Monday, June 29, 2020

45 years later: The enduring legacy of Mike Moser

By Adam McGuire. This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in the Spring issue of Waterloo Magazine.

The 1974-75 Waterloo Warriors men’s basketball team was one of the greatest collections of talent ever to grace a Canadian university gym.

They had returning veterans who’d helped the Warriors capture an Ontario championship and a national bronze medal in 1974. Then, there was a trio of one-year-wonders in transfer recruits who were established all-stars in both Canadian hoops and on the world stage.

At the centre of it all was Kitchener native Mike Moser, the reigning national scoring leader, a member of the Canadian national team and one of the most unstoppable forces in the country.

But no amount of talent could have prepared the Warriors for the tragedy they would face. 

Mike Moser driving for a layup in the University of Waterloo Physical Activities Centre.

During an exhibition trip through Florida in early January, Moser began feeling ill. He stayed behind in a St. Petersburg hospital while the team continued its swing through the state. About a week after Moser first displayed symptoms, and just before the team departed for Waterloo, they received unthinkable news: Mike Moser had died.

It was later discovered that Moser had succumbed to a rare heart condition known as endocarditis. But those details were immaterial to the Warriors players and staff; all they knew was their beloved teammate was gone.

“Our players were devastated,” said head coach Don McCrae in an interview with the Waterloo Region Record. “This was such a good group. You could trust them. But I honestly don’t know how they held it all together.”

A team commitment to win it for Mike

In the midst of the shock and sadness, the Warriors were still one of the best basketball teams in the country, with a season still to play. So they leaned on each other as a family and found a common purpose in the clouds of grief. The new mission was clear: win the national championship for Mike.

“Initially, like any team, there were factions,” says Phil Schlote (BSc ’75, MSc ’78), a Faculty of Applied Health Sciences alumnus who played alongside Moser both with the Warriors and at Kitchener’s Forest Heights Collegiate Institute. “But when we lost Mike, it gave us more purpose. It really drew everyone in together. We had a commitment to win it for Mike.”

In an attempt to honour Moser, the players requested that only four starters be introduced at the beginning of each game. That gesture touched Moser’s family deeply: “They all pulled together,” says Mike’s younger brother Dave Moser (BSc ’85), a Faculty of Applied Health Sciences alumnus who later starred with the Warriors in the 1980s. “Our family became closer with a lot of the guys as a result, and we kept in touch with a lot of them for a long time. They were so supportive. I think it gave great strength to my parents, and my sister and me.”

Read the rest of the article on the Waterloo Magazine website.

Waterloo youth solve community challenges at GreenHouse virtual showcase

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the St. Paul's GreenHouse website.

On June 2, GreenHouse hosted the Youth Innovation Showcase, a virtual capstone event for the Youth Innovation Program. This virtual showcase highlighted the innovative solutions developed by 27 youth from across the Waterloo region. These solutions served as answers to challenges identified by the three host organizations: Carizon, Reception House (RH) and the Volunteer Action Centre (VAC). 

This cohort of the program for non-postsecondary youth began last January, with the support of the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation and has adapted its operation since inception. Starting in mid-March, the program has fully transitioned its in-person sessions online and successfully engaged host organizations virtually, as youth innovators were not going to let a pandemic stop them.

“I found that the skills I developed were the most valuable because I am able to implement them in my daily life, whether it be for personal, or service,” said Deepika, a youth from the program. “It helped me to enhance my community experiences and I believe that it will help me in my post-secondary and work life.”

The event kicked off with an overview of the program and lessons learned from adapting to the COVID-19 context. A partner of the program, Ilona Dougherty, co-creator and managing Director of the Youth & Innovation Project, shared why youth innovators are the driving force behind this program.

“We found that young people’s brains are wired for innovation. Being 15 to 25 years old is a really interesting and important time of life. Research tells us that young people are collaborative, they’re creative, they’re willing to challenge the status quo and they’re more observant. This makes them really well-positioned to be innovators and to be the innovation engine of our organizations but also within our society,” said Dougherty. 

Anne Filion, GreenHouse’s Design and Innovation Coordinator who manages the Youth Innovation Program, facilitated the presentations as well as the question and answer segments. Each student team was given five minutes to present their challenge, host organization, key learnings, solutions and next steps for their projects. These remarkable young people presented the following attainable and impactful solutions for each host organization.

Check out the project profiles on the St. Paul's GreenHouse website.

Bring your feedback about internal communications at the University into focus

A message from University Communications. 

University Communications is looking for volunteers to participate in focus groups about internal communications at the University. 

These focus groups are part of an initiative to strengthen the way the University communicates with our employees. In addition to the internal communications survey, these focus groups will give us valuable feedback to help identify aspects of our internal communications activity that are meeting your needs and those that could use improvement. 

We are looking for representation from all University employees, and will have focus group sessions for staff, faculty, unionized workers, and employees located in satellite campuses or who typically work from home offices (even before the pandemic). 

How to sign up 

If you are interested in participating, complete the sign-up form by Friday, July 3.  

The focus groups will be led by an external firm, Brand Clarity. If you have been selected for a focus group, someone from University Communications will be in touch with more details.  

Confidentiality 

We are looking for honest feedback and opinions. All focus group sessions will be confidential, and the discussions and research findings will be rolled into a consolidated report. Names will not be attached to specific comments made during the session. 

If you have any questions about the focus group or this project, please contact Anne Galang at anne.galang@uwaterloo.ca.