MRU Summit print subscription request” and provide us with your details (including your postal address).

Deb Abramson Journalism Diploma (1977)

Summit Team

ISSN 1929-8757 Summit Publications Mail Agreement #40064310 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: University Advancement Mount Royal University 4825 Mount Royal Gate S.W. Calgary, AB, Canada T3E 6K6

“TWO DOTS! AND I’M A BIG FAN OF UNCHARTED FOR PLAYSTATION. IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE INDIANA JONES ...

I’M A TREASURE HUNTER!”

G R A P H I C D E S I G N A N D L AYO U T “I’M NOT A GAMER. WAIT, DOES SCRABBLE COUNT?”

Y E S 4

1

1

Same great stories — now, sustainably yours.

“TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: TURTLES IN TIME. COWABUNGA! WAIT, WHAT DID THAT MEAN ANYWAY?”

Christina Riches Michal Waissmann Chao Zhang

CONTRIBUTORS Deb Abramson Jonathan Anderson Michelle Bodnar Valerie Berenyi Marlena Cross Tierney Edmunds Lisa Kadane Jenna Reimer Bachelor of Arts — English (2012) Theresa Tayler Bryan Weismiller Bachelor of Communication — Journalism (2013)

“CLASSIC ‘DUCK HUNT’ FOR NINTENDO WAS A CHILDHOOD FAVOURITE. I ALWAYS FELT BAD FOR THOSE DUCKS THOUGH ... QUACK!”

“MS. PAC-MAN. I MAY BE STUCK IN THE 1980s WHEN IT COMES TO VIDEO GAMES, BUT ANYONE WHO’S EVER GOTTEN TO THE FOURTH MAZE AND 5,000-POINT BANANA KNOWS IT RULES.”

FSC SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

3

Bleed Blue HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MOUNT ROYAL COMMUNITY

COMPILED BY THE SUMMIT MAGAZINE TEAM

First of its kind in Western Canada, Broadcasting degree to launch in 2016 Beginning in fall 2016, Mount Royal University will offer a four-year undergraduate Broadcast Media Studies (BMS) major. The major will be the first of its kind in Western Canada. The new major replaces the University’s former two-year diploma program.

Broadcast Media Studies joins Journalism, Public Relations and Information Design as majors in the Bachelor of Communication at Mount Royal.

Brad Clark, Journalism and Broadcasting chair, says MRU is meeting industry demand head-on.

“It’s not enough anymore to show the next generation of content creators how to produce media. They need to explore the ‘why.’ They need to know the conventions, to look at the ways things have always been done, and to start to challenge those conventions in creative ways.”

TAYLOR CENTRE NAMED TOP PROJECT OF THE YEAR MRU’s beautiful Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, a $90.5 million construction project, triumphed in two Alberta Construction Magazine categories: Top Project of the Year and Top Institutional Project over $50 million. According to the magazine, “Skill and careful planning are undoubtedly crucial to building a top project, but patience may be the defining virtue of the 2015 Project of the Year, the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts at Mount Royal University. First conceived back in 1999, the project broke ground in 2011, and finished in 2015.”

4

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

Musician Paul Brandt named ‘Storyteller-in-Residence’ MRU is pleased to announce alumnus Paul Brandt will serve as Storytellerin-Residence for a two-year period, starting in winter 2016. Brandt, a decorated country music artist and humanitarian, holds strong ties to the University. He graduated from Mount Royal’s Nursing program in 1992 and has returned to campus to mentor students.

“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Paul through this new volunteer position,” says Valerie Kinnear, dean of the Bissett School of Business where the position is housed. “The Storyteller-in-Residence works with students, professors and community members to turn interesting ideas into meaningful action.”

To kick off the residency, Brandt partnered with the University and its students to initiate a campaign called “W: at MRU.” The project increased awareness of human trafficking and missing and murdered Indigenous women — two social justice issues important to Brandt.

PROFESSOR’S WORK IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS’ RECOVERY RECOGNIZED Timothy J. Haney, PhD, faculty member, Sociology and director, Centre for Community Disaster Research at Mount Royal University received a Humanitarian Award at the Vigor Awards gala in Calgary (fall 2015), for his work on disaster recovery — specifically for work in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Every two years, Haney takes a class of students to New Orleans to learn about disaster recovery and to build houses with local organizations. Vigor Awards International is a non-profit organization that recognizes those who show selflessness through hard work and dedication to others.

ALUMNUS MAKES TOP 20 COMPELLING CALGARIANS TO WATCH LIST In 2015, Kurt Pedersen received Mount Royal University’s Outstanding Alumni recognition. Soon after, he was named one of 20 Compelling Calgarians to watch by the Calgary Herald.

Starting his post-secondary education as a student in the Bachelor of Business Administration, university transfer program, he later transferred to the University of Calgary and earned a commerce degree. Pedersen has extended his philanthropic outreach far beyond the business world as an investment broker.

He raised nearly $1 million for kidney research after his two sons were diagnosed with Alport Syndrome, a rare disease affecting the kidneys. As a former Cougar Athletics basketball player, Pedersen continues to participate in annual fundraising events.

MRU ALUMNI MAKE TOP 40 UNDER 40 Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 recognise Calgary’s best educators, innovators and entrepreneurs. They lead in both corporate and volunteer boardrooms, so it’s no surprise MRU has a few in the pool! They include: »» Jennifer Barroll, Theatre Diploma (2001) now program director for the Calgary Youth Justice Society’s In The Lead program, a leadershipdevelopment and coaching program that partners vulnerable high school students with volunteer coaches from the city’s corporate community »» Patrick Breault, Bachelor of Applied Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership (2006), consultant, PBRO Sports Management »» Kenna Burima, Music Diploma (2000), now a Calgary-based musician »» Andrew Lanigan, Bachelor of Applied Small Business and Entrepreneurship (1998), now co-owner of Brewsters Brewing Company and Restaurant and Beer Revolution »» Matt Lanigan, Bachelor of Applied Small Business and Entrepreneurship (2004), now co-owner of Brewsters Brewing Company and Restaurant and Beer Revolution

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

5

SCHOLARSHIPS & BURSARIES AT A GLANCE First Nations Bursary for MRU Indigenous community

Offering a number of innovative programs to assist Indigenous students as they make the transition from high school to university, McDougall United Church Calgary created a First Nations bursary endowment fund, which emphasizes the importance of supporting, recognizing, guiding and encouraging indigenous students as they reach for their post-secondary dreams. The McDougall United Church Calgary First Nations Bursary will lessen the financial barriers that many

Indigenous students face when obtaining a post-secondary education. Starting in 2017, the First Nations bursaries offered by McDougall United Church Calgary will be awarded based on financial need. It will also further assist Mount Royal in continuing to provide increased access opportunities for Indigenous Peoples, supporting student enrolment, retention and graduation. The current balance for the endowment is $41,000, which will generate an annual student award in excess of $1,400.

Sikh Students Association raises scholarship funds in honour of Manmeet Singh Bhullar

FORMER STAMP INVESTS IN MRU WITH BURSARY PROGRAM Corey Mace — retired Calgary Stampeder defensive tackle and newly named defensive line coach — recently teamed up with the Calgary Stampeder Foundation to give back to Mount Royal students. In support of the Bachelor of Education — Elementary, Corey created five $1,000 bursary awards available to students enrolled in the program. A shining star in his community, Mace continually demonstrates what it means to be an outstanding athlete and leader. Although raised outside of Vancouver, Corey expresses his gratitude for the Calgary community, the city that gave him the opportunity to play out his dreams as a professional football player.

6

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

In November 2015, the Calgary community lost one of Alberta’s leading figures in child welfare, education and community engagement. As a former Mount Royal student, Manmeet Singh Bhullar was a strong believer in cultivating opportunities for young learners in order to elevate their success. To honour Bhullar’s exceptional achievements and dedication to youth education, MRU student Sukhman Hehar and the Sikh Students Association began a campaign to raise funds for the Manmeet Bhullar Inspire Award. This scholarship will be awarded to a full-time student in his or her second, third or fourth year of any program in the upcoming fall semester.

This award will recognize a student who exhibits academic achievement and demonstrates humanitarian efforts through campus or community involvement.

To date, donations and pledges have reached $10,150.

Hehar and other students involved in the Sikh Students Association are shining examples of Bhullar’s vision for the younger generation — students who are driven to inspire and support their community by opening doors and opportunities for others.

PROF NOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR GENERAL’S GOLD ACADEMIC MEDAL

5102 gnirpS

EHS AW U OY

?morf METS ti s’ereh W nemow fo kcal a s’erehT ,ecneicS ni gnillorne gnireenignE ,ygolonhceT - t s o p ) M E T S ( h ta M d n a rca smargorp y radnoces ia layoR tnuoM .adana C nemow erom tcart ta ot .smoorssalc METS ot

Spring 2015

Laura Ell, part-time faculty member in the Department of Health and Physical Education, was nominated for the Governor General’s Gold Academic Medal for her research thesis entitled: Code of Conduct for Indigenous-inspired Spa Tourism. While the leisure travel industry provides best practices for ecotourism, green spas and indigenous tourism, there is no code of conduct for spas that aim to sustainably integrate culture. The paper reports on the study of international spa experts and indigenous healers who incorporate ancient practices into spa tourism experiences.

The result is a suggested code of conduct for indigenous-inspired spas under several themes, including risks; honouring culture; product development and training; client experience; and local empowerment. The benefits to indigenous communities include meaningful employment and preserving ancient practices that are at risk of erosion.

Ell is a recipient of the 2010 MRU Legacy Award.

Summit MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY

SHE WANTS YOU!

JOIN THE CHIC GEEK REVOLUTION

Where’s it STEM from?

There’s a lack of women

enrolling in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) postsecondary programs across Canada. Mount Royal aims to attract more women to STEM classrooms.

THE BELLS RING OUT

The familiar chime of MRU’s carillon carried special meaning earlier this year when the man who brought the bell sounds to campus was laid to rest. On Jan. 2, MRU commemorated the life and legacy of John Nelson, 94, with a special carillon recital that recognized his many contributions to the community. Nelson, a long-time salesman with Schulmerich Bells, first sold Mount Royal its iconic carillon in 1969 and updated the sound system four decades later as part of the University’s centennial celebrations. Nelson will be remembered in the music community as the “father of handbell ringing” in Canada.

He is credited with bringing handbells to Alberta schools and installing carillons in many churches and other notable buildings across the province, including the Alberta legislature.

Mount Royal University’s Faculty of Arts Peace Studies Initiative recognized the commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) with the Calgary Peace Prize.

Marie Wilson, honorary Doctor of Laws degree, joined newly appointed senator Justice Murray Sinclair and Commissioner Chief Wilton Littlechild received the 2016 Calgary Peace Prize on April 7. The Calgary Peace Prize recognizes outstanding individuals from the global community who work toward making the world a more just, safe and less violent place.

Dr. Wilson was at MRU in April and accepted the Calgary Peace Prize, honouring the work done by Justice Sinclair, Chief Littlechild and herself on the TRC, which documented the stories of over 6,000 living survivors of the residential school system following the largest settlement in Canadian history.

Summit magazine grabs Grand Gold If this magazine seems a little heavier this issue, it’s because it has a new lump of gold and a few other awards attached to it. Summit magazine (spring edition 2015) was recognized at the 2015 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VIII Communication Awards in four categories: Grand Gold award for Series of Related Photographs; Gold, Print General Interest Magazines, circulation 30,00074,999; Gold, Series of Related Photographs category; and Bronze for Magazine Cover.

Summit was also named a finalist in the 2015-16 Alberta Magazine Awards (AMPA) in the category of Digital Presence Website.

Editor Theresa Tayler would like to thank the Mount Royal University community for providing Summit with exceptional, impactful and intriguing stories.

“Without the students, faculty, alumni and other community members of MRU, there would be no magazine, no stories, no incredibly inspiring initiatives to capture. It is the magazine team’s honour to share the Mount Royal story with the world,” she says.

Summit is relatively new to the postsecondary magazine community, having launched in 2012 and extending its reach online in 2015.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

7

MRU MUSICIANS NOMINATED FOR 2016 JUNO AWARDS! Several talented MRU folks were nominated for the 2016 Juno Awards, which took place in Calgary on April 3. Presented annually

by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), The Juno Awards is Canada’s premier awards show and the Canadian music industry’s most prestigious recognition for excellence in recorded music. »» Paul Brandt, Nursing ‘92 alumni and MRU Storyteller-inResidence — Juno Nominee for Country Album of the Year »» Al Muirhead, MRU Trumpet Clinician — Juno Nominee for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo (It’s About Time) »» Tyler Hornby, Percussion Instructor — Drummer on Junonominated Jazz Album of the Year: It’s About Time »» Nils Mikkelsen, Technician at the Bella Concert Hall and the MRU Conservatory — he and his group, AM Static, were Juno nominees for Electronic Album of the Year We are so proud of our talented artists (teachers, mentors and staff) who inspire Canada’s next generation of musical greats!

Events JUNE

2–3

JULY

18 – 22

AUGUST

22

SEPTEMBER

27 – 30 FACULTY MEMBER APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY Lynn Moorman, PhD, was elected Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society at their annual general meeting in Ottawa on Nov. 18, 2015. According to their website, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) is dedicated to promoting and enhancing public awareness for Canadian geography, and to strengthening the bond between Canadians and their diverse and vast geographical heritage. As one of Canada’s oldest and largest educational, non-profit organizations, the RCGS, and its iconic publication, Canadian Geographic, has been Canada’s most recognized voice for connecting Canadians with the land, culture and environment in which they live. The society’s board of governors comprises five officers and up to 24 governors from across the country.

8

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

OCTOBER

5

OCTOBER

29

Spring Convocation Triple Gym Graduates and their guests are invited to attend Spring Convocation at Mount Royal University.

Convocation offers graduates the time-honoured tradition of celebrating their accomplishments with faculty, peers, family and friends. Ceremony times vary. mtroyal.ca/convocation MEG Energy Summer Science Camp at Mount Royal University Ignite your sense of wonder and discover the exciting world of science and technology and learn how their fields shape our communities. Hear from inspirational speakers, learn through hands-on workshops and Elder teachings, experience campus life and explore Calgary.

Open to all indigenous students age 15-17 residing in Alberta mtroyal.ca/MEGsummercamp Cougar Classic Golf Tournament Silver Springs Golf and Country Club Join Mount Royal Cougar Athletics and friends for a great day on the links in support of student-athletes.

This annual event raises money for scholarships so that Mount Royal Cougar student-athletes can pursue their sport while achieving a university degree. Registration includes 18 holes of golf with a power cart, tee gift, oncourse lunch, dinner and great prizes. $235 Alumni, $265 General public mrucougars.com Under Western Skies Mount Royal University, various locations on campus Under Western Skies is a biennial, interdisciplinary conference series focused on the environment.

Academics, artists, policy makers and community members discuss the most pressing environmental issues of our time. The 2016 theme is Water: Events, Trends, Analysis.

Mount Royal students free. Public pricing varies. skies.mtroyal.ca Alumni Achievement Awards Bella Concert Hall, Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts The Mount Royal University Alumni Achievement Awards recognize the accomplishments of Mount Royal Alumni and celebrate the spirit of community and lifelong connection to the University. mtroyal.ca/AlumniAchievementAwards Open House 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Ross Glen Hall, Roderick Mah Centre for Continuous Learning Learn about our academic programs and campus services first-hand from professors, advisors, alumni and students. This is your place; you belong here. mtroyal.ca/openhouse

WORDS BY MICHELLE BODNAR ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHAO ZHANG

G A M I F I C AT I O N E V E N S T H E P L AY I N G F I E L D I N C L A S S R O O M S earning never follows a straight line. Requiring roaming through several twists and turns, learning starts simply but gets more complicated. You usually wander a bit, picking up skills, before reaching the master level.

That “I got it!” moment is just like reaching level 256 in Pac-Man, rescuing the Princess in Donkey Kong, or actually finishing World of Warcraft. Games are fun, and now, also a teaching instrument. Mount Royal professors are using game theory in the classroom to help students tackle some of the most abstract theories and challenging tasks.

“Gamification”, as defined by Educause (a non-profit organization that promotes the use of information technology in the advance of education) is applying

game design, game theory and game principles to nongaming educational situations.

Although it’s a relatively new term, the concept of Gamification has been around for a while. According to Zac Fitz-Walter, a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) specialist from the University of Queensland, the word Gamification was first used in 2003 by Nick Pelling, a programmer and inventor, well known for developing a series of 1980s computer games including Hedgehog and Invaders. Rewards cards — think of the ones you receive from your favourite stores — are a form of Gamification. Remember getting a gold star for good work in school? And how about Boy Scout and Girl Scout badges? They are a form of Gamification prizes that have been around since 1907.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

9

One of the reasons computer games are so successful is that really, innately, we enjoy learning things. Learning is really just what we do.

— Rod Corbett, instructor in the Bissett School of Business and Faculty of Continuing Education

10

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

amification is a way to motivate. In a gamified classroom, point systems are used, and students work their way up to what will ultimately be their grade in the course. A perfect score is 1,000, making 500 a pass and 850 (or 85 per cent) an A. Professors even provide the chance to go over 1,000 points, which often gets taken advantage of by the most enthusiastic learners.

In most other classes, you start with an A … and then valiantly try to keep it. With Gamification, there are a number of end results. Much like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, at the end of each chapter (or class), you get to decide where you go next, and you can finish as quickly or as slowly as you want.

Katrin Becker, PhD, faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Computing, teaches a gamified Introduction to Computing class. Students

can repeat assignments (Achievement Quests) within a set amount of time until they get the “score” they’re comfortable with. They can get to a passing grade and stop attending, and if they’re happy with their point level before the final exam, they can feel free to skip it.

It might sound like a free-for-all; however, it’s a rather carefully controlled environment, just as Minecraft demonstrates the value of combining imagination and co-operation without players regularly thinking about it; and Angry Birds teaches problem solving and physics.

“I make sure they touch on enough of the objectives to meet my goal for the course,” says Becker, who has been working with Gamification for more than 15 years.

“If you think about it in terms of being a game designer, it’s my job to lay out all possible paths so that you get to the end. But you still have choices.”

Carolyn Sterenberg, Marketing and Entrepreneurship faculty member in the Bissett School of Business, uses Gamification in the crafting of her entrepreneurship course.

“There’s a whole bunch of things we want (students) to do, and Gamification really helps because it rewards them for changing their behavior,” says Sterenberg.

In her course, students embark on “knowledge quests,” examples of which are reading, watching, listening, doing or chatting — each for 10 points.

They can do two of each for 100 points total.

“Unlike a world where we had to go look for things, students today are being inundated 24-7 with information. They have really strong filters up. So we have to find a way to break through those, to get them curious and trying new things and doing things differently so that they have a different experience, and then come up with a new idea,” she says.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

11

LEVELLING UP …

OR POWERING DOWN

od Corbett, instructor in the Bissett School of Business and Faculty of Continuing Education, and also a retired Faculty Development Consultant for Mount Royal’s Academic Development Centre (ADC), teaches Business Management and Human Resources courses using Gamification techniques.

In his Creativity in the Workplace class, students may receive 10 points for identifying a need that innovation could help fill; then perhaps 10 more points for generating 50 ideas for how to fill the need; then extra points for coming up with more than 50. Points can also be earned for ranking the ideas and coming up with the criteria to do so.

And if the innovation fails? There are still points for understanding the process.

In regularly structured courses, Corbett says students are reluctant to take risks with their grade at stake.

“Gamification gives them the opportunity to take much more control over a grade and what they achieve, and also gives them an opportunity to fail, yet recover from that failure,” says Corbett.

“If something completely collapses on them, they have other ways to make up for it. It’s not unlike a computer gaming system, when you can go along a path and pick up bonus points along the way.

“It’s an authentic, active and current way to learn by doing, and about setbacks and overcoming barriers.”

The principle of high-frequency, low-stakes assessments also helps take the pressure and the stress off of students.

“I was able to accumulate quite a lot of points on initial assignments to give me a comfort zone and

12

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

reassurance that I would be able to get a good grade in the class,” says Graeme MacLean, a fourth-year business general management degree student who took Sterenberg’s entrepreneurship class.

“It gives you incentive to do more at the beginning of a course, rather than letting it all pile up,” he says.

“When we’re young, we’re great learners,” Becker says.

“A teacher will ask a question, everyone wants to answer, and they will stand up and say the wackiest things.

“But somewhere along the line, we teach students that it’s bad to be wrong. That it’s embarrassing to make a mistake.”

And sometimes students have no idea if they’re making mistakes or not. Often grades take ages (or it feels like it) to come back, and by then you’ve moved on, says Christine MacDonald, a fourth-year Human Resources student who has taken both of Corbett’s courses.

“If you get feedback a week or more later, you’re past it. You’re not thinking about it. It’s like, whatever.

It is what it is,” she says.

With Gamification, feedback comes quickly, a necessity for how the classes are structured.

Quintessentially experiential, as you progress you learn new skills on different levels, and then start applying those skills.

“Everything becomes a tool in Rod’s courses,” says MacDonald.

THE REWARDS

hat makes a game fun is getting good at it,” Becker says. “If you screw up in a game and you die, you try again.”

And there are rarely many regrets. You can design a bad course just as you can design a bad game, Becker says. She describes three main parts to successfully gamifying a course. The first is having a tangible connection with other people and other things.

The second is autonomy — control over yourself and what you do. The final element is competence.

“One of the reasons computer games are so successful is that really, innately, we enjoy learning things,” says Corbett. “Learning is really just what we do.”

Does it seem as if “nobody” plays some of the best games ever made anymore?

Even though the once revolutionary SimCity forced the dredging up of dormant engineering and latent community-building talents, it has faded into relative obscurity. But Tetris, in a new improved form, seems to have made a major comeback (thanks to the iPad and iPhone versions).

It may be that Gamification will do the same thing, go in and out of vogue while evolving with the times.

Classes like those at Mount Royal will just provide a different way to earn a grade. It’s certainly true that not everything can be gamified, such as finding the cure for cancer or solving global warming. But where it really matters, and what it does really well, is tap into that intrinsic drive for knowledge and allow for motivation to thrive.

The points are secondary, no matter what world you may be in, and the results stay with you forever.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

13

Day after day, I wander through the halls that witness my academic journey as a Mount Royal University student.

Making note of little more than the screen in my hand, I walk from one class to another, staring at my phone, replying to unanswered text messages and ensuring that I am up to speed on the well-being of everyone — friends and strangers alike.

A social connection WORDS BY KELSEY MacCUAIG, MRU STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA RICHES It seems more and more the norm is that our connections are stored in the palms of our hands.

Rather than making personal bonds, we increasingly resort to screening the social media profiles of our peers to learn more about them. I myself am guilty of this. I have roamed Mount Royal’s halls for several years, feeling linked to my classmates through social media, but often seeking a deeper connection than what 140 characters on Twitter, or a snapshot of life on Instagram, could ever supply.

“This culture of silence that we have created makes us crave authenticity,” says Caroline McDonald-Harker, PhD, professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “We gravitate toward stories or people that normalize our own experiences — this is why initiatives such as Humans of Mount Royal University (HOMRU) and the Living Library are so important.”

HOMRU and the Living Library are initiatives facilitated by the Department of Diversity and Human Rights. Inspired by the popular Instagram and Facebook page Humans of New York, HOMRU provides a platform for the Mount Royal community to share their unique stories — either

14

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

publicly or anonymously — on social media.

The Living Library is literally a repository of cool folks one can sign out like a book and chat with.

When McDonald-Harker describes society’s craving for “authenticity” over social media, she is essentially referring to what the experts call “pseudo-connectivity.”

“The difficulty lies within the superficial reality that social media has created,” she says. “It has created a different type of community within our society. And, the lack of personalization and authenticity has perpetuated a culture of silence.”

We use these public platforms to create a persona that highlights our best selves — whether that’s a realistic portrayal of who we are, or, of what we’re trying to sell to others. This lack of veracity has resulted in a sense of intrigue toward platforms such as HOMRU, because they’re different.

HOMRU offers a less processed and more authentic experience, and attracts us because it’s an area where students, faculty and staff at Mount Royal share personal stories.

From gang life to student life I first learned of Kevin Padillo from perusing HOMRU (again on my phone, head down).

The Mount Royal Marketing major was featured alongside many other students — his photo captures a seemingly ordinary student, but dive deeper and his story stands out from the rest.

In 2010, at the age of 17, Padillo was a member of the notorious FOB gang.

Stemming from his gang activities, Padillo was arrested for home invasion and spent the next 3½ years behind the walls of the Calgary Young Offender Centre. Now a student in the Bissett School of Business, Padillo is sharing his story with the campus community in the hope of inspiring change within his own community.

On Jan. 27, Mount Royal hosted its inaugural Living Library event. Padillo was on loan, and I decided to take the big plunge and get away from my phone to meet this real person.

Humans of MRU Kevin Padillo Bachelor of Business Administration — Marketing student, MRU

“I’m not proud of what I did — what I put my family through,” he told me. “But I spent a lot of time with my counsellor. He taught me things about myself, opened my eyes to my dreams and aspirations.

Eventually, I finished high school and became a mentor to the other youths (at the Young Offender Centre),” Padillo says.

“We all have our own baggage, it’s what makes us unique.”

Platforms such as the Living Library create a safe space for individuals to share stories in the hopes of shedding some light on the diverse backgrounds and experiences that led people to Mount

“I’m not proud of what I did — what I put my family through, but I spent a lot of time with my counsellor. He taught me things about myself, opened my eyes to my dreams and aspirations. Eventually, I finished high school and became a mentor to the other youths (at the Young Offender Centre).”

— Kevin Padillo, MRU student Royal. Other speakers at the first event included a student who survived the Rwandan genocide and an Olympian who beat breast cancer.

Through this experience, I’ve come to realize the true value of human connection. I was drawn to Padillo’s story because of its authenticity. In some way, although completely different, his experiences helped to normalize mine. These two initiatives have not only opened my eyes to the connections I have missed, but to the connections I have yet to make.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

15

Call the Midwife!

WORDS BY VALERIE BERENYI ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHAO ZHANG

When Stephanie Duffy got pregnant, she realized she would have to call a midwife — and fast.

“I knew there was a waiting list and that a midwife was hard to get, so the second I found out I was pregnant I filled out an intake form,” says Duffy, a 33-year-old registered nurse from Calgary. “I heard back right away.”

Duffy was paired with a team from Birth Partnership Midwives, which included Tiffany Harrison, one of the first eight midwives to graduate from Mount Royal University’s new four-year Bachelor of Midwifery program in May 2015.

Harrison cared for Duffy throughout her pregnancy and when she went into labour, Harrison arrived at Duffy’s house to see her through labour and delivery.

The expectant mom was able to walk around in the comfort of her own home, which she credits with speeding up her labour.

After two hours of active labour, Duffy gave birth to baby Sophia at 4 a.m. Everything went beautifully.

“After, Tiffany warmed some blankets in the dryer and tucked me, my baby and my husband into bed,” Duffy says. “She tidied everything up, put away her equipment — midwives bring a lot of equipment — and even put in a load of laundry.

“It looked like nothing had happened. I was in bed, in my own home and it was so nice. I felt like I’d really been cared for.”

Sophia, now five months old, is Duffy’s second child. Her son, now two-and-a-half, was born in hospital and, although the care there was excellent, she says the difference between the two experiences is huge. “I would 100 per cent recommend the midwifery.”

Sophia’s birth was special for Harrison, too.

Although she’d already “caught” many babies in her training, it was her first as a newly registered midwife.

OF AN ESTIMATED 55,000 BABIES BORN ANNUALLY IN ALBERTA, ONLY 5% ARE ATTENDED BY MIDWIVES COMPARED TO THE NETHERLANDS AND OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WHERE IT’S CLOSER TO 80%.

An old practice

F

or generations, women had babies at home, attended by midwives. Beginning around the turn of the last century and into the 1930s, however, birthing was transitioned out of homes and into hospitals.

“Women have sought throughout the years to make it a non-medical event,” says Mary Landsiedel, a faculty member and program coordinator in the Mount Royal Midwifery program, and a registered midwife of 10 years.

For decades, midwives remained on the margins.

That began changing slowly in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s with the rise of feminism and a growing interest in natural and home birth. Alberta began regulating midwifery in 1998, but women who wanted midwifery care still paid for it out of their own pockets — about $3,500, a cost many couldn’t afford.

In 2009, Alberta Health Services (AHS) began funding a fixed number of “courses” of midwifery care, in which registered midwives are paid a single fee for prenatal, labour, delivery and six weeks of postnatal care.

In September 2015, Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announced that AHS would fund up to 400 more courses of care, for a total of 2,774 midwifesupported births.

To put that in perspective, of an estimated 55,000 babies born annually in Alberta, only five per cent are attended by midwives. Compare that with the Netherlands and other European countries, where it’s closer to 80 per cent.

“The demand for midwives is huge,” says Pamela Nordstrom, director, School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal.

Currently, there are 1,900 pregnant women on the wait list for a midwife, and only 106 registered midwives in the province, says Lolly de Jonge, CEO of the Alberta Association of Midwives (AAM).

“Not all midwives are operating to capacity,” she says. “We’ve got the supply of midwives to meet some of that need, we’ve got the demand from the clients, but the funding has been capped.”

The AAM, currently in funding discussions with AHS, wants the model to change so that, “maternity care dollars follow the woman,” says de Jonge. In other words, a mom-to-be could choose to deliver a baby in a hospital with a doctor, or opt for midwifery care at home, in a hospital or in a birth centre.

Danica Sharp, director, Provincial Midwifery Services for AHS, declined to comment on lifting the cap on midwifery funding while talks are ongoing. “I want to reinforce that midwifery is an incredible and important service,” she says. “We are working hard to expand midwifery services across the province.”

Despite differences, it can be agreed that women living in rural, remote and vulnerable communities need better access to midwifery care, as most midwives are based in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor.

“It’s important to AHS to have an Alberta school graduating Albertans, and we’re hoping (new midwives) will return to their communities,” says Sharp.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

17

The midwifery difference

L

aunched in September 2011, Mount Royal’s Bachelor of Midwifery program is the first and only one in the province, and the seventh of its kind in Canada.

“Just getting into the program is extraordinarily challenging,” says Nordstrom.

The requirement is a perfect 4.0 (grade point) average and over 200 people apply every year.

Originally, there were to be 20 seats in the program, but because there aren’t enough registered midwives in Alberta to teach student-midwives as they go through intensive, community-based preceptorships in second, third and fourth year, only 12 (students) are accepted each year.

Like most would-be midwives entering the program, Tiffany Harrison had previous careers. Formerly an interior designer and an ophthalmology technician, she’d always been fascinated by pregnancy and birth, but publicly funded midwifery care wasn’t available when she had her own children, now 11 and 15. She says, the “exceptional care” she got in hospital inspired her to become a nurse.

But when Harrison was accepted into the Mount Royal Bachelor of Nursing program, she heard about the new Midwifery program and immediately switched.

“Being a new program, there were growing pains, but everyone — from the professors through to the

18

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

dean — was there to support me,” says the 40-yearold. “And I had phenomenal preceptors.”

Now a full-time midwife, Harrison might work up to 18 hours a day or be on call ‘round the clock. Friends and family know she often has to drop everything to go deliver a baby.

“It doesn’t even feel like it’s work. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I’m working in this field. It gives me so much joy,” she says.

“It doesn’t even feel like it’s work. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I’m working in this field. It gives me so much joy.”

— Tiffany Harrison, Bachelor of Midwifery graduate

Midwifery training in Africa

AS The best part of being a midwife, she adds, “is being of service to women, be able to support them, be present and be of service in this amazing experience.”

Continuity of care is a big part of that support, says Landsiedel. Midwives have fewer patients than doctors, their appointments are longer and they get to know their expectant mothers well.

“With the midwives, I got to know them really well during my pregnancy,” says Duffy. “When Tiffany came to our home that night, I knew her. We had a relationship.

I trusted her.

“I had excellent care in the hospital when my son was born, but there were so many people involved …

You’d just get to know someone and with a shift change you’d start all over again. Labour is a really intense experience and you’re doing it with strangers.”

She was especially grateful for the postpartum care.

After her son was born in hospital, they went home two days later and a public health nurse visited once.

“Then you’re on your own. Tiffany came back eight hours later and helped me with breastfeeding. She came back the next day, too,” says Duffy, adding that Harrison was available to visit or answer any questions for six weeks after that.

“It was so nice to have the same person who knew my whole story, knew my husband and my son. She cared for the whole family.”

part of her Bachelor of Midwifery, registered midwife Tiffany Harrison did a six-week international placement in Africa between her second and third years at Mount Royal University.

“That was a life-changing experience,” says Harrison, who graduated in 2015. Working at a clinic in the city of Arusha in northern Tanzania, she got to experience attending births in a very marginal population — without access to rubber gloves, lights, soap, running water or sheets on the beds. “The potential for cross-contamination and the transmission of HIV was a constant.”

For many women about to give birth — “the lucky ones who had access to transportation” such as the back of a motorcycle or a bus — they arrived at the clinic carrying their own bedding.

“The experience gave me an appreciation for how normal birth is and how medicalized it is here,” says Harrison. “Babies are resilient, and women are strong.

It was very eye-opening.”

Her preceptor was a midwife originally from Edmonton who had met and married a Tanzanian man while on her own placement. She spoke fluent Swahili and encouraged Harrison to jump right in catching babies. One of the most memorable was a breech birth, in which the baby came out bum first. In Alberta, Harrison explains, a breech situation would normally be handled by an obstetrician in hospital.

“The experience was very scary,” she says. The healthy baby girl pulled through and needed minor resuscitation, something Harrison experienced for the first time. “You give them a couple of puffs of oxygen to inflate the lungs and they come around beautifully.

That was a real gift.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

19

A glimpse into the minds at Mount Royal University

WORDS BY THERESA TAYLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA RICHES

THE SOURCE:

Ben Atkinson, PhD Faculty member, Economics

“Get a haircut and get a real job …” are words of wisdom no student will ever endure hearing from economics prof Ben Atkinson.

Econ, Coke (cola) and rock ‘n’ roll, are the lifeblood of this longhaired, cowboybooted, leather jacket wearing, admonisher of conformity who lectures on the impact human interaction has on business.

“People hear that I teach economics and they’re like, ‘Oh man, that’s all about money.’ And I say, ‘No it’s not! It’s about human psychology — human behaviour is what influences takeovers and business 20

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

transactions — how people communicate and co-operate or, alternatively, decide not to co-operate. And it’s pretty fascinating stuff.”

Prior to becoming an academic, Atkinson, PhD, worked at the Canadian Competition Bureau as a senior economist.

He doesn’t fit the stereotypical mould of a pencil-pushing analyst and it’s something he says students take notice of, for good or bad (mostly good).

“I don’t like wearing suits and ties or dressing normally. Most students really like it. They find it relatable. When I first started, I had some students in reviews say that I should dress more professionally,” he says, with a laugh.

“I thought, ‘Shoot, I’m an academic!

You’re lucky I’m wearing pants and my

hair is combed!’ I used to tell my students, ‘Wait until I get tenure, then — good-bye pants!’ Kidding, kidding …”

Atkinson’s sense of humour and love for pop culture helps him make lasting connections in the classrooms. He’s known for an affection for Canadian rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock, 1980s movie trivia, WWE wrestling, as well as an “obsession” — his word — with his favourite form of caffeine, Coca Cola Classic.

His office is a carefully laid out shrine of all of the above, and students love dropping by to see what latest treasure he’s added to the collection.

RUSH, Ramones, Henry Rollins and 54-40 posters and memorabilia Atkinson has been collecting rock relics and “merch” from his favourite artists for years.

He likes rockers who are musically talented and often overlooked, “down to earth, the underdogs in the rock ‘n roll landscape.” Atkinson has a signed (by the whole band) Smashing Pumpkins concert poster, as well as a set list from a 54-40 concert that lead singer Neil Osborne gave him for being an awesome front-row fan.

The Periodic Table of Rock

1980s movies posters

WWE Wrestling Figurines

Coke vs. Pepsi

One of Atkinson’s strengths is his ability to store important information, such as the original lineup of some of rock’s historic bands. “I think that poster is cool, but I’ve found some mistakes in their research.

For instance, they have the classic lineup of Faith No More listed, but they got it wrong — Big Sick Ugly Jim isn’t even there, he was an original member!”

From Pretty in Pink (1986), to Princess Bride (1987) and Airplane! (1980), Atkinson has paid homage to some of his favourite flicks. “I love quoting from some of those great movies just to see how many students will pick up what I’m saying,” Atkinson says. “I’ll say, ‘Inconceivable!’ (Princess Bride quote) in reference to something about economics and see which students laugh … I usually get a few going. But some are way too young to remember.”

He’s been collecting the classic wrestling figurines since he was a child. From Hulk Hogan to Macho Man and Bret “The Hitman” Hart, he’s got them all. Atkinson says he has a particular love for the Hart family figurines because of the cultural connection to Calgary and the legacy of the wrestling family.

Don’t mess with a man’s beverage of choice. Atkinson drinks several Cokes a day and collects the bottles in his office. “As you can see by looking around, I have a pretty obsessive personality,” he says with a laugh. “I love Coke. Not Pepsi, Coke. Students have taken to bringing me bottles.

Some teachers get apples …

I get a bottle of Coke.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

21

R A P I D M O M E N T U M FOUR YEARS INTO THEIR NEW CONFERENCE STATUS, THE COUGARS ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE A MAJOR BITE OUT OF THE COMPETITION WORDS BY JONATHAN ANDERSON PHOTOS BY COLIN WAY

M

“THE CIS IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF AMATEUR SPORT IN CANADA AND IT ONLY MADE SENSE THAT AS WE MOVED FORWARD AS AN INSTITUTION, OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES WERE AFFORDED THE SAME OPPORTUNITY,” — KARLA KARCH, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

#7: REAGHAN ZILKIE Women’s Soccer Position: Defence Program: Bachelor of Business Administration Zilkie, a defence stalwart, netted the timeliest goal of her MRU career when she headed in a corner kick in the dying seconds of a game against the Manitoba Bisons, securing a 3-2 Cougars’ victory.

ount Royal University quickly dropped its college designation after it was officially granted university status in 2009. Following suit, Cougar Athletics set its sights on Canada’s premier post-secondary athletics division.

Better standard, better recruits — but better results?

Beginning in the 2012–13 season, the Cougars were awarded full Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) membership and placed in the Canada West conference.

Little was expected of Calgary’s newest university and joining the CIS Canada West conference posed as intimidating. The Cougars soon found themselves squaring off against larger, more established athletic programs.

“The reality is you have to experience it first-hand, to live it and compete in it to fully appreciate the skill level and the preparation required to be a member of Canada West and the CIS,” says Karla Karch, Mount Royal athletic director, adding that, as a department, the Cougars prepared for the transition through good old-fashioned “homework.”

“I’ve always said it would take us three to five years to establish who Cougar Athletics is within Canada West and the CIS.” There were those who said it would take Mount Royal longer than five years to make its mark.

Now, in a class filled with heavyweights that includes the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of British Columbia and University of Saskatchewan, Mount Royal set out to prove the naysayers wrong.

As a longtime member of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC), the Cougars dominated for decades. No matter the sport, the Cougars regularly set the standard for ACAC athletics. Tired of being a big fish in a small pond, Mount Royal was ready to transition into the CIS Canada West conference.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, it wasn’t a great start.

In Mount Royal’s first weekend of CIS competition, the men’s and women’s soccer squads lost their season openers by a combined score of 11-0. The men’s side finished the year with a 4-10-1 record, while the women’s side went 1-7-4. That same season both the men’s and women’s basketball teams recorded 5-17 records; men’s volleyball had little luck going 8-14.

Men’s hockey struggled with a 7-21 record; women’s hockey went 8-20.

“We’ve learned so many valuable lessons, from travel to training, which we are incorporating into how we operate,” says Karch.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

23

“An athlete’s goal is always to improve and graduate to the next level of competition. As Mount Royal transitioned into a university, athletics was always a part of the long-term plan. The CIS is the highest level of amateur sport in Canada and it only made sense that as we moved forward as an institution, our student-athletes were afforded the same opportunity,” says Karch.

A lot has changed since the Cougars’ inaugural CIS campaign. Fast-forward four years to 2016 and the Cougars have made significant improvements on the ice, pitch and court.

“OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS, WE HAVE LEARNED NOT ONLY HOW TO EXIST IN THE CIS, BUT BECOME COMPETITIVE.” — KARLA KARCH, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR “Moving into the CIS was a steep learning curve, for some programs more than others. There were many people who had their doubts, but we knew that if we hired the right people, it would take care of itself,“ says Karch. “Over the past four years, we have learned not only how to exist in the CIS, but become competitive.”

In the first three seasons, the Cougars had only one team make the playoffs each year. This season, five of the eight varsity programs qualified for the postseason. Each season, the Cougars earn more team and individual accolades at the conference and national levels. And, in the 2014–15 season, the Cougars finished in a dead heat with their cross-town rival, the University of Calgary, for the Crowchild Classic hockey portion of the competition.

Karch says much of the Cougars’ recent success can be attributed to the University’s dedication to recruitment. Since entering the CIS, Mount Royal has faced many challenges. The core of their success can be found thanks to the institution’s dedication to finding the right people.

“We would be nowhere without our outstanding academic programming, facilities and financial support.

We believe that over the years we have made strides with the work we do and as a result, people are now hearing our name,” she says.

The rapid success is correlated with the talented players and coaches who want to represent Mount Royal as its young athletic program begins to make its mark in the CIS. “Success breeds success. We will never remain idle.

Our staff is always looking to move forward and they continuously strive to get better.”

24

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

#8: TYLER SCHMIDT Men’s Volleyball Position: Outside Hitter Program: Bachelor of Business Administration Schmidt was named 2014–15 Canada West Rookie of the Year, becoming the first ever male Cougar student athlete to win the award. He was also named to the CIS All-Rookie Team. He led all Canada West rookies in nearly every statistical category, finishing the season with 254 kills, 96 digs and 301.5 points.

#5: ANGELA DRISCOLL Women’s Basketball Position: Guard Program: Bachelor of Arts She is known as a relentless defender and leads by example on and off the court. Driscoll led Canada West with 63 steals last season. That ranked her fifth nationally across the entire CIS.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

25

“WHEN I CAME HOME I WANTED TO BE INVOLVED AT THE MOST ELITE LEVEL LOCALLY. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS PROGRAM IMMEDIATELY.” — RYAN GYAKI, MEN’S SOCCER COACH

IT’S A “B E A U T I F U L G A M E ” Ryan Gyaki, the men’s soccer coach, made

an instant impact.

Well versed in the “beautiful game,” the Calgary native was named Canada’s youth player of the year in 2005 before signing in Europe to play professional soccer. While in Germany, Gyaki received his UEFA-A coaching qualification from the German Football Association — a coaching distinction not many Canadians hold.

“I pursued my coaching licences while I was in Germany to have a fallback plan,” says Gyaki. “When I came home I wanted to be involved at the most elite level locally.

I fell in love with this program immediately.”

Gyaki joined the squad in 2013–14 and spent the next two seasons as an assistant coach. In 2015–16, Gyaki took over the head coaching duties and led his squad to a 7-4-1 record, finishing four points behind leader University of Calgary.

26

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

Impressed and motivated to advance the program, Gyaki likes what he’s seen so far.

“I have experience with the national team — professional soccer — I know what top level is,” he says. “I think people are going to be surprised by MRU as we continue to come up.”

On the other side of the ball, the women’s soccer team is fielding quality transfer recruits. Reaghan Zilkie joined the Cougars for their initial season as a red shirt after she spent two seasons playing NCAA Div. 1 soccer in Arkansas.

“I was very excited about their new program,” says Zilkie. “Coming from ACAC we’ve built some bad habits but we’re on the right track, I’ve seen the improvements first-hand every year.”

Improvements have yet to transfer into dominating victories but Zilkie believes it’s only a matter of time.

“We’ve had some really good recruits come in, not only with a lot of promise but excellent training habits,” she says. “As an older player, it’s nice to say, I can see them being really good in four years.”

#4: JOCELYN FROEHLICH Women’s Hockey Position: Defence Program: Bachelor of Arts — Criminal Justice Froehlich won an ACAC title with the Cougars in her rookie season of 2011-12. Over the course of the next four seasons, Froehlich set a new CIS benchmark for scoring by a defenceman. Of her career 20 points, 10 of them came this year in her fifth and final season.

GAINING SPEED During the 2015–16 season, five (men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball, and men’s hockey) out of eight of the Cougars teams made the playoffs. For a school that is only in their fourth year of CIS play, it’s an outstanding accomplishment.

Success for Cougar Athletics arrived sooner than anyone could have expected.

Big things are in the works for Mount Royal in 2016–17 and beyond.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

27

ATH A-DEMICS THEY CAME TO L ACE UP, SL AP SHOTS AND CRACK BOOKS PHOTO BY CHAO ZHANG

The success of the Mount Royal University men’s hockey team is evident, and the University is attracting players who are eager to don blue for the Cougars and play Canada’s favourite game at a CIS level.

But did you know that the Cougars’ men are also adept at flexing their academic muscles? The team is finding that they are attracting highly desired talent due to Mount Royal’s scholastic options.

Meet Tyler Fiddler, Cody Cartier and Cam Maclise. All three players produced impressive statistical seasons on the ice during their time at MRU. But when it came to choosing a post-secondary education, academics — not athletics — was their main priority.

Fiddler, who finished second in Canada West scoring, chose to transfer to Mount Royal after one year at the University of Calgary. The former Calgary Hitmen captain indicated Mount Royal’s smaller class sizes made the difference for him.

“As a small town guy, I found Mount Royal to be a better fit,” he says, explaining that while playing for the Calgary Hitmen, he took two classes at Mount Royal to test the waters. Now, with three seasons under his belt, the product of Prince Albert, SK, feels he made the right decision.

28

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

“MOUNT ROYAL’S TRANSITION INTO THE CIS, BECOMING A UNIVERSITY, BECOMING WELL-KNOWN OVERALL FOR ACADEMICS AND ATHLETICS WAS A BIG FACTOR IN ME CHOOSING TO COME HERE.” — CAM MACLISE, MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM (MRU) Cartier, who hails from Sylvan Lake, AB, chose to play closer to home after hitting the ice for one season at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA. The five-foot-nine forward has been enrolled at Mount Royal for three years now and has his sights set on a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Cartier, set the league ablaze in 2014-15 season, his second full year with Mount Royal. He was third in Canada West scoring and was named a CIS First Team All-Star (the first Mount Royal student athlete to earn that honour). His national accolades didn’t end there, Cartier was also named a CIS Academic All-Canadian in each of his four seasons with the Cougars.

When student-athletes transfer from one university to another, they are required to sit out a year of play — commonly referred to as “redshirting” — a practice that prevents athletes from jumping ship just to secure better sports standings. For Fiddler, Cartier

and Maclise, their desire to attend MRU meant a year off the ice.

Well worth the sacrifice, says Cartier.

“My transfer was mainly about school,” he says. “The main thing for me was, Mount Royal’s transition into the CIS, becoming a university, becoming well-known overall for academics and athletics was a big factor in me choosing to come here.”

Maclise is also seeking his Bachelor of Business Administration. The former Canadian Junior Hockey League player of the year transferred to Mount Royal from the CIS athletic powerhouse University of New Brunswick.

In the past four seasons competing in Canada West the men’s hockey team has established itself as a competitor on the ice, finishing this past season with a 17-8-3 record.

But for many of the Cougars, success in the classroom is just as important as success on the ice.

Semblance of faith

A campus community defies dinner-party etiquette and dares to talk religion

WORDS BY THERESA TAYLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN WAY

Sara Hassan, MRU student starting Fall 2016 SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

29

M

Muslim women lead the conversation

It’s just before Christmas — a Western-Christian-based holiday, widely observed at most Canadian post-secondary campuses — and a group of Muslim women appear on Mount Royal University’s Main Street with hijabs on head and in hand for anyone who wants to try one on.

As students and professors hustle down the hall — some en route to class, the Library, the gym, others perhaps on the way to the campus pub to throw a few eggnogs back with friends before the holiday break — the women beckon them to stop, hang out for a few minutes and try on a hijab while shooting the not-so-proverbial s#*! about the extremely personal topic, that is — gulp — religion. And not just any religion — double gulp — Islam.

“Do you have to shower in that thing?”

“Does your father or brother or husband make you wear it?”

The women spend the afternoon answering often awkward, sometimes politically incorrect, occasionally blunt queries.

“Like around the idea that we’re all oppressed,” says Asma Chaudhry, co-organizer of Calgary’s Je Suis Hijabi, or the I Am Hijabi campaign. But, she says the group doesn’t mind the questions. In fact, they are anxious to address misconceptions.

“People confuse culture with religion all of the time. There are cultures around the globe — and groups, some of which are Muslim — who do oppress women. But, that’s not part of the religion. It’s part of those people’s culture. Not mine,” says Chaudhry, who has been wearing the hijab since high school, when she says she decided the time was right.

“Let me be the first to clarify, we don’t have to shower in it.”

“I was asked about that once. But you know what? That’s okay, because I would much rather people ask the questions they’re wondering about than assume the wrong information.

We WANT a movement

Nicole MacDougall, WANT co-founder and Bachelor of Business Administration — Marketing student

30

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

From providing info on Muslim philosophers, poets and artists, to mobile “pop quiz” events with test questions on myth vs. reality regarding stereotypes around the religion, there are a lot of positive things about Islam they WANT you to know.

The We Are Not Them (WANT) Movement (2015) was one of three university groups selected by the U.S. Department of State as finalists for the Peer to Peer (P2P) Challenging Extremism program, which, according to the website, has post-secondary students from around the world develop and execute campaigns and social media strategies against extremism that are credible, authentic and believable to their peers and resonate within their communities (sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Facebook).

Led by a group of MRU Marketing students, including Nicole MacDougall, the founders of WANT structured their 2015 “movement” around workshops, seminars, social media campaigns and public awareness booths, educating students about the differences between the Islamic faith and religious violence and terrorism. What began as part of a class project soon morphed into a grass-roots student-led movement that garnered the attention of local media and the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

And, my dad is respectful of my choice to wear it, or not wear it.”

Asma Hanif, a Mount Royal Bissett School of Business student and supporter of the Je Suis Hijabi group, does not wear the covering.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever decide to wear it. I want to see how I feel after marriage — getting married is a big deal to us Muslim girls, you know,” says the 23-year-old with a smile.

“My parents are fine either way. My friends don’t care. I’ll do what I want and I don’t have to decide now.”

That might be the biggest misconception about the whole heady affair, explains Danial Khan. As a Muslim male, the 21-year-old Mount Royal General Science major student says it concerns him that people think he’s got an opinion on what the women in his religious community “get up to.”

“This is my whole philosophy on the hijab: I don’t have a philosophy. To me, this is a personal activity and frankly, it’s none of my business. I don’t want to make it sound like I, or other Muslim males, are oblivious to some of the issues facing Muslim society right now. I know that the hijab is enforced in some Muslim countries and these extreme views may find their way into Canada among particularly conservative families. However, thanks to events like Je Suis Hijabi, we know that there are women who wear the hijab with pride and, as a society, we can’t paint every woman who practices this aspect of her faith as ‘oppressed.’ It’s simply my job as a Muslim male to uphold and promote the values of the Qur’an, which says ‘there is no compulsion in religion,’ ” he says. “I don’t treat women differently who wear it or don’t wear it. I don’t really think about.”

“I think people were beginning to fear difference and we — women who wear the hijab — were, quite frankly, worried about becoming targets of hate crime.”

Romissaa Hassan, MRU Bachelor of Health and Physical Education — Physical Literacy student SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

31

J

Je Suis Hijabi

So there you have it, if Khan doesn’t think about it, and it’s not weighing heavily on Hanif’s or Chaudhry’s mind, why does the non-Muslim world seem so interested? So intrigued, in fact, that some Muslim women have felt the need to launch a public awareness campaign on the topic of what they wear.

Spearheaded by the Women’s Auxiliary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Je Suis Hijabi is in response to the group’s growing concern over religious intolerance in North America. Muslim women across Canada are visiting public spaces and campuses to promote awareness about their religion and the hijab.

Chaudhry, a University of Calgary Business and English alumna, explains that there’s “immense curiosity” about the head covering. She feels it’s imperative that Muslim females lead the discussion about how their own religion pertains to women.

“The MRU students were craving the dialogue and there was so much support,” she says.

Je Suis Hijabi is not the only group of Muslim women leading the conversation at Mount Royal. During Winter 2015 Semester, Romissaa Hassan — a Bachelor of Health and Physical Education — Physical Literacy major — felt as though the collective “temperature” in Calgary was changing in regard to how people saw her community.

“It was right around several incidents, the Paris attacks (2015) being a large part of the fear and concern around groups such as ISIS,” says the 19-year-old. “I think people were beginning to fear difference and we — women who wear the hijab — were, quite frankly, worried about becoming targets of hate crime.”

“Muslim parents worried about their children being alone and going to campuses alone at night. Maybe staying after hours by themselves to study,” adds Romissaa’s sister, Sara Hassan, 18, who will be starting her first semester at Mount Royal in Fall 2016.

Last year, the two women were taking Calgary Transit across the city with friends, one of whom was wearing a niqab, when they say they were verbally assaulted by a man who told the group to, amongst other predictable rhetoric, “go back to their own country.”

Romissaa says other passengers leaped to their defence, as did a transit officer, and the women were able to leave the situation safely. She has also experienced discrimination at Mount Royal.

“Someone wrote nasty graffiti about Muslims on some paper plates I was setting up for a meal we were going to have with the Muslim Students’ Association,” she says.

The Hassans were jarred by the experiences, but those moments have fuelled Romissaa’s conviction to do something to help educate others and curb the discrimination that lurks when you, literally, wear your religion for all to see.

32

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

She fights back with flower power.

As a member of the Muslim Students’ Association, she used the backdrop of Islamic Awareness Week 2015, an international initiative, to help run a campaign across campus that included making hundreds of origami roses inscribed with peaceful sayings from the Qur’an, then gifting the paper flora to passers-by while engaging students in conversation about Islam.

“I am proud of who I am and I plan to keep being me and doing what I need to do to make university a great experience,” she says.

During their undergrad experience, the aforementioned students have watched reports of terrorism in the name of their religion from across the globe. At the same time, Hanif has noticed a “constant” hum of polarizing “Islam-based” discussions debated in sound bytes and headlines “all the time, every time I turn the TV on or flick on the computer.”

These include the Canadian niqab debate of 2015, where a woman challenged the Conservative government’s ban on niqabs at citizenship ceremonies; viewpoints from various talking heads about the Syrian refugee crisis; and U.S. Republican front-runner (as of April 2016) Donald Trump’s infamous anti-Muslim comments.

“It’s not exactly an easy time to be a young Muslim,” says Sara.

The Mount Royal community, Muslim and non, is responding to the worldwide discussion around religion and violence, terrorism and Islamophobia, which is defined as dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.

From professors penning books and completing research on the origins of fundamentalism, to students rising up and reaching out to educate fellow students and the campus community in a way they have never done before about the difference between violent extremism and Islam, the Mount Royal community asks itself: what is a university community’s role in exploring the issues?

For Hanif, the answer is simple.

“It’s about discussion and general education. The more educated we are as a community, the more we understand the world, different religions and world views. Then it becomes easier to accept each other,” she says.

Because whatever religion, culture and background students come from, university is a prime time to explore their own belief systems and question their own biases. And, of course, religious intolerance does not just target Muslims. The good news is, on Mount Royal’s campus there are plenty of positive grassroots projects cropping up that aim to help everyone just get along.

Visit campus and you might come across the Muslim Students’ Association, Power to Change (Christian), Secular Humanists of MRU, Catholic Christian Outreach, the LDS Student Association, Sikh Students’ Association, just to name a few.

Greg Veltman, MRU multi-faith chaplaincy coordinator

S

Student vulnerability?

Media reports of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS), recruiting young members of the community, including those on campuses across North American, have been around for decades across Canada, the U.K. and the U.S., amongst other Western countries.

In 2014, converted jihadist Damian Clairmont was killed in Syria while reportedly fighting with ISIS. He was 22. After his death, the Calgarian’s mother, Christianne Boudreau, spoke out about the root causes of the radicalization of youth. Her son converted to Muslim as a teen, and according to an interview Boudreau did with the BBC (2015), later abandoned the faith and joined the “Islamic State’s jihad movement.”

According to the Globe and Mail’s March 21, 2016 piece: Hoping to escape stigma, mother of Islamic State militant leaves Canada, “it’s not known exactly how many young Canadians have left the country to immerse themselves in militant groups such as the Islamic State …

Canada’s spy agencies estimate about 180 Canadians are involved in ‘threat-related activities’ with terrorist organizations overseas …”

The same story reports there are estimates of about 14 or 15 of those youth being from Calgary, and seven or eight from Edmonton.

For students such as Khan, who feel “inundated” with media reports on recruitment of youth, the concern around young Muslims being zeroed in on by fringe groups is troublesome for multiple reasons.

“I am worried about young Muslims being targeted by ISIS for recruitment, but not any more than I’m worried about all young people being targeted by these groups. ISIS is not just recruiting Muslims — they will take anyone willing to follow,” he says.

“Fundamentalism has no religion.”

Multi-faith spaces Mount Royal’s Multi-faith Chaplaincy, under the umbrella of Diversity and Human Rights, is a place where students can come to explore faith, identity and other issues. Six chaplains of various faiths are available for support, as well as diverse programming aimed at helping students open their minds and interact with each other in a safe space.

It’s not a church, though, and that’s what people such as Greg Veltman, multi-faith chaplaincy coordinator, want people to know. It’s an inclusive resource for everyone.

Veltman has a unique perspective on how Canadian universities handle the discussion around religion in comparison with our American counterparts. He grew up in Canada but has been working in the post-secondary field in the U.S. for the past decade in both staff and faculty roles.

“What I’ve heard from MRU students so far is that most of their beliefs are more nuanced than we might expect, and they will shy away from strict labels around their faith,” he says.

According to Veltman, multi-faith campus chaplaincies, such as the one at Mount Royal, are not necessarily the norm south of the border.

“You have to remember that the majority of the country is Christian in the U.S. and that it might just sort of be taken for granted that the majority of students on campuses are, as well,” says Veltman, who’s currently completing a PhD at Azusa Pacific University, with a focus on higher education, and diversity and faith.

That’s not to say that healthy discussion isn’t happening in dorm rooms and other campus gathering spots south of the 49th parallel. It’s just that those types of conversations may not be facilitated by the institutions in the same way they are at Canadian schools.

“That’s why studying the area of multi-faith and diversity in universities is so interesting. Students have this opportunity to learn so much about each other,” Veltman says. “When you’re part of one religion, you usually just stay with that group and you don’t necessarily reach out to people different than you to try to understand their perspective. You may tolerate it, but that’s not understanding it.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

33

“Education fundamen and think and at its

Mahfooz Kanwar, PhD, MRU professor emeritus (Sociology) 34

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

n is what stops ntalist violence king in its tracks roots.”

Mahfooz Kanwar, Mount Royal professor emeritus (Sociology) agrees.

He has written several books on the subject, including Addiction to Religion (2015), which explores how religion — any religion — can become an addiction leading to fundamentalism and or fundamentalist-fuelled violence.

Kanwar is known for speaking his mind — whether or not his thoughts fit with the politically correct tone of the times — and warns that Muslims should not “put on their blinders” to the very real issues in their own community.

“If we do not acknowledge that there are problems within how those in the Muslim community interpret the Qur’an, it’s a mistake that can lead to making excuses for the seeds of fundamentalism,” he says.

Born in Pakistan, the former member of the Muslim Canadian Congress immigrated to Canada in 1966. He says while the problem of “Islamophobic hate” is “creating havoc in the Western Europe and America,” in Canada it is less prevalent.

“In my research, I’ve found about 14 Muslim fundamentalist organizations in Canada, America and the Western Europe.

Unfortunately, those organizations almost invite Islamophobia in the Western World,” he says.

“The terrorists are known worldwide as murderers, beheaders, kidnappers of Muslim women, sellers of some of those women, rapists, and among other titles, misogynists.”

Kanwar says the key ingredient to religious violence is a lack of education and exposure to global views.

He adds there is a culture of ignorance and intolerance that aims to permeate mosques and Muslim populations in Canada, and that illiteracy and lack of general education is a leading factor in why individuals radicalize.

“There are billions of Muslims in the world and most of them are uneducated and semi-literate. That’s not an insult. It’s a fact. We are talking about a population globally that have not had the equivalent education of high school,” Kanwar says.

“All of my own children are university educated. I came here from Pakistan as an immigrant and I have completed my own PhD. This is not by accident. Access to, and encouragement to attend post-secondary, is the most important thing the Muslim community can do for the next generation. And the most important thing we can do is educate our youth in general. Education is what stops fundamentalist violence and thinking in its tracks and at its roots.”

Desdemona Lunz, MRU Sociology student and organizer of Open Arms YYC

Open Arms YYC When a group of Mount Royal Sociology and Anthropology students saw what they considered an influx of “anti-refugee sentiment” over social media in 2015 and 2016 — as thousands of Syrian refugees fled a civil war-torn nation for life in Canada — they decided it was time to send a message of acceptance to newcomers destined to make Alberta home.

In December 2015, the group of students founded an initiative called Open Arms YYC. What began as a classroom project soon morphed into a student-led series of awareness and fundraising campaigns.

Open Arms YYC organizers say there are many reasons that negative connotations around refugees exist. Beliefs around religion being linked to violence and terrorism are just some associated stigmas.

“We wanted to create something to counter that narrative while raising money for a good cause and more importantly, helping newcomers to Calgary,” says Desdemona Lunz.

According to The World Factbook, about 87 per cent of the population in Syria is estimated to be Sunni Muslim.

“But, people should remember, being a refugee has nothing to do with a religion. It has to do with fleeing horrible situations in the hope of something better. Safety,” she adds.

It started out as a social media initiative in which the group asked Calgarians to post photos of themselves holding up signs with the hash tag #OpenArmsYYC. The program also aimed to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders. Open Arms YYC drummed up over $3,000 in funds for the program and continued its efforts to help new refugees through a toy drive for the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society in winter 2016.

According to the World Vision website, there are 13.5 million people in Syria who need humanitarian assistance due to a violent civil war, 4.6 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.6 million are displaced within Syria. Most Syrian refugees remain in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

35

R

Michael Hawley, PhD, MRU professor of Religious Studies

Religion, the fourth of the “three Rs”?

For Michael Hawley, PhD, professor of Religious Studies in MRU’s department of Humanities, talking about religion in the classroom is just part of the gig. Students arrive in lecture halls to hear and contribute to the kind of discussion that ruffles feathers.

“Universities would not be doing our jobs if we weren’t having these sorts of conversations,” he says. “It’s very important that we’re training accountants and nurses and lawyers, but is that sort of training really separate from, or should it be at the expense of, a well-rounded humanities education?”

Hawley believes that graduates who are given a good humanities background during their bachelor degree experience — philosophy, history, religious studies and the like — come out on top.

“They are given the tools to go into a business meeting with global citizens and understand how to navigate those situations. Because we live in a world where we have to communicate across cultures, it’s indispensable to a person’s education to understand different ways of thinking.”

There are many provocative discussions on everything from Islamophobia to religion and violence, as well as media coverage of the like, going on daily in humanities, journalism, arts and other Mount Royal classrooms.

The Islamophobia Industry event took place in March 2016. Facilitated by the Multi-faith Chaplaincy, and using the book The Islamophobia Industry, a group of panellists (including local academics and journalists with a background on the topic) responded to author Nathan Lean’s claim that the tide of Islamophobia that is sweeping through Europe and North America is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, but an organized fear-inducing industry, intent on monster-making aimed at the Muslim population.

Hawley notes that it’s not just Muslim students who are negatively impacted by those who associate the religion with negative stereotypes or violence.

“The first person to be murdered after 9/11 was a Sikh gas station attendant, the perpetrator thought he was Muslim because of the turban — because of the beard — which tells us why we need education about religion,” he says.

The root causes of global terrorism are the subject of great discussion — particularly among religious scholars, such as Humanities faculty member Steven Engler, PhD, who is taking a keen interest in understanding the political and religious ideology of Salafi-jihadist groups such as al-Qaida and ISIS. Engler’s research formulates around the question: How can the actions of these radical groups diverge so far from the beliefs and practices of mainstream Islam? There’s no simple answer, but his explanation lies in a particular view 36

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

of religious authorities — individual Salafi leaders present their own radical and idiosyncratic interpretations as being the Word of God, and they are able to do this because they ignore the moderating force of legal tradition.

However potentially problematic they might be, Hawley notes that discussions about religion and violence are an imperative part of the postsecondary discourse in classrooms.

“University is an ideal place to start talking about these sorts of issues — the good, the bad and the ugly — all sides of it,” he says, adding that he understands there is some resistance to conversations not only about violence and religion, but religion in general in “socalled secular, publically funded institutions.”

“We should be becoming more familiar with what other people do, and why they believe the things they believe, dress the way they dress.

“Because the outcome of that is a better understanding of whoever ‘we’ and ‘they’ happen to be. What it does is it makes the strange familiar. Very often, I think people speak out of or react out of fear or ignorance. The more exposure that one has to things that are different, the more normal it becomes.”

“I am worried about young Muslims being targeted by ISIS for recruitment, but not any more than I’m worried about all young people, and people, in general, being targeted by these groups. ISIS is not just recruiting Muslims — they will take anyone willing to follow, Fundamentalism has no religion.”

Danial Khan, MRU General Science student SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

37

Carlos Rojas 798 Art Zone, Chaoyang District of Beijing

ON THE ROAD WORDS BY MARLENA CROSS PHOTOS COURTESY OF CARLOS ROJAS AND AIDAN WONNECK

38

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

Eat, play, study — student travellers globetrot to a higher level of education rowing up can hit you like a ton of bricks, especially when you’re standing in line waiting for a crowded bus, deep in the labyrinth of a foreign city’s core, or simply when you’re hot, tired, hungry and don’t speak the language.

That’s what happened to fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration student Carlos Rojas two years ago when he decided to explore a corner of Asia he had never seen before.

He was tired of taking holiday snapshots for Facebook, seeing the world through the lens of his camera and the window of a tour bus. He wanted an authentic experience — to hear the local dialect, taste the unfamiliar and see the unexplored.

Rojas had recently taken part in a Mount Royal University study abroad trip to Hong Kong, a trip that inspired his interest in

G

seeing Beijing, a place where he hoped to challenge his comfort zone and explore the Forbidden City.

“That’s what’s going to help you mature because you don’t have friends or parents to rely on. I think that’s what travel offers,” he says. “You have to grow alone.”

After what seemed like hours of walking in circles and pointing at landmarks with locals who graciously tried to help in broken English, there it was, finally, his destination. It only took Rojas a few seconds to realize that if he had gotten off the bus prematurely, he would have arrived more than an hour earlier.

The stress, the sweat, the sensory overload … Rojas says it’s all worth it for the experience globetrotting brings to his life.

“I think travelling is very valuable. Being able to step away from your comfort zone and discover yourself,” says Rojas.

Rojas was hit by the travel bug at an early age. When he was a toddler, his family moved from his native El Salvador to Calgary, then again to Mexico for a church

mission when he was 19. He says the moves gave him an ability to relocate with ease, something he considers an asset.

During his second year of post-secondary he decided again to relocate, this time to Kamloops, B.C. as a co-op student.

“Your undergrad degree is the best time to move around and explore your options,” he says.

Rojas’ independent spirit led him to Brazil two years later, where business students travelled as part of a Mount Royal field school for two weeks. Visiting five cities and several businesses, the students learned how Brazilian culture influences Brazilian work.

“Perception of time is a big difference.

If we showed up on time, they were scrambling!” Rojas says, laughing, as he recalls the formality among professors and executives as a stark contrast to the casual relationships found in the academic and business communities of Calgary.

According to Jim Zimmer, Mount Royal associate vice-president, Teaching and Learning, “serial travelling” students such as Rojas — who work and study their way across the globe — not only

View of Rio de Janeiro from Sugarloaf Mountain, Brazil

find independence through mind-opening experiences and a little adversity, but also enhance their learning and development.

In collaboration with the International Education unit, Zimmer is leading the charge with Mount Royal’s ambitious internationalization strategy, which aims to make more of these experiences available to students.

“Mount Royal’s internationalization initiatives aim to foster cross-cultural learning and deepen students’ appreciation of international issues and cultural diversity,” he says.

“Your undergrad degree is the best time to move around and explore your options.”

— Carlos Rojas, Bachelor of Business Administration student

Ghost Street (Gui Jie) Beijing, China

Dominican Republic

Quality of healthcare and infrastructure is a major area where students have noticed immediate differences between what they’re used to at home, and what they see abroad. When Mount Royal Bachelor of Nursing student, Aidan Wonneck, travelled to the Dominican Republic in his second year of study for a field school, he was shocked at the living conditions professionals went home to. For instance, the disparity between where people worked in a tourist resort and where they lived was enormous.

“The illusion of the resort was shattered,” Wonneck says. “The workers were clearly disadvantaged to their guests — most without running water or electricity.”

Through the lens of the nurse-tobe, Wonneck was impacted by the economic inequality.

“It was a slap in the face,” he says.

“You can see the impact of a government that doesn’t have the resources to provide its citizens with good health care and how it can really contribute to some drastic outcomes.”

Although Wonneck’s first field school experience left him feeling concerned about health quality in disadvantaged rural communities, his time spent working directly in the health clinics, hospitals and community schools led him to find true happiness.

“The best way to care for someone is to care for yourself. This trip provided me a sense of self-acceptance. Now that I have that, the world is simpler,” says Wonneck.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

39

Last year, Wonneck signed up for another two-week field school in Hawaii. This time the focus was on working with Indigenous Peoples on local health promotion. It’s there that he really saw how his international experiences would impact his success as a nurse upon return to Canada.

“Even in countries like the U.S. there is definite marginalization between Indigenous and non-indigenous populations. That’s similar to what we see here in Canada,” says Wonneck. “It’s kind of funny that I had to travel to Hawaii to really understand that.”

Gaining a world of perspective from the comfort of home Aidan Wonneck and nursing classmates Dominican Republic

“Even in countries like the U.S. there is definite marginalization between Indigenous and non-indigenous populations.” ­ — Aidan Wonneck, Bachelor of Nursing student Wonneck’s next experience would keep him (slightly) closer to home — Halifax, NS for two months to work as a nursing attendant in the summer of 2015.

“I had been on these field school experiences and this was me seeing if I could live somewhere without knowing anyone,” says Wonneck, who was surprised at the cultural differences even between Calgary and Halifax. “It was an interesting experience to see the differences within your own country.”

Aidan Wonneck Hawaii

40

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

For students such as Rojas and Wonneck, experience abroad has led to self-discovery, independence and a focus on their futures.

“I think the international exchange program or a study abroad trip should be mandatory in the undergraduate experience,” says Rojas, now in the final year of his degree and currently in Brazil again to fulfil his goal of learning a third language, Portuguese.

Mount Royal has long been a leader in international education in Canada, with more than 80 active international partnerships in 27 countries around the world. Although it is unlikely that all students will be able to travel as part of their post-secondary program, Zimmer states that internationalization remains a high priority for the University in a time of global interconnectedness, interdependence and complexity.

“Mount Royal intends to further increase its international teaching, learning and research activity in the years to come and has set ambitious targets for both in-bound and outbound student exchange activity going forward” says Zimmer.

Mount Royal students don’t necessarily need to dust off their passports to experience and learn about other cultures.

Student Ambassadors for International Students (SAIS), a volunteer program that supports in-bound exchange students from places such as Australia, France, Japan, South Korea and Peru, among others, gives local students the opportunity to grow and learn from others with a unique world view.

“They teach each other about their country, de-bunk myths and share tips for travelling on the cheap and how to cook in residence,” says Kyla Sinclair, program coordinator of SAIS. But it’s more than just tips and tricks, she adds. Together, as local and international student volunteers fumble through language barriers, they gain friendships and confidence while deflating myths and stereotypes that may have formed about one another.

“The bond that they make with each other while here on our campus creates lasting friendships and makes lifelong global connections,” says Sinclair.

The program provides opportunities for local travel that even some of the Mount Royal students haven’t done, such as day trips to Banff or Lake Louise, while experiencing skating on a frozen lake or hiking through Johnston Canyon.

“Even Canadian students get to do things they have never done,” says Sinclair, who notes that the volunteer hours also give students a leg-up on their resumes.

“It shows job-readiness in today’s international workforce,” she says. “I’ve had past student volunteers mention that it comes up in their interviews.”

coming out of the shadows Incidents of violence on campus are being reported, and that’s a good thing ‌ Mount Royal professor calls for transparent and stricter survivorfocused protocols when it comes to campus violence in Canada

WORDS BY BRENDAN GREENSLADE ILLUSTRATIONS BY MANDY STOBO

Mandy Stobo is the visual artist who created the bad portrait project, celebrating our self-worth by making our flaws our beauty and helping make art accessible

nly a generation ago, it would have been unheard Studies on dating violence in post-secondary began in the early of in the post-secondary sector to be encouraged ‘80s. In the U.S., colleges and universities have had mandatory by the number of reported incidents of relationship reporting policies for sexual violence since 1972, when Title IX was and sexual violence on a university campus, let introduced, a federal law requiring gender equity and protecting alone publicize them. students from harassment and bullying based on sex. Since 2013, Well, in a Dylan-esque way, “the times, they are a changin’.” these same schools have been required to report on dating, A 2014 CBC News story shared an exclusive investigation that domestic, sexual violence and stalking, and hate crimes. collected data from 87 universities and major colleges exposing According to Warthe, who is also a registered social worker, it’s myriad of inconsistencies in reporting and data collection that time Canada followed suit. brought to light the alarmingly low rate of reported incidents of “Title IX came into effect in the U.S. in the ‘70s, then in 1990 sexual violence on Canadian campuses. the Clery Act focused on mandatory sexual violence reporting and The reality is that the number of students who experience prevention. In 2013 the act was expanded with reauthorization of violence, both on- and off-campus, stands as a black eye for the Violence Against Women Act and the definition now includes post-secondary institutions all of the above mentioned,” across the country — explains Warthe. “For recorded or not. The Canadian campuses to go National College Health backwards by reporting Assessment (NCHA), an only sexual violence, not all internationally-recognized relationship violence, seems student survey, which ludicrous.” collects precise data about Mounting public pressure student health, habits, over the past few years has behaviours and perceptions, marked a major milestone indicated that approximately in terms of a broad and one in three Mount Royal long-sought change across — The National College Health Assessment student survey students had experienced the post-secondary sector some kind of violence in one in Canada, says Warthe. Her or multiple relationships. work at Mount Royal has “That’s a staggering number,” says Gaye Warthe, PhD, chair of had the unwavering focus of ringing in this new era — in the city the Department of Child Studies and Social Work, who has done and across the province. much research in the area. She adds, however, that Mount Royal The CBC report publicly highlighted the lack of policy on sexual needs to know these stats in order to allocate resources accordingly. violence, but more importantly, the lack of protocols for responding In 2008, 2010 and 2013, Warthe and her co-researcher, Leslie to disclosures of all types of relationship violence (emotional, Tutty of the University of Calgary, began taking a look at Mount physical, sexual, stalking) and addressing safety.

Royal’s dating violence rates. They were concerned to find that “The fact is that it’s happening, and we know it’s happening,” about a third of students had experienced some kind of abuse, Warthe says. “But, without accurate and reliable data we’re either before or after enrolling at Mount Royal. However, it’s working blindly to create prevention strategies. not all bad — Warthe explains that higher numbers of reported “The protocols for handling disclosures are paramount to cases point to something, well, positive — schools with what creating a culture in post-secondary that encourages students to is perceived as high numbers of reported cases underscore the seek help when they need it, and that’s what we’re working to need to provide an environment where students feel safe to come develop and share with other post-secondary institutions.” forward and report incidents of violence.

Warthe has been involved in developing protocols for screening “It means we can address the problem by working towards a for domestic violence in over 64 agencies in Calgary, including cultural change — work towards keeping people safer — because we emergency departments and schools. She also helped develop have a barometer of what we’re dealing with as a university,” she says. protocols for the specialized domestic violence court.

One in three Mount Royal students had experienced some kind of violence in one, or multiple relationships.

42

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

Gaye Warthe Chair, Department of Child Studies and Social Work

When she started working at Mount Royal full time in 2005, she and colleagues Patricia Kostorous, PhD, faculty member in the Bachelor of Child Studies and Cathy Carter-Snell, PhD, faculty member in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, recognized that post-secondary was behind the rest of the community in developing a survivor-centred response to relationship violence.

“As a social worker, I felt an obligation to address that gap,” Warthe says.

Warthe’s work of late coincides with Mount Royal’s Diversity and Human Rights services, and Campus Security’s work toward innovative protocols for responding to disclosures. An imperative step in the right direction is making sure that students have the tools and resources available to feel they can safely come forward. Mount Royal has several groups helping to lead the charge.

Peter Davison, formerly of the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and now Mount Royal’s manager of Security Services, started his career in law enforcement in 1981 before accruing 27 years of experience while climbing the ranks to Deputy Chief of CPS. Yet, of all of his accomplishments on the force, Davison speaks most proudly of his leading role in establishing the CPS’s domestic conflict unit and specialized domestic violence court.

“That model has grown into one of the most successful and complimented programs in North America,” he says.

Davison is looking to bring that experience to the table when talking about procedures for handling disclosures of relationship and sexual violence on campus.

As momentum continues to build around these grassroots initiatives, “We’re using what we learn to help to define our direction and combat the issues as a campus,” says Warthe.

“And through this approach, Mount Royal can continue to be a leader in Alberta and contribute our findings to influence larger change in the sector.

“The key to an effective approach is recognition that violence prevention is about community change. We cannot focus only on one type of abuse, such as sexual violence, and ignore other types of violence that occur in dating and domestic relationships.

Nor can Mount Royal develop policies for one group of people on campus. We cannot ignore that MRU employees, as well as students, are experiencing violence in relationships and increasing safety in our community means creating protocols for responding to disclosures of abuse and campus policies for students and employees.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

43

There is big change afoot institutionally At a grassroots level, the winds of change have been blowing through campus for years as several initiatives have sprouted, driving progress

“Stepping Up puts MRU on the map for leading the charge on addressing an issue that way too many students are familiar with.”

— Simone Foster, BN Peer Facilitator, Stepping Up

44

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

DIVERSITY AND MEANINGFUL INCLUSION FRAMEWORK Institutionally, in late 2015, Mount Royal made strides for a safer campus for all with the final iteration of the Diversity and Meaningful Inclusion Strategic Framework.

The framework creates a systemic approach for creating meaningfully inclusive practices, programs and services.

“Students of diverse genders and sexualities are vital to the fabric of our campus community. Our human rights policy protects sexual identity and gender expression,” says Stephanie Stone, director and advisor, Diversity and Human Rights, who helped to develop the framework. “We are committed to maintaining an inclusive learning environment that supports sexual and gender diversity.”

STEPPING UP Based on the information collected in the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) (2008, 2010 and 2013) on the experiences of students at MRU, Warthe, Kostouros, Carter-Snell and Tutty developed and implemented Stepping Up, a peerfacilitated prevention project aimed at curbing dating, domestic and sexual violence.

Funded by the Alberta Government Ministry of Human Services, Stepping Up was piloted in 2010 and 2011, and the most recent iteration is currently underway.

The program focuses on supporting students to develop healthy relationships through recognizing unhealthy and abusive behaviours; the importance of consent in relationships; understanding how to intervene as a bystander; and the role of media in understanding gender and relationships. The project curriculum is designed and delivered by peers with the support of the faculty research team and community partners.

“Since its beginning, I have personally witnessed its impact as a facilitator, student and now alumna,” says Simone Foster, a recent nursing graduate working with the Stepping Up project.

“I have had students (male and female) come up to me, curious as to what it is and how they can get involved. Many students want to learn how to recognize relationship violence, what they can do to intervene and how to educate their fellow peers on safe relationships.

“Stepping Up puts MRU on the map for leading the charge on addressing an issue that way too many students are familiar with.”

Faculty from MacEwan University and the University of Lethbridge, along with 60 Mount Royal students and community partners, attended the prevention weekend in January 2016.

STAFF TO SUPPORT SURVIVORS

WHO’S FRANK? Frank, the anti-bullying pink elephant, fights the good fight on our campus. Let’s be Frank (and the Frank mascot) is an antibullying movement conceived by a group of Mount Royal faculty and students in partnership with students and counsellors from a neighbouring high school. The movement, started in 2014, has been gaining momentum ever since.

Frank’s initiatives are marked by an annual day of solidarity against bullying.

Campus members proudly sport pink, followed by Frankly Speaking … About Sexual Violence, a panel discussion with experts from Mount Royal, the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University and Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse. Topics range from who is being sexually assaulted, to the male perspective, and bystander intervention.

In January 2016, Mount Royal created the full-time position of Sexual Violence Response and Awareness Co-ordinator to enhance the supports for survivors and help create formal processes around disclosures. Cari Ionson is the first person to hold this important new role.

Having worked for agencies on the frontlines of sexual violence prevention such as the Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA), Ionson brings a wealth of first-hand experience to the job. In explaining her career move to post-secondary education, she presents a powerful parable of creating large-scale social change.

Ionson believes in a client-centred and trauma-informed approach that recognizes the widespread responses to sexual violence. She is currently working with advocates on campus, who are staff members trained to support those who come forward with disclosures.

Mount Royal is now a satellite site for CCASA, a sexual abuse and sexual assault crisis and education service provider for Calgary and surrounding areas. As of 2016, a counsellor from CCASA comes to campus once a week to offer specialized counselling services for people impacted by sexual violence.

“We are building Mount Royal’s capacity to support people who have experienced sexual violence,” Ionson says. “People must feel empowered to come forward with disclosures to allow us to support them in the best possible way.”

#IBELIEVEYOU In summer 2015, Mount Royal supported the Alberta Association of Sexual Assault Services (AASAS) in kicking-off the collaborative #IBelieveYou campaign, a monthlong public awareness effort focusing on educating and empowering a proactive community of front-line sexual assault responders, both on and off campuses.

Danielle Hammond, Mount Royal Residence Advisor (RA), says the #IBelieveYou campaign gave her and her fellow residence advisors a means to start the conversation with students living on campus and decrease the stigma around being a victim of abuse.

“As a result of the campaign, many of the RAs have noticed their students feeling confident in approaching them about abuse issues in their lives,” says Hammond.

“The real difference we are seeing is the decreased negative connotations about being a victim, and normalizing conversation around abuse.”

The #IBelieveYou campaign is considered a vital step in both educating people on how to best respond to disclosures, as well as cultivating safe environments on campus where victims feel comfortable to come forward.

“Mount Royal University was the first post-secondary approached to support the #IBelieveYou campaign. The immediately enthusiastic and positive response received from MRU students, faculty and staff was what provided the impetus for us to go forward and engage the support of every postsecondary in Alberta,” says Deb Tomlinson, chief executive officer at AASAS. Through Leger Research, AASAS polled 1,001 Albertans before and after the campaign to find that the number of respondents who knew how to appropriately respond to a disclosure had increased by 100 per cent over the course of the month-long push.

“The real difference we are seeing is the decreased negative connotations about being a victim, and normalizing conversation around abuse.”

— Danielle Hammond Residence Advisor, Mount Royal University

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

45

REAL LIFE SUPERHEROES WORDS BY LISA KADANE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY KELLY MELLINGS - PULP STUDIOS INC.

ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

What makes someone a superhero? Hollywood defines this tights-wearing good guy or gal as a benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers, such as the ability to fly — think Superman or Superwoman, for example.

In real life, however, heroism presents itself in less cinematic ways. Often, a “superhero” is just a regular person who does the right thing under extraordinary circumstances. It could be the child who calls 911

46

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

during a break-in, or the bystander who helps rescue people from a burning building.

Sometimes, superheroes walk among us, as teachers or students who have saved lives or helped others while at work or on holiday. Meet some of Mount Royal University’s faculty, staff and alumni — MRU’s real-life superheroes — who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to aid those in need.

TAMARA LOISELLE

MRU FACULTY

GOOD DEED: SAVED TWO CANADIANS FROM DROWNING WHILE ON VACATION On her last day of a week-long holiday to Cancun, Mexico, in December 2014, Tamara Loiselle woke early at 6:30 a.m. with a Gaelic blessing of protection top of mind. After meditating and practising yoga, the MRU Aboriginal Education Program science instructor went for a walk on the beach with a friend, never guessing she’d need that blessing for the drama that was about to unfold.

Almost immediately, she heard a man screaming for help over the crash of waves.

Loiselle peered toward the horizon and saw two people out past the breakers, being carried out to sea by a strong undertow.

“They were way out there — little specks bobbing in the sea,” Loiselle recalls.

Earlier that week she had noticed a swimmer out in the rough swells and Loiselle — who had survived a near drowning herself years before, and had gone on to become a triathlete and strong swimmer — had rehearsed a rescue

scenario in her head. The 43-year-old mother of two didn’t hesitate.

“I heard this little voice in my head say, ‘Get out there — this is your job!’” says Loiselle. “I knew I had to go.”

She grabbed a life preserver and a looped rope that was attached to a crank on the beach — a life-saving device used during such rescues. She plunged into the ocean on autopilot. It wasn’t until Loiselle was tossed around in the surf that she realized the danger of the situation.

“It went from surreal, to real,” she says. Then, like those women who find the strength to lift cars off of people in trouble, “I had a surge of power. I tapped into something that was beyond me.”

Loiselle swam up to the man, a fellow Canadian tourist, who insisted she rescue his girlfriend first. Fearing she would lose him if she left, Loiselle had him grab the life preserver and they both kicked out to the woman.

“She was zoned right out. I remember grabbing her and I stuck her hand onto the life preserver and then I held it there — she had given up and thought she was going to die,” says Loiselle.

The trio began swimming back toward the beach, aided by security guards who were reeling in the safety rope. The next day, the man sent Loiselle a touching message thanking her for saving his — and his girlfriend’s — life.

The rescue earned Loiselle the Mountbatten Medal, a Commonwealth medal for heroism. It also inspired her to write a book, tentatively titled Called to Courage about the experience, and the importance of listening to your inner voice, as she did that morning.

But even still, Loiselle doesn’t consider herself a superhero.

“I just feel like I did what I needed to do and could do that day,” she says.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

47

DUNCAN KINNEY MRU GRADUATE

GOOD DEED: ASSISTING SYRIAN REFUGEES WHILE ON HIS HONEYMOON During an 11-month trip across the world last summer with his life partner, Anna, Duncan Kinney, a graduate of the Applied Communication — Journalism program, helped feed refugees along the border between Austria and Hungary.

The couple had stopped in Kroisbach, Austria, to visit friends, one of whom, Tobi Scheuer, owns a catering company. At the time, a steady stream of refugees was fleeing Syria and Iraq and making their way across the continent.

“Tobi’s friends had been talking about wanting to help, going down and lending a hand, getting warm food to the refugees,” says Kinney, 33 years old. He was more than happy to abandon sightseeing for a day to help out with the relief effort.

48

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

“I can chop vegetables. I wanted to help and be a witness. I had the opportunity to see history with my own eyes, and it was the right thing to do,” he explains.

Kinney, Scheuer and some others made their way to a makeshift border between the two countries, where refugees were being bused over from Hungary. In addition to helping with crowd control — Kinney describes the chaotic scene as a “giant crush of humanity”— the group prepared and served biryani, rice, couscous and vegetables to hundreds of refugees. When they ran out of grains, the Austrian military boiled up some pasta to pair with Scheuer’s sauce.

The men and families that Kinney spoke with were happy to have a warm meal, and grateful to be in Austria.

“The vibe we got was they were happy to be in a place that didn’t want them to leave,” says Kinney, who is the executive director of Progress Alberta, an independent advocacy organization.

While the experience was certainly out of the ordinary for a honeymoon, Kinney says he’ll always remember it, and especially his conversations with refugees about their dreams for a better life.

When asked what he thinks about being called a superhero, Kinney balks.

“You can’t call yourself a hero. It was an opportunity to help, and that’s something that’s pretty important in the grand scheme of things right now.”

SAVING LIVES ONE AED AT A TIME You see automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) at airports and gyms, but never think you’ll need to actually use one to save a life.

For the four members of Mount Royal University’s recreation staff working on Jan. 6, 2014, however, the device — which stops arrhythmia and allows the heart to re-establish a proper rhythm — resuscitated Ayaz Kara while they waited for paramedics to arrive after Kara went into cardiac arrest at MRU’s Recreation Centre.

As a result of their heroics, MRU staff Michael Dubnyk, Simone Foster, Paul Hunka and Terry Klan were presented with the St. John Ambulance Lifesaving Award in late 2014. The award recognizes individuals or groups of individuals who have administered first aid while saving or attempting to save a life.

“I’m so pleased that our risk management planning, AED installation and first aid training enabled our staff to jump into action and save a life,” says Chris Dawe, Mount Royal’s director of recreation.

“What a great result.”

— Face Time 2014 SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

49

As Albertan as beer, horseshoes and rock ’n’ roll WORDS BY BRYAN WEISMILLER PHOTOS BY ROTH AND RAMBERG

There's the prairie beer baron, the affable horseshoe club and the hard-living music critic.

Trace the origin of Mount Royal University's scholarships and bursaries back to their roots and you're bound to uncover a colourful cast of characters.

Though their stories are distinct, these Mount Royal supporters all share meaningful connections to the community. "We are immensely proud of the breadth of our student award supporters," says Stephen Shapiro, executive director, Development and Alumni Relations. "The generosity of our community helps create more successful futures by breaking down the financial barriers faced by many students.

"Not only do these gifts provide financial assistance, they also contribute to a sense of belonging among our student body."

Mount Royal presented more than 4,500 student awards in the past academic year. That tally is slated to grow over the next decade in keeping with the University's strategic plan.

Here, we profile three supporters behind student awards and success. big rock spokesperson and mru alumna susanne fox

50

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

the big rock brewery scholarship for entrepreneurs torin hofmann

4

bachelor of business administration – general management, marketing (minor) and innovation and entrepreneurship (minor) “this scholarship gives me the ability to focus my extra time on pursuing my start-up goals.”

Untapping student potential As legend has it, Calgary’s original microbrewery began one night with a bottle of whisky and an unquenchable thirst for a better local beer. Add a resourceful brewmaster to the picture, and the late Ed McNally had the early beginnings of Big Rock Brewery.

While the city is now dotted with a dizzying variety of beer brewers — pint-sized and otherwise — back in 1984, it took McNally’s bold entrepreneurial spirit to take on the mass producers dominating the suds market.

“Ed McNally was a visionary who wasn’t afraid to forge his own path for something he believed in,” says Big Rock spokesperson Susanne Fox. “He was one of the province’s trail-blazing entrepreneurs.”

Big Rock has developed into one of Alberta’s quintessential success stories over the past three decades. The company has grown its product line, increased its production volume and expanded its operations nearly nationwide.

That success has enabled the craft brewing company to help others realize their untapped potential.

The brewer hands out a host of post-secondary scholarships, but perhaps none more fitting to McNally’s legacy than the Big Rock Brewery Scholarship for Entrepreneurs at Mount Royal University. The scholarship is awarded to a full-time Bachelor of Business Administration student who minors in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

“The McNally family believes that their success lends to others’ success,” says Fox. “It’s part of the McNally’s DNA and part of the company’s identity.”

For Fox, an alumna of Mount Royal’s Journalism program, her alma mater shares traits with her current employer. During a tour of Big Rock’s southeast facility, Fox pointed to a special collection of barrel-aged beer. Each of the hulking casks was identified by an employee’s name.

“Just like at Mount Royal, everyone here is more than just a number,” she says.

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

51

Horseshoe club pitches in so students don’t have to live hoof to muzzle Pitching horseshoes was more than just a summertime fling for a group of Calgarians who mortgaged their homes to kick-start what’s now North America’s largest site for the grand ol’ game.

The Calgary Horseshoe Club — as it’s known today — was formed in 1978 when horseshoe enthusiasts from the Forest Lawn Night Owls and the No. 275 Royal Canadian Legion joined together under one banner. horseshoe club member wies valckx

52

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

calgary horseshoe club scholarship katie sigurdson 4 bachelor of health and physical education — sport and recreation management “i am so grateful for the opportunity to expand my knowledge on sport and wellness, so i can give back to my community when i graduate this spring.”

With membership soaring higher than their U-shaped discs, the group decided it needed a new home.

In the late 1980s, the club held a two-day casino fundraiser to help pay for its new digs. Six members put up their homes to back the bank loan to provide the float for their first casino.

“We’re very proud of our rich history in the city of Calgary,” says past club president Linda Skiehar. “There are many folks who sacrificed to ensure that our club started successfully.”

Today, the club still runs out of the same barn-style building, tucked away in the city’s southeast industrial park. With 20 indoor pits and 10 outdoor pits, the Calgary Horseshoe Club boasts being the biggest on the continent.

And, while the clubhouse is cavernous at more than 1,850 square metres, it’s still home to a close-knit group of ringers. Members range from picnic players to championship pitchers.

Skiehar estimates about 90 per cent of players have children or grandchildren attending post-secondary. That’s why each year the club awards the Calgary Horseshoe Club Scholarship to one full- or part-time student under the age of 22, in the Bachelor of Health and Physical Education — Sport and Recreation Management.

“The future is in our youth,” says Skiehar, a registered nurse who updated her education through Mount Royal’s Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension. “The young adults of today can carry the torch forward to promote sports.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

53

james muretich memorial bursary cheryl russell journalism

4

“the scholarship helps pay for tuition, which goes a long way towards helping me finish my education.”

brad simm, magazine publisher, music lover, mru employee and mentor to students who produce the calgary journal Photo insert of James Muretich courtesy of the Calgary Herald

54

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

Music scribe helps J-students keep on rockin’ the post-secondary world When James Muretich arrived in Calgary, “rock ‘n’ roll came to town.” At least that’s what you’ll hear from some of the city’s music scene veterans, such as artist Tom Bagley, who says the above of his late friend and colleague. Muretich, a charismatic rock journalist, entered the picture sometime in the early ‘80s.

Until then, there was no bona fide entertainment writer in Cowtown. Media outlets, in fact, shunned entertainment writing because it wasn’t considered to be a formal part of the craft.

Muretich helped to legitimize the practice. Writing in the pages of the Calgary Sun (the Albertan) from 1979 to 1983 and then the Calgary Herald for two decades, the sharp-witted wordsmith gained a loyal following. He also reached audiences through CJSW-FM alternative radio station and its monthly magazine, VOX, as well as his community access music video show.

“Muretich was more than a voice — he was THE voice,” says Brad Simm, a long-time music magazine publisher, who also works with Mount Royal University journalism students to produce the Calgary Journal. “He was a freight train of verbiage, ideas and energy.”

Muretich was a street reporter who hung out with all walks of life — and partied with them, too.

He paid his own way for shows at every dive bar, motor inn and punk venue in the city to give little-known local acts their first taste of newsprint. Then, he’d turn up to review the big-name bands at the Stampede Corral and the other marquee venues of the day.

“He was totally immersed in the culture,” Simm said.

(Muritech) “had a work-hard, party-hard lifestyle.” Sadly, in 2006, he died at the relatively young age of 54 from a brain tumor.

The next year, friends of the rock reviewer established the James Muretich Memorial Bursary, which benefits a full-time Mount Royal Journalism student each year.

Simm believes that Muretich’s willingness to immerse himself into the local music scene serves as a road map to success for the new generation of journalists.

“There are so many opportunities to engage in the DIY culture,” Simm says. “It’s much easier now to pick up a camera and get out there.”

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

55

Q+A

CHECKING IN WITH MOUNT ROYAL ALUMNI

INTERVIEW BY TIERNEY EDMUNDS PHOTO COURTESY OF REBECCA MORANTE

REBECCA MORANTE

Collaborative Mount Royal College, Athabasca University, Bachelor of Nursing (2004) Morante is Director of Nursing at Lao Friends Hospital for Children, under the umbrella of Friends Without a Border, a not-for-profit organization that provides highquality and compassionate medical care to children in Southeast Asia by creating community health education programs and by training local healthcare professionals.

Q: Describe your career path A: My focus is in humanitarian assistance and development work. Or perioperative nursing, now pediatric-emergency and labour and delivery. I’ve worked and volunteered in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Nepal, Cambodia, Mexico, Peru and now Laos.

Q: What three words describe your student experience at MRU? A: Empowering, motivating and entertaining.

Q: What was the most important course you took at MRU and why?

A: It’s a tie between Anatomy and Physiology and my first-year Nursing course. No matter how long and painful Anatomy and Physiology was, it has been essential. Nursing 101 taught me about

56

SUMMIT – SPRING 2016

supporting someone through their most vulnerable experience. It’s what gets me through every shift.

Q: How have you invested in your community after MRU? A: I’ve had the opportunity to work/ volunteer with multiple organizations in Calgary. Kids Cancer Care Foundation is near and dear to my heart. I’ve also worked with youth at risk at New Roads and spent many summers working at Easter Seals Camp Horizon. I even had the opportunity to come back to Mount Royal and work as a clinical instructor for the Bridge to Canadian Nursing program.

Q: Your current work includes pediatric emergency and labour and delivery nursing in Laos. What brought you there?

A: In March 2014 I moved to London, U.K. for five months to study a Diploma of Tropical Nursing. I first heard about the hospital in Luang Pranbang, Laos (UNESCO World Heritage Site) from alumni of the tropical nursing diploma. I spent about three months in Laos in 2015, volunteering for the hospital and then was offered the position of Director of Nursing in 2016.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you received at MRU that helped prepare you for your career?

A: Keep asking questions; that’s how we learn.

Q: What do you miss most about being a student?

A: I really enjoyed the social opportunities and the guided learning, all of the new thoughts and questions. Using the gym for free every day was nice too. But honestly, I love what I do now and don’t miss being a student. The all-night studying and working on assignments — who misses that?

Q: What is your claim to fame?

A: I have travelled to many places and love new languages and cultures. I saw the sunrise before the rest of the world while standing on a beach in Gisborne, New Zealand! I’ve worked and volunteered in 12 countries and I can speak English, Spanish and French. My Lao is still in progress but the staff are patiently helping me learn.

Mount Royal University broadcasting graduate Harnarayan Singh, right, is host of Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi

Be the next big thing in broadcasting Introducing the new, industry-endorsed Broadcast Media Studies degree program at Mount Royal University. Whether you’re out in front or behind the camera, you belong here.

mru.ca/belong

Spring 2016

Semblance of faith A campus community defies dinner party etiquette and dares to talk religion