March 21, 2024

1906

THE MIND BEHIND OWIFA

How a Western PhD student made a place for women in football

The rain fell onto Western Alumni Stadium as the Western women’s flag football team took the field.

Clad in purple and white, the team has fought tooth and nail to be the best in the Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association — they fought just to have this opportunity.

Olivia Ghosh-Swaby takes o as the center snaps the ball. She quickly gets into position for the catch, makes it and cuts through the York University defenders. The crowd huddles together in the cold and cheers as Olivia embraces her teammates — Western goes on to win 31–0.

The March 9 game is part of the second tournament ever hosted by OWIFA on Haylor-Semotiuk Memorial Field, and over 400 female athletes and 100 coaches from across the province are present.

Olivia has been familiar with running on the football field for the past 15 years, but the dual role of player and league executive director is still fresh to her.

Starting from the 2019-20 school year, under her leadership, the first intercollegiate women’s football league in Ontario has grown into 15 teams, with executives from schools across Ontario and a dedicated schedule for play.

It wasn’t easy to get this upstart league where it is today, a dream that started here at Western, six years ago, when the only football program for women to play in was an unratified club — until Olivia changed that.

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Broughdale cleared by police as a thousand celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Over a thousand students dressed in green took to Broughdale Avenue early Saturday afternoon to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day before the street was cleared by London police. The holiday saw hundreds of partiers filling Broughdale Avenue, throwing footballs, blasting music on house porches and occasionally climbing onto rooftops. The iconic ginger run returned for its second year, where self-identifying gingers ran down the street with partiers cheering for them on either side.

Crowds peaked around 3 p.m. before London Police Service o cers came to the scene, began clearing students from the street and shutting down parties. By 4:45 p.m., o cers cleared Broughdale Avenue entirely — house parties and streets alike. “Borgs” — short for “blackout rage gallons” — also made a reappearance this year. The popular drinking trend involves a plastic gallon container filled with alcohol, water and various flavourings. Many partiers wrote creative names for their borgs on their jugs, including “A$AP Borgy,” “Borgback Mountain” and “Borgasm Donor.”

But it wasn’t just Western University students partying on the streets — students from Fanshawe College and other Ontario universities came to the Forest City to partake in the celebrations as well.

“There’s not much going on at Fanshawe. Broughdale’s where [Homecoming] was and this is where St. Patty’s Day is,” said Eric Van Maanen, a first-year plumbing student at Fanshawe.

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KATHERINE GUO GAZETTE

Senate passes GBSV statement addition to course syllabi

Western’s Senate passed a motion on March 15 to update its course outline policy and make it mandatory to include a statement on gender-based and sexual violence in all course syllabi e ective Sept. 1, 2024.

The statement reads “Western is committed to reducing incidents of gender-based and sexual violence” and includes information about support services for GBSV survivors on campus and in London.

The Senate Committee on Academic Policy first introduced the motion to make the statement’s inclusion mandatory in the Senate meeting on Nov. 10, 2023.

Stephen Pitel, a law professor and Senate voting member reiterated some questions around the motion that were voiced in November’s meeting, for example, why the SCAP only wants to make GBSV resources mandatory in the course syllabus, excluding other pressing issues like food insecurity and the housing crisis.

In response, the SCAP clarified that their stance of including a statement on GBSV was based on the recommendation in the final report of the Gender-Based Sexual Violence Action Committee, where it is designated as one of the highest priorities.

The SCAP also said they were open to discussing further revisions to the course outline policy and giving instructors options of including statements on other issues in their course syllabi as well.

Emilie Kalaydjian, a senator-at-large, chair of the Western Student Senators and the incoming USC president, came out in strong support of the motion. She emphasized the importance of ad-

dressing GBSV in the university, believing it to be a significant issue a ecting young people.

“Seventy-one per cent of undergraduate students either witnessed or experienced GBSV in a university setting. That’s a number that I hold tightly to me as a student,” said Kalaydjian.

She told the Gazette that student consultations convinced her the move to include a GBSV statement in course syllabi was the correct one. Kalaydjian said a statement in the syllabus would help make classrooms a safe space for students who experience GBSV.

“I like to think of a syllabus as a social contract between a professor and a student. It creates this

culture that exists within a class,” said Kalaydjian.

After the meeting, Pitel told the Gazette he agreed with having firm policies and resources available in terms of GBSV but believes having a central collection of key resources related to GBSV and other important issues, like an online portal, is necessary.

“I don’t want to lose track of that idea just by thinking we’ve put it in the syllabus so we don’t need to do it anywhere else,” said Pitel.

Students will find a statement about GBSV, support services for survivors and steps to connect with a case manager in all their course syllabi beginning fall 2024.

Western international students mixed on waiver of o -campus work hours cap

Western international students have mixed feelings about a recent policy shift by the federal government to extend exemptions from the cap on o -campus work hours while international students are enrolled in class.

In December, immigration minister Marc Miller announced an extension of the waiver on the 20-hour-per-week limit on o -campus work for international students until April 30 and is looking into increasing the cap from 20 to 30 hours per week permanently. The waiver, introduced in October 2022, was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2023.

The extension aims to provide eligible international students and study permit applicants with an opportunity to o set their financial challenges and gain work experience while helping address Canada’s labour shortage.

Job vacancies increased to around a million in the second quarter of 2022, but have steadily decreased since then as the economy has slowed.

The waiver will remain e ective until April 30, with Miller saying he’s now considering making a permanent change to the cap so international students can work 30 hours a week while class is in session.

Krish Kapoor, a third-year Ivey Business School student and international student who was born in India and grew up in the UAE, works as a teaching assistant and a tutor alongside his academic commitments.

“I am probably not going to take advantage of this until my schedule becomes much lighter, as of right now, it looks unlikely,” he said.

Kapoor believes while the policy change may theoretically o er more work experience, he has doubts about its e ectiveness.

“If you work two part-time jobs, then you will get more experience. Otherwise, I don’t think it matters because, from a resume point of view, you’re just saying how many months you work at a job, not how long you work for the same job,” he said.

Philip Kim, a first-year psychology student and international student from Korea who is currently working part-time, also agreed that he would be unlikely to use the extended work hours due to classes.

“This is my take but if you’re a student, studying should be the first thing you should be doing. If I have a choice between either going to school or going to work, I’m going to school and then to work. Let’s just focus on school first,” Kim said.

Ravi Pendakur, a sociology professor at the University of Ottawa who researches ethnicity, labour and immigration echoed Kim’s sentiments. He said allowing students to work more hours may result in fewer hours spent on school, adding international students come to Canada on a student visa, not a work visa.

Pendakur also mentioned the benefits and challenges of implementing the potential 30-hour-limit policy, suggesting that “monitoring is a challenge” for the government since there is no mechanism to know if students are working more hours.

“Businesses are able to grab more student labour, without increasing wages. If you’re on the student side, there does seem to be a labour shortage, they might find it easier to get jobs,” said Pendakur.

Yasmin Amiri, a first-year economics student who had a job last semester, said that she would consider informing employers of her increased commitment.

“If I am working, I would maybe note in my resume about the policy change, so they know I have a chance to work for more hours, which is awesome actually,” she said.

Amiri, who came from Iran, also noted the financial benefit that this policy change would bing to working students.

“Imagine 10 more hours a week, that would be a hundred and sixty-six dollars per week. Multiply by four, that’s around six hundred and more per month. It’s a huge amount for students,” she said.

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE A classroom in North Campus Building, Feb. 27, 2019.

YIFEI ZHANG GAZETTE Outside view of the International and Graduate A airs Building along UC Hill, Oct. 8, 2020.

Former Western student sentenced after sharing intimate video of woman without consent

SOPHIA SCHIEFLER NEWS EDITOR

Content warning: The following article discusses instances of gender-based and sexual violence.

Aformer Western student and Sigma Chi pledge was sentenced in February in a London court after pleading guilty to sharing an intimate video of a woman who was a Western student at the time without consent.

Charges were laid against the man following an incident that took place at a Sigma Chi fraternity Halloween party in 2021, when he met the then18-year-old woman for the first time. The man was 19 years old and pledging to become a member of the fraternity.

In April 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism and one count of distributing intimate images without consent. An allegation of sexual assault against the man was withdrawn.

Both voyeurism and distribution of intimate images without consent have a maximum penalty of five years in prison. In February, the man was sentenced to house arrest for two years less a day and must wear an electronic GPS-monitoring device, followed by two years of probation.

Distributing or recording intimate images, including videos, without consent has been illegal in Canada since 2015.

Erika Chamberlain, dean of Western Law, said the laws were changed “because it’s become more common for people to record sexual activity or take photos of someone, maybe without their consent.”

She added university students are in the age group where this kind of activity is likely to happen. Common motives may be to brag about a sexual conquest or one party seeking revenge after a breakup.

In an emailed statement to the Gazette, Western wrote, “We agree with the trial judge that the taking and sharing of intimate images without consent is not only a sexual o ence, but gender-based violence as the victims are disproportionately women.”

The university added that taking and sharing images without consent violates Western’s Policy on gender-based and sexual violence and would lead to discipline.

“The university is committed to addressing GBSV proactively through education and train-

ing so that our campus community can feel safe as they study, live and work here,” wrote Western.

The identity of the woman is protected under a court-ordered publication ban and the Gazette has chosen not to provide the identity of the man to protect the woman.

The agreed statement of facts presented in court says the woman had been drinking throughout the evening, causing her to become intoxicated and experience some memory loss. She remembered being taken to a concrete room by the man and having sex.

The Crown did not attempt to prove a lack of consent between the woman and the man.

After the woman returned to her residence, a friend of the woman informed her he had received an 11-second long Snapchat video of her and the man having sex. The woman was unaware the video had been filmed and did not consent to it being recorded or shared.

Police investigation confirmed that the video had been sent to numerous members of a Snapchat group chat titled “pledge scum.”

At one point, the video switches to the frontfacing camera — capturing the man “smiling and laughing” while recording the act. The man superimposed the words “jail cell” over the video — a nickname for the concrete room in which it was recorded.

After learning the woman was upset by the video, the man went to her residence later that night and admitted he had done something “really stupid” he regretted and claimed to have deleted the video.

When police seized the man’s phone by warrant, the video was discovered on his phone.

According to court documents, after failing to make the Western football team, the man began to engage in activities like partying and alcohol, sometimes abusively. The man joined a student

group chat where members would brag about their sexual exploits and share objectified, hypersexualized views of women.

Some members of this group chat bragged about posting images online that had been taken without the knowledge and consent of their sexual partners, according to court records.

In a victim impact statement, the woman described feeling “worthless,” “alone” and “isolated.” The woman also described being in constant fear while on campus, not knowing whether the people around her had seen the video. She said in the statement that she had to take a semester o from the university.

“I think a lot of the psychological harm is from the fact that people can never know anymore whether their intimate images are still out there and whether anyone that they interact with has seen them somehow nude or engaged in a sexual activity,” said Chamberlain.

The lawyer for the man, Cassandra DeMelo, said as a result of this o ence, the man left Western and is currently studying at another university.

“The community needs to understand that [the man] has always accepted responsibility for his actions and began doing the work to better understand gender-based violence, power imbalances, and the importance of privacy, soon after the events unfolded,” said DeMelo in a statement to the Gazette

DeMelo said the man has done “significant” work to ensure he is at low risk of committing another o ence.

“[The man] will be forced every day — for a day shy of 2 years — to remember his actions on that day and learn from them, while his liberty is stripped and he serves his sentence from the confines of his home,” said DeMelo, adding that the sentence also requires more counselling and community service work.

“That is the best we can ask for from the criminal justice system, and is an example of the system working,” said DeMelo.

Sigma Chi fraternity did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

TA, postdocs rally for livable wages, supports

JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR

Around 100 community members attended a rally on the afternoon of March 14 in support of Western’s graduate teaching assistant and postdoctoral associate union’s demands for living wages and better supports.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 610 held the strike rally amid its ongoing negotiations with Western University over a new four-year collective agreement. The union voted in favour of a strike following a week-long strike vote information session, according to PSAC 610’s email to the Gazette on March 15.

“We are here to show solidarity and show the unity of our members,” said Pardis Baha, PSAC 610 president and Western kinesiology graduate student. “We’re looking to have Western hear our concerns and come to the table ready and with a fair deal.”

Baha explained financial stability is a major problem for graduate students, particularly given the high costs of living and rising rent costs, leaving many facing food and shelter insecurity.

The rally, held at the intersection of Western Road and Brescia Lane, saw a sizable turnout of supporters cheering and drumming, despite the

rain. Attendees wore pins reading “I am on strike alert” and “I stand with my bargaining team.”

PSAC 610 has had seven collective bargaining meetings with Western since this round of negotiations began on Oct. 30, 2023, and called for a strike vote on March 4. The negotiations are for the renewal of PSAC 610’s collective agreement which expired on Aug. 31, 2023.

“The parties met on March 20 with the assistance of a government-appointed conciliation o cer, following PSAC 610’s request for conciliation,” wrote Western in an email statement to the Gazette on March 13, adding this is a normal step in the collective bargaining process.

In a statement to the Gazette, PSAC 610 said Western has been inflexible in negotiations and has not heard the union’s issues, including a monetary increase for graduate teaching assistants, a housing stipend and extended eligibility for graduate teaching assistants outside of their graduate funding period.

PSAC 610 was also joined by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association at the protest.

Kiera Taylor, a fifth-year Ivey Business School and geography student, gave a speech at the rally in support of graduate students.

“I resent the idea that my role as a student at this university is being used to squeeze the most out of the people it employs,” she said. “I am not a

customer and my education should not have a bottom line that is being maximized at the expense of graduate teaching assistants.”

ALI HASANZADA GAZETTE Ontario Court of Justice exterior, Feb. 13, 2024.

KAI WILSON GAZETTE PSAC 610 rally taking place in the rain, March 14. 2024.

Broughdale cleared by police as a thousand celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

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Despite the smaller crowds on St Patrick’s Day, Van Maanen still enjoyed the street party.

“HOCO is a little busier but honestly St. Paddy’s, I’ve got zero complaints,” said Van Maanen.

Caleb Smith, a first-year culinary student at Fanshawe came to Broughdale Avenue to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, carrying a large road closure sign down the street through the crowds of partiers.

“Nobody’s really getting through here. I’m just letting everybody know the road’s closed,” said Smith.

Several cars attempted to drive through Broughdale Avenue but retreated with a three-point turn or required police to clear the road so they could go through.

London police media relations o cer Sandasha Bough said police have not yet released the

number of arrests, tickets and warnings issued, as well as crowd estimates, but confirmed there were no major disturbances or injuries as of March 16 evening.

Even with a heavy police presence in the late afternoon, some students continued to enjoy partying on the street.

“It’s awesome. You know, there’s something good in the air,” said Jeremy Urbach, a fourth-year

Ivey Business School student. “All the police ocers are really nice.”

After the street was closed and the majority of the crowd was gone at 4:45 p.m., some students said they planned to go to downtown London to visit bars and other attractions.

“I’m actually going to see Kung Fu Panda 4 tonight,” said Urbach.

- With files from Adshayah Sathiaseelan

Rec centre to convert blue gym into second weight room

MABEL ZHAO NEWS INTERN

Western’s Rec Centre has announced plans to convert the blue gym into an additional weight room by September 2024, citing increased demand and frequent overcrowding in the current weight room.

The upper blue gym, or room 4240A, is one of the Western Student Recreation Centre’s six gyms, located on the fourth floor.

According to Steve Barry, the Rec Centre’s director of recreation and active well-being, the current weight room is about 10,000 square feet and converting the blue gym will result in an added 5,800 square feet of space, increasing the capacity of the weight room by 60 per cent.

The blue gym was used as a second weight room amid COVID-19 social distancing protocols, added Barry.

The Rec Centre sent out an email about the conversion to campus recreation members on Feb. 20. The email included a survey asking students about the selection of equipment for the new weight room.

“We’ve heard from students that the weight room is busy at all times,” said Barry. “We have more students utilizing the space than before, so [the expansion] is something that we’ve looked into for quite some time now.”

The Rec Centre’s X account posts the occupancy level of three locations inside the Rec Centre — the weight room, cardio mezzanine and spin room around every half hour. According to the posts, the weight room has never had below 50 occupants in the last 15 days, as of March 19.

Justin Dulat, a first-year music student, was happy to hear about the additional weight room.

“There’s always way too many people. I think it’s busy no matter what time you go,” said Dulat, who added he uses the weight room around four times a week.

Currently, the blue gym hosts a variety of recreational programming, including drop-in badminton and drop-in futsal, as well as the table tennis and badminton club.

Barry said that these programs would not be a ected by the conversion.

“With our five other gyms, we can ensure that there’s no disruption with regards to programming,” said Barry. “We’re confident that we can find alternate times for our drop-in programs.”

The Rec Center will begin the conversion following the 2024 Ontario Summer Games, which will be hosted in London for the first time since 2018 and will include events set to take place in the blue gym.

KAI WILSON GAZETTE Party goers sitting on a roof during St. Patrick’s Day on Broughdale Avenue, March 16, 2024.

KAI WILSON GAZETTE St. Patrick’s Day party goers avoid police on Broughdale Avenue, March 16, 2024.

DESMOND MAHOOD GAZETTE Crowd on Broughdale Avenue celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, March 16, 2024.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Police attempt to clear the road, March 16, 2024.

DESMOND MAHOOD GAZETTE A student parades up and down Broughdale Avenue with a “Road

Closed” sign before it was confiscated by police, March 16, 2024.

King’s prof publishes book with diary of Canadian WW1 soldier

Western sees increase in number of residence don applications

GABRIELLA MCKENNA NEWS INTERN

King’s University College history professor Graham Broad published a book that shares the annotated diary entries of a Canadian soldier, Lieutenant Leslie H. Miller, who served in the First World War.

Miller joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914 and kept a diary of his training, deployment overseas and service on the Western Front.

Broad started preparing to turn the diary into a book, Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF, back in 2017, and it was published in November 2023 by the University of Toronto Press.

This type of book is a unique and rare piece of literature, as there are few remaining diaries from Canadian soldiers during the First World War.

“There were about 600,000 Canadians in the First World War, and we know just over one per cent of them wrote diaries that still exist, and many of those are just fragments,” said Broad.

Broad worked closely with Miller’s family to provide important context and educational perspective with about 500 footnotes, indicating the people, places and events Miller is referring to in the text. But sometimes it was still di cult to identify people and places mentioned in the diary as well as to understand the soldier slang of the time that Miller used throughout his entries.

Miller was also a student at the University of Toronto at the time of his deployment — very few people attended university in Canada at this time, and even fewer were soldiers.

According to Broad, Miller’s higher education allowed him to have diverse intellectual interests that he discusses in his diary, such as observations of the natural world and his interest in theatre and travel. He was also a frequent reader during his o -hours, and he often spoke at the lectures he attended.

“All this incorporated into the diary gives a really interesting snapshot of a rather unusual soldier’s life,” said Broad. “And that, of course, is in

addition to all the horrific aspects of the war that he recounts at times in very chilling detail.”

Broad hopes that people will read his book and gain an appreciation for the experience of Canadians in history. It is an opportunity for younger people to reflect on how people their age used to live in the First World War time period, he explained.

Apart from his service, Miller was known for gathering acorns from a fallen oak tree after the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917, and sending them to his family who planted the acorns on their family farm in Scarborough, Ont. — today the home of the Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church.

Acorns from these trees have been planted all over Canada, and a few of them are at Western University. The trees are called “Vimy Oaks” and three of them can be found on University College Hill.

Some of the original acorns were transplanted back to Vimy Ridge as there were no trees left there, explained Broad.

Broad’s book can be found for purchase on the University of Toronto Press’s website in either paperback or e-book format.

Western saw an unprecedented number of residence don applications for the 2024-25 school year, which some applicants attributed to the high cost of rent in London.

In a statement to the Gazette on March 14, Western University declined to share the exact number of students who applied to the residence don position but confirmed that there were a greater number of applicants when compared to previous years.

Western Housing completed its residence sta hiring process for the 2024-2025 school year in February. The university hired around 190 new and returning residence dons and residence education advisors to serve its 12 residence buildings.

Some students who applied for residence sta positions claimed their interviewers had told them between 400 and 500 students applied to be residence dons.

In 2023, don applications were reopened in April after initially closing in December, a decision which students attribute to a lack of people interested in the position.

“I think an increase in don applications has a lot to do with London housing costs going up,” said Jen Jang, a don in Medway-Sydenham Hall and third-year medical science student.

Jang said she planned to live in Masonville Yards prior to applying to be a don, but worried that she would be unable to a ord the high cost of rent without a job.

Guaranteed on-campus housing was a major draw for some returning dons.

“I get to my classes in ten minutes,” said Matthew Langdon, a don at Alumni House and thirdyear medical science student. “It’s also just a lot easier not having to worry about apartments.”

Langdon has been a don at Western since the 2022-2023 academic year and will be returning to work in Lambton Hall for the 2024-2025 year. Langdon said, as a don, he takes home around $2,500 annually after the costs of food and housing.

“That’s enough to keep me financially stable, which I know is very privileged for a university student to say,” said Langdon, adding that he was uncertain if he would be able to a ord an o -campus apartment in London’s current housing market if he wasn’t a don.

In addition to housing, Jang said having a sense of community was an important aspect of her position.

“Initially, I was very drawn to the money aspect, but helping people this year has really increased my love for the job,” said Jang.

Third-year medical science student and Delaware Hall don Miles Leslie said the increased interest in the role may be due to the improved relationship between students in residence and their dons following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

“People were fearful of dons,” said Leslie. “Dons were seen as the enforcers of telling people to social distance or put on their masks. A common term was that dons were the ‘police’ of residence.”

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Leslie has seen the relationship between students in residence and dons change.

“The role is changing now, there’s a stronger emphasis on building a community and being a friend,” he said. “In my experience, the best dons are the ones that are there to foster a community.”

Western positioned 14 out of U15 universities in CFI research funding

Western placed second last out of U15 research-intensive universities in total research funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation in 2023, according to a presentation at the Jan. 19 university Senate meeting.

Western University President Alan Shepard explained in an interview with the Gazette this follows a consistent trend over the past 20 years. Western has not moved up significantly in CFI placement, despite its status as a “top research-intensive university.”

The charts — prepared by the university and presented at the Senate — also showed Western positioned lower compared to other universities in U15 for research funding from the tri-councils. Western ranked 11th in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, 11th in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and 10th in the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

“There is a very clear trendline and most institutions are on it. Some exceed their allocation. We underperform our allocation more than anyone else in the country,” said Ken Coley, dean of Engineering and vice-chair of the University Research Board at the Senate meeting.

Despite the comparatively low research funding, vice-president research Penny Pexman said Western received $280 million in total research funding from three federal funding agencies last year — a record high of over four per cent compared to its previous best year.

Shepard explained while Western has made progress, other universities are also improving, making it di cult to close the gap in Western’s CFI position between other universities.

Pexman told the Gazette that Western has experienced recent success and sees encouraging signs of growth in research.

“We’ve traditionally been around $250 million, there was a real uptake last year,” said Pexman.

“That’s something that I’m quite confident we will be building on, given the grants we know we’ve won that haven’t yet been paid out.”

Almost 60 per cent of research funding such as tri-council funding goes to graduate and undergraduate students, but the CFI funding is used for infrastructure, Pexman revealed.

“The CFI money to use is for equipment or buildings or some copper renovations,” said Shepard. “It’s not really people. It’s not grad students.

It’s microscopes, tables, buildings.”

Before Pexman’s time at Western, CFI was a noted cause of concern compared to other councils’ relative success.

“Last year was one of our best years ever for CFI,” said Pexman. Western had double the national success rate in last year’s competition — a change Pexman attributed to reviewing and choosing applications.

As a newly appointed president in July 2019, Shepard said “We had not invested as an institution in centralized services to support faculty members who are seeking grants.” Since then, the university has hired support sta to make the

grant application process more straightforward for faculty and postdoctoral researchers.

“It takes a couple of years to kick in, but those sta ers … who are supporting the faculty members in research services, they’re on duty now and that investment will pay o ,” Shepard said.

Despite the large volume of applicants for research grants, Pexman believes Western is always trying to secure more funds to ensure that every

student who wants research experience has an opportunity to receive it.

“Western has a pretty remarkable history of contributing to research and answering some of the really big challenges that have faced humanity in the face of the world,” said Pexman. “We will continue to do that and always be looking for ways that students can be engaged in that research enterprise.”

SAXON LANE GAZETTE King’s University College, Oct. 26, 2018.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Saugeen-Maitland Hall Residence, Oct. 24, 2022.

COURTESY OF WESTERN SENATE

THE MIND BEHIND OWIFA

How a Western PhD student made a place for women in football

RYAN GOODISON, COORDINATING EDITOR

The Mississauga, Ont. native is now in the last year of her PhD candidacy in neuroscience at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.

She studies the e ect of drugs and exercise on the brain’s cognitive function and ability to adapt, intending to improve the lives of individuals with diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Olivia started playing flag football when she was in Grade 6, growing up around the Peel Region. She continued to play in high school, and during her master’s degree at Western she drove back to the Greater Toronto Area on weekends to play.

“I just always had a love for the game and been naturally good at it,” says Olivia.

In her undergraduate degree, she started as a receiver on the Western’s women’s football club before transitioning to quarterback. Olivia took on a substantial leadership role with the club in her fourth year, taking on administrative responsibilities, recruiting athletes and using social media for outreach.

In 2017, Olivia noticed that Western’s women’s football club — like others across the province — was beginning to grow in size. She then took on the role of president of the team and brought on an executive team to help her structure the club.

The first thing she did as a president was to apply for the amateur club to be a formal Recreation Sport Club under Western. Becoming a ratified club would allow the team to have access to a more robust coaching sta and dedicated hours of training.

Despite the organizational changes, one problem was apparent: Western was trying to compete with other schools, but there was no centralized system to communicate with other teams.

“How do we ever know there’s a tournament?” Olivia says. “Hopefully, an email is sent around about an event, and we would go and pay and play.”

She started a Facebook group chat between the clubs, presidents and coaches of each school’s team, and began coordinating events — each club would host its own invitational tournament throughout the school year.

It wasn’t until 2018, one year later, that the group chat began to form into something entirely di erent.

“We started chatting as a group with all the other presidents at the other schools, that we need a kind of formal process, a formal association to advocate for what we want, what that looks like, and maybe to help create a season,” Olivia says. “It kind of became its own beast.”

The teams created their first o cial rule book and met with Football Ontario, a not-for-profit organization that governs amateur football in the province. Since then, the two organizations have formed a partnership.

Emily Todd, the director of development and administration at Football Ontario, has been working with both the women’s and girls’ flag and tackle football programs. She served as a Football Ontario representative in OWIFA and helps leagues with access to coach clinics, and support for events and promotions.

“My role is kind of bridging the gap and helping them to get their message out to female high school athletes,” Todd says. “So that way, they know that there’s a pathway for them.”

Todd volunteered with Football Ontario before becoming the general manager of Ontario’s women’s tackle team. Travelling with the team during a national tournament, she saw just how much demand there was for the sport across Canada and the globe — flag football was recently added to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“It’s just continuing to grow, and I think the announcement of the 2028 Olympics was a really big driving force in that as well, that will now recognize it as a sport, [women athletes] want to get involved in it,” says Todd.

Over the last couple of years, Todd has begun to notice the e ect that OWIFA has had on women athletes entering university.

“It’s become part of their decision-making when they’re going to post-secondary,” says Todd. “They’re kind of looking at what schools are a part of OWIFA.”

Todd says many athletes look into Western because of the success of their program and how well-run the club has become. Another notable team is the University of Toronto, which Todd says recently broke ground with its new all-female coaching sta .

“For a high school athlete, that can be something that’s really important to them,” says Todd. “They see a pathway as an athlete, but then later on seeing that they can also give back to their school as a coach.”

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Olivia Reshmi Ghosh-Swaby, neuroscience PhD candidate and founder of OWIFA, in her lab at the Robarts Research Institute, Feb. 29, 2024.

VERONICA MIRANDA GAZETTE Mustangs guard the University of Waterloo Warriors as number 11, Olivia Reshmi Ghosh-Swaby, runs with the football, March 9, 2024.

Greven Rodrigues, a second-year Kinesiology student and defensive tackle on Western’s team never played a snap of football before postsecondary.

She played on her residence team in first year and heard about the league through peers. Growing up, she played soccer, and she missed the comradery that team sports brought to her life, so she decided to join Western’s club this season.

Her second practice with the team was organized like a combine — where the women had to participate in sprints, jumps and throwing drills like athletes will do at a major league combine.

“It was really intense, but it was super fun,” says Rodrigues. “It was very interesting and eye-opening to me because I didn’t even know that I had this opportunity for girls and women who wanted to play football.”

For athletes on the Western women’s football team, it’s more than just an opportunity to compete and get some exercise.

Many of the women see each other outside of practice, either going to dinner or studying with one another. For them, the sport has opened up a community that they can call their own.

“I think it’s super empowering to be a part of something that’s so big, and everyone has so much fun, whether we win or we lose,” says Rodrigues. “Just to be a part of something new and exciting.”

Behind the competitive games between universities, there’s a lot of administrative work that supports the successful operation of the league out of the gate, which can be attributed to Olivia and her team’s top-down approach.

Originally, the money for tournaments came from the individual teams that were hosting, who would use registration fees from their members to try to cover the costs. But now, OWIFA acts as the body to help organize and collect fees from everyone in the league to run tournaments throughout the season.

“That’s probably the biggest challenge, and it still is, but it’s easier than ever before because we were successful in grants,” says Olivia.

OWIFA partnered with the NFL’s Canadian branch in 2023, which gives them an annual $5,000 grant to put towards the league. They also help them with merchandising, guest speakers and marketing opportunities across social media.

NFL Canada is now sharing the work of OWIFA’s all-women’s media team on its platforms. Olivia hopes that this will translate into more oppor-

tunities for women in the industry later on.

“It’s all got like that same theme and goal of building up women in sport in di erent areas, not just the game,” says Olivia.

The league has also secured a $50,000 grant from the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Group — a Toronto-based professional sports and real estate company that owns sports teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and Toronto Argonauts Canadian Football League team. This is the largest donation the league has received so far.

Britney Messam, the internal a airs and operations director at OWIFA, says the grant was a major breakthrough for the league, as it usually has to scrape by with grants of around $2,500 to $5,000 a season.

“I mean, just to watch her and see how much e ort she puts into practice and film and just being better, but she’s such a good teammate.”

Despite all her e orts, Olivia credits the incredible team around her with much of the organization’s success.

“There are always new obstacles and new things to adapt and problems to solve coming up in the schedule,” says Olivia. “I’m never doing this alone. There’s a whole team behind me that helps execute these things — I’ve enjoyed being busy.”

Now, with 15 di erent schools across Ontario partnering with OWIFA, the future of women’s flag football looks bright at the university level.

One of the biggest obstacles for these clubs that lack varsity status is travel expenses — most teams have to pay out of pocket, while varsity teams typically have access to school buses.

For athletes like Rodrigues, achieving varsity status would be an important stepping stone for the sport.

“I think it would mean a lot to all of us because I think we put as many hours in as most varsity teams do, but we don’t really get that recognition or the funding from the school,” Rodrigues says. “To have that varsity title just means that we’re recognized, especially at our own school and by [Ontario University Athletics] as a real program.”

“It has really helped us to elevate our game day experience and what we can o er,” says Messam.

experience and what we can o er,” says Messam.

None of this happens without the work of Olivia Ghosh-Swaby — something Todd is very aware of.

the opportunity to continue playing and become to so many coaches, and so many female coaches in this space as well — I don’t know how she does it all.”

“She’s the reason that all of these people have the opportunity to continue playing and become high-performance flag athletes or continue on their pathway,” says Todd. “She’s given that space to so many coaches, and so many female coaches in this space as well — I don’t know how she does it all.”

running the league on top of school. OWIFA takes up most of her weekends, but she says it’s fine be-

Olivia says she spends around 10 hours a week running the league on top of school. OWIFA takes up most of her weekends, but she says it’s fine because she’s passionate about it.

“I think graduate school made it a bit easier because it was like a part-time job that I could do in my evenings,” Olivia says. “I never had an exam to study for. I just had experiments that I could set up and design on my own schedule — so, it’s very manageable.”

She still plays as a receiver on Western’s team to this day — helping foster the next generation of women’s football athletes at the school.

cause it was like a part-time job that I could do in manageable.” the school.

“[Olivia] is probably one of the coolest people I know, playing with her is like such a treat,” says Rodrigues.

“[Olivia] is probably one of the coolest a treat,” says Rodrigues.

But the job isn’t finished, as most of the province’s teams are still considered sports clubs by

province’s still considered their respective universities and have not been given varsity status — something which Olivia is currently advocating for.

A 2020 Canadian Women and Sport report found that in Canada, one in three girls quit sports in their late teens, and around 62 per cent of women play no sports at all.

But the job isn’t fin- in teens,

cent of women play no sports at all.

Organizations like OWIFA and leaders like Olivia are leading the way in giving women opportunities in post-secondary sports and beyond.

in giving women opportunities in done

And all of this is done through the game of football.

“I think that it’s admirable what all the girls have had to go through for

and the fact that there is a space now where we can be some of the best

“I think that it’s admirable what all the girls have had to go through to advocate for their spot on the field in a sport that is so male-prominent, and the fact that there is a space now where we can be some of the best athletes in the sport,” says

post-secondary sports and beyond. Olivia.

COOPER GLUSKIN GAZETTE

Number 87, Melissa Green, checking with the referee before the snap versus the York University Lions, March 9, 2024.

Looking for home: Advocate, refugee, Nhial Deng’s journey to Huron

HANNAH ALPER REPORTER

Eleven-year-old Nhial Deng awoke to gunshots and his father telling him to flee — their village in Ethiopia was being raided and attacked by a militia.

Nhial’s father instructed him to pack lightly: one t-shirt, one pair of pants and a bottle of water, all carried in a paper bag.

Nhial felt like his world was stopping. He looked around his village — his home — as the houses burned. Some people bled on the ground. Others screamed and ran in all directions.

“I could not even feel my feet moving, I stopped,” Nhial recalls. “And I just felt like that was the end for me.”

Outside, Nhial’s father pointed him to a group of people waiting under a nearby tree and told him to join them. The group was ready to make the two-week trek by foot to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

His father was going to work elsewhere to support his family and wanted Nhial to go to Kenya for an education.

More than a decade later, his father’s dream for his education has led Nhial beyond Kenya and to Huron University College, where he is now a thirdyear global studies student.

Outside of the classroom, Nhial is also a world-renowned activist for advocating for policies to better the lives of refugees and people from conflict-a ected countries.

Nhial’s advocacy work has taken him all over the world, presenting to bodies like the United Nations to share his experiences and discuss issues ranging from global education, to gender equality and human rights.

“I work with so many young people from di erent backgrounds and communities, and every single day, no matter where I am, I feel like their voice is echoing in my head,” he says.

“I feel like I’m in a position where I can amplify their voices, where I can share the stories, where I can share their hopes, where I can share their dreams and where hopefully someone can listen and say, ‘I want to do something about it.’”

Last September, he was awarded the prestigious $100,000 Chegg.org Global Student Prize. The award, launched in 2021, goes to a student working to shape the world for the better and making a positive impact.

Nhial plans to donate 50 per cent of his prize to Kakuma Refugee Camp — his home before moving to Canada in 2021.

The money will go to building the Kakuma Leadership and Innovation Center, a space for youth in the refugee camp to foster leadership skills and grow.

Nhial explains that the camp was a challenging place to grow up, with little access to running water. His school was 40 minutes away from the camp. In Kakuma Refugee Camp, there were more families than not who could only a ord one meal a day.

While it was a wonderful community full of people he still loves today, he says the hardest part of camp was that he was alone without his family.

“I had to be my own father and my own mother as well as be a sibling to myself at the same time,” says Nhial. “I was just trying to figure out the world by myself.”

He explains that his dad used to tell him about war and his time as a refugee himself in Ethiopia.

“It has never crossed my mind for a single day, that one day, I would also flee and become a refugee. I didn’t even have time to process all the emotions. At one point, I felt like the world had come to a stop,” says Nhial.

While at camp, he began to dream about working at the BBC so he could find his father, who he describes as the “guiding star” in his journey.

“I thought ‘I can broadcast on the radio that I don’t know where my dad is, and this is me’. And then maybe my dad might listen to the radio wherever he is, and find me.”

By the time Nhial was in high school, he had already begun engaging in di erent issues he was passionate about while living in the refugee camp.

In 2017, he founded the Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors, a refugee-led, youth-led initiative to create a safe space for young people in the camp to heal from their trauma.

The initiative allows the youth to play together, promotes peace among di erent communities and develops innovative solutions for challenges faced by their communities. This led him to become passionate about gender equality and work towards programs for girls and women in Kakuma and beyond.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, he started a digital awareness campaign on the COVID-19 pandemic to educate people in the refugee camp

on how they can protect themselves. The lack of internet access prevents people from finding trustworthy information.

These e orts helped reach over 40,000 people in Kakuma and Kalobeyei with credible and life-saving information about COVID-19.

His community work and seeing the potential of what he could do motivated him to apply to universities and colleges abroad where he can further his education and achieve his dreams of journalism and advocacy beyond the camp.

After applying to Huron, the school reached out to him requesting to set up an interview with Huron president Barry Craig.

But the meeting wasn’t an interview at all. Instead, Huron surprised him with a full four-year scholarship to attend their school.

“They said ‘everything you need for four years, the accommodation, your meals, your living expenses, if you need a winter coat, if you need a computer, everything is provided for you,” says

Nhial. He adds Craig “told me, ‘You’re going to have your first breakfast in Canada with me.’ And I felt like this is a place where I will belong.”

Despite the obstacles he’s faced, he is proud to be a refugee and represent others to help make their lives better. When thinking of what the word “refugee” means to him, he says it’s more of a “badge of resilience” and proof that people can go through the worst of humanity, and still work hard to achieve a stronger future.

In the 2022 winter, Nhial reunited with his mom and family for the first time in 11 years. He met four of his younger siblings for the first time.

“It’s a moment I still look back to in so many ways. It was just special for me to have that opportunity to connect with my family again,” says Nhial. “And to just have that motherly love and to have food made for me by my mom again for the first time in about 11 years.”

— With files from Cat Tang

New start-up film company creates jobs for new graduates in London

Broad

Films is growing the roots of the film industry in the Forest City.

The film production crew company launched in December 2023 aims to fill the gap in London’s film industry by creating new job opportunities for young graduates and drawing more filmmakers into the city.

Michelle Shipley and Kelly Peckham are two Londoners and co-founders of Broad Films. Both have extensive film industry experience, with Peckham working in documentary, lifestyle and true crime entertainment and Shipley working in comedy and scripted entertainment.

“We need to start with building a crew of seasoned professionals who want to work in London, thereby giving us the ability to bring some new graduates from film programmes in London schools into the industry,” says Peckham. Their goal is to start out as service producers — they will be bringing scripts and budgets from big production companies looking for regional options. Shipley and Peckham hope this will give them the work needed to hire crews.

There is currently not enough work in the London film scene for people to stay in the city, accord-

ing to Peckham. The lack of film opportunities in London makes this di cult and forces students and graduates to look elsewhere for employment.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Nella Christensen, a fifth-year criminology and film studies student, who says that most graduates and film professionals often travel to bigger production hubs to get experience and work.

“The general attitude of film students at Western and Fanshawe is that if you want to get experience in large-scale productions, you have to get out of the city and go to Toronto or Vancouver,” says Christensen.

In order to find paid employment in the film industry, new graduates and students are required to have a certain number of hours of experience when applying, which di ers from job to job — but they can’t gain this experience in London.

“This is problematic because if you don’t have crews, you can’t attract the production. But if you don’t have the production, you can’t keep the crews,” says Peckham.

Broad Films intends to focus on smaller professional productions in the holiday romance genre, with a budget of around $3 million.

For these types of films, a crew of 55 to 65 people is needed, including the production team, directors, camera operators, make-up team and wardrobe team.

Christensen says that bringing film production home and “centring at home, especially for people who can’t really a ord the Toronto rent, could open many doors, especially just making it more accessible purely based on location.”

Broad Films recently won a creative services award from Tech Alliance — an organization that helps start-ups and small businesses in London, and gave $40,000 to the start-up.

Peckham says the money will be used for the company’s start-up costs, recruiting costs and branding outreach.

The Ontario government also o ers tax incentives — like an additional 10 per cent o labour costs — for regional Ontario production.

However, Peckham says that this is a double-edged sword for companies coming from Toronto to regions like Hamilton, London and Kitchener because of additional travel costs.

“The problem is then producers have to pay extra money to travel their crew in, put them up in hotels, pay their per diem, pay them travel days, and that sometimes can eat up that extra 10 per cent very quickly,” says Peckham.

Broad Films will work closely with Film London, a city-funded agency that promotes and supports film and television in London.

Broad Films are actively recruiting personnel with a broad range of skills — looking for a wide range of professionals from electricians to interior designers. They hope this can be an opportunity for less experienced people in the film industry to gain more experience.

“We’re very interested in bringing up the next generation of filmmakers,” says Shipley. “We’ve had a really great time in our careers and continue to do so, but we’re interested in mentoring new filmmakers.”

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Nhial Deng at Huron’s Frank Holmes Centre for Leadership, Ethics and Entrepreneurship, Oct. 1, 2023.

The secrets behind Black Walnut’s bestselling cru n

ELA KANG STAFF CULTURE WRITER

Its buttery croissant layers take a familiar mu n shape, the flaky texture filled with daily-picked custard flavours. This is what’s made the Black Walnut Cafe’s “cru n” a London staple since 2013.

That year, Mandy Etheridge, who has a love for pastry creams and custards, introduced the cruffin to her and her father’s cafe. Since then, they’ve been a hit.

Simply put: they’re delicious. That is, if you can get your hands on one.

The Black Walnut is the only place in London that serves cru ns. They’re made in-house, and even after increasing their daily output to hundreds of cru ns a day, the dessert still sells out regularly. Weekends and holidays are the busiest and have the most demand for cru ns, according to Etheridge.

The cafe was packed with customers this afternoon. But for the bakers responsible for the tasty treats, the day starts much earlier.

The bakers arrive every morning at 5 a.m. to bake and prepare cru ns for Black Walnut’s 7:30 a.m. opening. It’s a labour of love — the cafe is closed just three days of the year.

“We just wanted to create something di erent,” Etheridge says. “There’s always something new that we’re trying out or working on.”

Etheridge did not invent the cru n. The pastry is believed to have been created in 2013 by Kate Reid for Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne, Australia. They quickly became popular in the United States and soon came to the Black Walnut.

On my visit, chocolate peanut butter and maple were the daily flavours. Fortunately for me, there were six cru ns left in the glass case this Tuesday afternoon.

“Most days we sell out of cru ns earlier than 4 p.m.,” says Samantha Brush, the chef supervisor at the cafe.

The cru n hype is very real and well-deserved. I tried the chocolate peanut butter one. It made a great pair with my iced oat latte. The cru n was light and flaky, but the custard inside was the real star. The cream was light and sweet, without being overpowering for a mid-afternoon snack.

The cru n dough is cut and rolled before being placed in the cafe’s custom-made cru n pans. The pastries are then proofed until they’re the right size, egg-washed and baked.

Next comes the flavour.

While the cafe has a long list of its basic flavours, its bakers can come up with new flavours o the top of their heads.

“The bakers have free range in what flavours they play with,” says Brush.

Of the cafe’s hundreds of cru n flavours, Etheridge says the most popular is basic chocolate. Her personal favourite is rhubarb ginger custard, which is available during the spring.

Regardless of the flavour, I know I’ll be back someday. Certainly for another cru n. And maybe to also relive that feeling of leaving the Black Walnut satisfied — with a cru n in my belly, and in my heart.

Téa Mutonji, Western’s writer-inresidence, is building community

GUORUI DU CULTURE INTERN

For Téa Mutonji, writing is more than a solitary act — it’s a community.

Téa, a writer and poet, is Western University’s current writer-in-residence. In her role, she hosts o ce hours with students to review their creative works which can include works of poetry and prose.

She is also currently a graduate student at New York University, pursuing a master’s of fine arts in creative writing. She’s best known for debut novel Shut Up You’re Pretty, published in 2019.

The writer-in-residence program is an annual initiative hosted by the department of English and writing studies, with the goal of supporting one accomplished writer while enabling the community to benefit from their expertise.

Téa says her goal in the role of writer-in-residence is “to be a sponge of information.” Téa aims to be more than someone who contributes creatively to the community but also as someone who learns from it.

But even from a mentor’s position, Téa says she knows exactly how students feel and can even feel the same way. She recognizes how impossible writing can feel at various stages in your career.

“So much of what I do in this position is really just a reshaping of what I’m learning as a student myself,” says Téa. “I still carry a lot of anxiety, fears, questions and wonder that my students have.”

As a master’s student, Téa says she repurposes the materials she studied at school during her Western o ce hours.

“It really feels like a reel of information that’s being transferred over through what I’m experiencing at Western and what I’m experiencing at NYU simultaneously,” says Téa.

Téa says Western’s big selling point was its tightknit community — being surrounded by its students has made her feel less alone

As a creator herself, Téa often draws from her personal experience.

Her debut novel Shut Up You’re Pretty is a collection of interconnected short stories following the life of Loli, a Congolese-Canadian as she grows up in Scarborough’s Galloway neighborhood and grapples with issues such as identity, family and societal expectations.

Much like her character Loli, Téa was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and came to Canada with her family as a child. She was raised in Scarborough and went to the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she studied media studies and creative writing.

Téa believes her journey towards becoming a writer has been a gradual process: by immersing herself in her craft, writing has become a fundamental part of her identity.

Although Téa has received accolades like the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award and the Trillium Book Award in 2020, she feels “there’s no pedestal here.”

Téa says she is constantly questioned about her choice to pursue higher education, despite being a published writer. She says she chose to attend NYU during the pandemic, a time she longed for connection.

“So much of literature and so much of production and writing is just community work,” says Téa.

Meeting with new people and discussing their craft has helped Téa learn more about her own work. For the past four years, she’s been working on a new novel — her thesis project at NYU — about a friendship breakup.

“I think writing is something that is best done when you’re not alone, which I think is contradictory to the concept of writing being a solitude act,” says Téa. “I just write because of people and for people.”

This semester o ce hours are hosted on Mondays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in UC 4427. To book an appointment students can email Vivian Foglton.

Op-Ed: We should talk more about Black representation in legal education

Representation is significant because it doesn’t just mirror our reality — it actively molds it.

As Black students, feelings of isolation and responsibility in academia are not uncommon. Since the beginning of our academic careers, we have never felt represented in our environments nor curricula. This lack of representation made us feel personally responsible for portraying ourselves positively and representing others who share our identity.

Curricula fails to reflect Canada’s distinctive role as a hub for global Black diasporas and historic Black Canadian communities with roots spanning back 300 years.

A recent study from the Canadian commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization found that there is an inconsistent approach to Black representation and to how Black History is taught at the elementary and high school level.

One concern was that this oversight would result in many Canadian students and educators remaining uninformed about the experience and contributions of Black Canadians, who have significantly influenced our collective history.

Until recently, the field of Black Studies in Canadian universities was virtually absent.

In the CBC series, The Fifth Estate: “Black on Campus”, students, sta and faculty at some of Canada’s largest universities described the prevalence of anti-Black racism on Canadian university campuses.

Jordan Afolabi, a law student at the University of Windsor, expressed encountering firsthand the implications of being Black within Canadian campus environments after an incident on cam-

pus with a white student. An independent adjudicator found that senior administration treated Afolabi “in stark contrast” compared to the student he was defending himself against.

Afolabi was banned from campus by the university during the investigation while his white counterpart, later deemed to be the aggressor in the fight, was permitted to continue attending classes. Afolabi admitted that the stark reality of this experience instilled fear within him and left him feeling unsafe on campus.

This is just one of a few examples of the implications of anti-Black racism on Canadian campuses.

A significant knowledge gap exists in addressing racial discrimination on campus. Malinda Smith, the inaugural vice-provost of equity, diversity and inclusion at the University of

Calgary, states that academic leaders require more “racial literacy”, especially around complaints of systemic racism, which is often less overt. Canadian universities need to do more to address anti-Black racism on their campuses, Black students often find themselves in environments that are non-inclusive, toxic and unsafe.

Recognizing this, Black Future Lawyers

Western — a student club at Western University where I serve as the vice president communication role — is committed to helping Black students aspiring for a career in law. The club has provided a vital platform for deepening our understanding of the legal field and education through the lens of Black law students, alumni and lawyers.

We recognize and honour the history, stories and experiences of Black people as they are es-

sential to preserving the collective heritage of Blackness.

Black History Month serves not only as a reminder of the vast contributions and e orts of Black individuals globally, but it also shows a commitment towards upholding this legacy that was built upon resilience, resistance, and growth.

There are systemic and institutionalized obstacles that Black people may face in the legal field. As aspiring Black lawyers, we continuously seek academic and professional spaces that establish measures and guidelines of equity, diversity and inclusion, to continue our legal endeavours in safe and accepting communities. And these barriers and conflicts that we want to address at BFL Western.

We acknowledge that navigating the profession in this way may engender a sense of fear or self-doubt. This is why we aim to instill students with the appropriate resources, opportunities and confidence that will guide them in persevering within the field — reminding ourselves of the Black leaders, mentors and game changers who have filled the shoes that we hope to one day fill.

- Naomi Ngobila, BFL VP Academics, 3rd Year, SASAH and Honours Specialization in Political Science and Criminology; Laetitia Ibaki, BFL VP Communications, 3rd Year, Honours Specialization in Health Sciences

To submit a community opinions article, email hannah.alper@westerngazette.ca

It’s up to you, not the university, to find a job

post-graduation

As workforces shift towards prioritizing practical skills and hands-on experience, it’s easy to ask universities to help you find a job after graduation. But the onus lies not with universities but with students to proactively develop tangible skills that maximize future career outcomes and earnings potential.

Going to university to get an undergrad is no longer a surefire way to land a job in your field of study, the way it was for previous generations. A modern-day workforce requires students to not just be knowledgeable about theory, but also be experienced in practical knowledge and have professional skills to land a coveted internship or post-grad job.

The shift in the workforce demanding more practical skills is at the forefront of students’ minds. One ECMC Group survey found that “81 percent of students want skills they’ll use in the working world after college,” and believe that

the cost of their increasingly inflated tuition should set them up with a post-grad job capable of paying o the debts associated with their university degree.

But this doesn’t mean it’s on universities to stop doing what they’ve always been meant for — being an institution for education.

Western University, like many others, boasts about its post-graduation job rates. But like any reputable post-secondary institution, Western’s key goal is to cultivate students who have critical thinking skills, humane values and practical skills, not to get you a job.

Recognizing this leaves the majority of the onus on students to gain those assets needed for the workforce. The return on any degree or any university experience depends on the e ort individuals put into it. While you may learn the basics and the theory in class, it has always been on the individual to grow, expand and improve.

That being said, Western has o ered many opportunities that will enrich students’ resumes and network, and these resources need to be taken advantage of by students actively.

Western o ers free classes each semester on resume and cover letter writing, interview skills, guides on how to find an internship and one-on-one meetings with career counsellors. These are services designed to help students close the gap between their class curriculum and what the workforce is looking for, yet they seem to be underutilized by Western students.

It seems now more than ever that jobs value a high GPA equally with an individual’s own efforts to do work outside of the classroom. Students need to make the most out of the variety of events and free networking opportunities that Western and all of its a liate clubs and so-

cieties provide them with.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that it is often a privilege to be able to get involved outside of classes. Having the ability, time and financial means of attending university is already a privilege, so unpaid extracurricular activities are even more of one. It would be unfair to fault students who can’t a ord to make time for unpaid opportunities.

Western could always do more to help students grow beyond the classroom. But you are going to get the most out of your degree based on what you do outside of class. The school exists for the pursuit of knowledge and learning how to navigate the world — achieving more is up to you.

Universities are institutions of education, not production factories of workers.

COURTESY OF LAETITIA IBAKI

Path to the pros: 3 Mustangs invited to CFL National Combine

RYAN GOODISON COORDINATING EDITOR

Three Mustangs football team members will attend the CFL National Combine in Winnipeg from March 19 to 24, where they will showcase their skills to scouts from across the nation.

Wide receiver Mohsen Jamal II, linebackers Lourenz Bowers-Kane and Max Nixon will participate in drills and scrimmages for the chance to be selected in the Canadian Football League Draft on April 30.

All three athletes elevated the purple and white to a third straight Yates Cup championship this season — let’s see how they stack up.

LOURENZ BOWERS-KANE, LINEBACKER

Bowers-Kane was a standout performer on defence for the Mustangs this season, leading the team in tackles this year with 36.5.

His 5’11”, 207-pound stature makes him a dynamic player who’s quick on his feet while still carrying lots of force.

Bowers-Kane started the last three years for Western, totalling 146 tackles through 30 games, resulting in 4.9 tackles per game. His solo tackle to assist tackle ratio is nearly even, at 71/75.

The fourth-year linebacker had an impressive outing against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks on October 21, putting up 10 total tackles. Throughout the Mustang’s three playo games, Bowers-Kane put up an astonishing 21 tackles — a true playo performer.

The Dartmouth, NS. native was named a U Sports second-team all-Canadian for his achievements with the Mustangs this season.

MAX NIXON, LINEBACKER

Nixon is the longest-tenured Mustang of the three going to the national combine, starting for the team in the 2019-2020 season.

Throughout his time at Western, he played 34 total games and put a total of 129 tackles, 3.5 sacks and earned two interceptions. Size is the sixthyear linebacker’s advantage, standing at 6’1” and weighing 225 pounds.

Nixon, who weighed around 197 pounds when he started, was originally a defensive back for Western before switching positions later in his university career.

The Dorchester, Ont. native had a career-defining game in the 2023 Yates Cup against the Golden Hawks, where he put up an impressive 11 total sacks on the afternoon to lead his defence to victory.

At this year’s Orientation Week game against the McMaster University Marauders, Nixon had a game-saving interception to send the sold-out Western crowd home happy.

MOHSEN JAMAL II, WIDE RECEIVER

The London native had a breakout season for the ages in 2023. In his first-ever year as a starter, Jamal torched opposing defences with 700 receiving yards through eight regular season games to finish second in receiving in Ontario University Athletics.

He totalled 44 receptions through the regular season en route to a 15.9 yards per catch average.

He also put up five receiving touchdowns to tie for third in the conference.

The fifth-year receiver’s first game this season saw him torch the York University Lions secondary for two touchdowns and 106 yards.

Jamal shined bright at this year’s OWeek game against the Marauders, gaining 177 yards and one touchdown — which he got after an impressive 96yard catch and run.

Jamal fought through injuries during the first couple years with the Mustangs, making his feat all the more impressive — the local kid has the chance to go pro.

Sports betting: A parlay away from being rich?

Imagine you are watching Sunday night football with a bunch of friends. The tensions are high, as you anxiously wait for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to get over 245.5 passing yards.

It’s the final minute of the fourth quarter, and your heart drops as the Samoan Sniper sends a bomb downfield to Tyreek Hill. With his blazing speed, Hill burns his defenders and you win your bet.

The thrill of victory has never tasted sweeter than when hitting a five-leg parlay.

On Feb. 4, 2022, gamblers around Ontario rejoiced when the province announced their plans to fully legalize online sports betting.

This decision came with a mix of excitement and concern, as sports betting would be available to anyone with internet access, putting accessibility at an all-time high.

For Western University students, such as thirdyear computer science student Marc Machado, sports betting is a fun and immersive hobby to dabble in responsibly.

“The Super Bowl was such an enjoyable moment because it’s such a big event, and it almost feels like you’re part of it and you’re more into the game,” says Machado.

Machado holds himself accountable by mainly betting on special occasions and avoids big losses by typically placing five to ten-dollar bets.

Despite being a fun hobby giving people a chance to win big, sports betting isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

“I have a friend who places pretty high wagers on sports betting, and nobody takes it well when they lose a lot of money,” says Machado. “Usually, he doesn’t let his emotions get the best of him, and he moves on from it, but sometimes his way of moving on is to try to make more money by sports betting.”

Gambling is a highly-prevalent behavioural addiction, with over 300,000 Canadians facing moderate-to-severe gambling issues annually. Research has even shown that gambling issues amongst sports bettors are twice as high when compared to gamblers in general.

To combat this, sports betting apps allow users to set restrictions such as reality checks and daily spending limits.

“I’ve never felt like I’ve exceeded that limit or I’ve had a problem where I couldn’t stop,” says

Machado. “If I feel like it’s getting too much, then I’ll just take a break. I’m able to control myself to the point where I can stop when I want or when I feel that I need to.”

Despite restrictions in place to combat addiction, it’s almost impossible to turn on a sports broadcast and not see promotions or odds from online gambling platforms.

From a business standpoint, marketers might argue that they have a right to advertise their product, and it’s then up to consumers to decide what they want to do.

National Hockey League athletes like Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid were recently scrutinized for their appearances in an advertising campaign for the sports betting company BetMGM.

“Those celebrity endorsers can be very influential to minors,” says Wonkyong Beth Lee, Western management and organizational studies professor.

According to Lee, these television ads continuously expose vulnerable teens to gambling, leading to the normalization of early-onset addictions.

“I asked my 13-year-old son, who watches a lot of baseball and hockey games, if he remembered any online betting companies’ brand names, and he indicated four or five online right away,” says Lee.

In comparison to other addictive products, Lee asked her son if he knew any cigarette or cannabis brands, but he could not name any. The regulations against cannabis and cigarette advertising compared to online gambling are night and day, despite all products being addictive.

Most forms of advertising, sponsorship and promotion for tobacco products are strictly prohibited in Canada.

As for cannabis, Section 17 of the Federal Cannabis Act prohibits the promotion of any cannabis product in public locations for which youth are not permitted by law.

Recently, provincial governments have broken ground with regulations on gambling advertisements.

Ontario recently put forward a regulation which prohibits celebrities from being used in gambling advertisements on Feb. 28, 2024.

As of now, sports betting remains a fun hobby when done responsibly.

But, it’s important to consider the potential risk of addiction that comes with gambling. Remember that 99 per cent of gamblers don’t actually quit right before they hit big — they often never hit.

ALEX ZARENDA SPORTS INTERN

ANGWARA NILANONT GAZETTE

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Three Mustangs celebrating while facing o against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks, Oct. 21, 2023.

Science behind: Pulled hamstrings

EMILY BARLOW SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR

Being sedentary and inactive can place individuals at risk of straining their hamstring muscles. But sedentary behaviour is not usually associated with athletes — so how are athletes placed at risk of pulling their hamstrings?

Pulled muscles and sports injuries are terms that have become somewhat synonymous with one another. Many athletes across a variety of sports experience muscle strains, and in particular, hamstring strains.

Athletes are more prone to these strains when they play “explosive” sports that require quick, sudden movements — such as soccer, track and field as well as basketball.

According to the Mayo Clinic, hamstring injuries are defined as “the straining or pulling one of the hamstring muscles — the group of three muscles that run along the back of the thigh.”

Unlike many people who think of the hamstring as one muscle, it is a group of muscles that make up the back of the thigh.

In general, pulled muscles can be extremely painful and frustrating for athletes to deal with, especially when they prevent the athlete from returning to their sport.

There are three di erent grades of hamstring injuries: grade one means a mild muscle strain or pull, grade two is a partial muscle tear and grade three is a complete muscle tear.

Former kinesiology student and Mustangs rugby and baseball athlete James Bull is no stranger to hamstring injuries. Bull partially tore his right hamstring leading to a grade two strain while playing for his junior team — three weeks before Western University’s season started.

During Western’s baseball tryouts following the injury, Bull reinjured the strain during a 40yard sprint exercise. Despite this, he was still able to make the team but had to start the season with his injury.

“Luckily, I was able to continue playing the entire season with the help of our training sta and Western sports medicine doctors. It took a lot of work — I would have a lot of treatment before games and after practices.”

Bull emphasizes that time was a key component for healing his strain. His treatment plan involved a lot of soft tissue manipulation to start, strengthening the surrounding tissues and becoming comfortable in playing positions again.

“The biggest problem with hamstring injuries in explosive sports like baseball and football, where there are really quick movements all of a sudden, it takes a while to get used to that again and regain the confidence in your own legs in order to make those movements.”

Sean McWatt, an assistant professor and human anatomist in the School of Kinesiology at Western

also has insight regarding the anatomy behind hamstring injuries to help clarify common misconceptions.

McWatt says the hamstring is composed of multiple muscles with a common head. The proximal end of the hamstring muscle group is attached to the same point, sharing a common origin, but the insertions are all di erent.

The anatomical construction of the hamstring can result in a variety of di erent tears, each with its own implications, according to McWatt. For example, a proximal hamstring tear that a ected the entire posterior compartment of the thigh would have di erent implications compared to more distal tears that would individually impact hamstring muscles.

McWatt also suggests the semitendinosus is the most likely to be injured among the hamstrings. This is primarily due to it having a long skinny tendon rather than a big, broad muscular attachment.

There are also muscles surrounding the hamstring that can be injured if pulled or torn. One muscle, the adductor magnus, could be impacted in hamstring injuries along with other medial thigh muscles.

“Depending on the severity of the tear, you’re going to have problems with knee flexion and hip extension,” says McWatt. “So all the muscles that are doing that are going to have to compensate for that loss of function. This could involve gluteal

muscles taking over to allow for hip extension, with minimal knee flexion abilities remaining.”

My Health Alberta outlines some helpful rehab exercises for individuals recovering from hamstring injuries that help to re-establish compromised function. These include activities such as hamstring wall stretches, balancing on a single leg, heel digs, unweighted hamstring curls and hip extensions.

Bull wants to tell athletes su ering from pulled hamstrings and soft tissue injuries, “Take your time to get back and make sure you’re ready to come back because rushing is the worst thing you can do.”

How Avarie Thomas, Mustangs’ two-sport athlete, balances school, varsity basketball, soccer

MANAN JOSHI SPORTS EDITOR

8a.m. shootaround. 9 a.m. class. 4:30 p.m. lift. Film review. Soccer practice. Homework. Sleep. Repeat.

Sounds like a busy day, doesn’t it? But that’s what an average day in Avarie Thomas’ life looks like. She’s a third-year kinesiology student at Western University. She’s also a wing on the Mustangs women’s basketball team and a defender on the Mustangs women’s soccer team.

Two-sport athletes are rare, especially those who play both at such a high level, but Avarie has been doing this for her whole life.

Soccer was Avarie’s first sport. She started playing when she was three years old. Her sister, who is four years older than her, was really into it. Avarie idolized her.

Five years later when she was eight, Avarie’s father, a former University of Guelph Gryphons basketball player, got her into basketball.

When it came time to commit to a university, Avarie looked for a school that would allow her to play both soccer and basketball on its varsity teams.

“I wanted to find something that was the right fit for me in both sports,” says Avarie.

Western, Avarie’s hometown alma mater, seemed like the obvious choice.

Avarie had been coached by the Mustangs soccer head coach, Martin Painter, and the Mustangs’ women’s basketball head coach, Nate McKibbon, making her familiar with their teams’ structures.

“I felt that Western was the best fit for me because I knew both coaches, I think I kind of fit in the schemes that they had,” says Avarie.

Painter and McKibbon are both aware of Avarie’s workload, and accommodate her schedule. They understand the physical demands of both soccer and basketball, and the academic demands of her coursework.

Her coaches share the same philosophy: school first.

“They create frameworks that support us with resources, and they’re always checking in,” explains Avarie. “They’re very cautious around exam times, so I think that’s very helpful.”

This becomes especially important when both sports overlap. The Ontario University Athletics soccer runs from August to November. Basketball

practices start as early as August, and the season can stretch into March.

“That first two-month stretch, I am fully participating in soccer, but I go to basketball practices to obviously learn the plays and be involved with the team,” says Avarie.

During this period, Avarie will often attend a basketball shootaround in the morning and a soccer practice in the evening. But later in the fall, when the soccer playo s overlap with the start of the basketball season, Avarie is forced to pick one.

“On the soccer team, we’ve been pretty successful my years here, and we’ve had the opportunity for nationals twice,” she says. She isn’t allowed to play on the basketball team if the schedules overlap, but Avarie insists that “I’m always there supporting and cheering on my teammates.”

Another big part of Avarie’s ability to play both sports is her support system. Her family, friends and roommates are all supportive of what she does.

“Having that support system really helps me and gives me the ability to pursue sports and academics,” she says.

Her soccer and basketball teammates often come to her other sport’s games when they can. Avarie can always hear them on the sidelines.

The varsity sport coordinators, Beth Emery and Bonnie Cooper, also help Avarie out. Emery and Cooper help her get academic accommodations and communicate with her professors to negotiate ways for Avarie to catch up on her work.

The key to being a two-sport athlete, Avarie says, is to prioritize yourself first.

“Your body, what you need, your sleep, nutrition — I think those are the foundation of who and what you need to focus on in order to be successful at any level.”

COOPER GLUSKIN GAZETTE Avarie Thomas holds a basketball and soccer ball in the Alumni Hall basketball court, Feb. 12, 2024.