Monday, April 7, 2025

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• Students invited to share their ideas for the future of campus housing

• Finding Refuge: Vinh Nguyen explores loss, memory, and history in new memoir

• Warriors celebrated at student leadership breakfast

• Senate meets today and other notes

Students invited to share their ideas for the future of campus housing

By Sam Toman.

This is your chance to influence the future of campus housing at the University of Waterloo. As part of the new Campus Plan, we are seeking feedback from students about their needs and preferences for future housing options at Waterloo. Your input will be an important contribution to the supply and design of future housing opportunities. If you have ideas, tell us what matters most to you and your friends by taking the Campus Plan Student Housing Survey today .

Take the survey – have your say today

Why your input matters 

Your feedback will be reviewed by the University’s planning team and Brook McIlroy, the prime consultant, to help shape the future of UWaterloo student housing that reflects student needs—whether it’s for learning, socializing, or collaborating. 

The last Campus Plan update was in 2009. Now, we have a unique opportunity to plan for a future-ready Waterloo—one that balances today’s priorities with smart, long-term investments to support students and attract top talent. 

How the Student Housing Survey works 

• Voluntary and confidential – Your participation is completely optional and shouldn’t take more than five minutes. 
• Skip or stop anytime – Answer what you want, skip what you don’t, or exit whenever you choose. 
• Anonymized results – All responses will be summarized to ensure individual identities remain protected. 

 Want to stay updated on the Campus Plan and upcoming community engagement events? Sign up for updates and stay informed.

Thank you for being part of this important conversation. Your input will help shape a stronger, smarter, and more sustainable Waterloo. 

Finding Refuge: Vinh Nguyen explores loss, memory, and history in new memoir

This article was originally published on the Renison University College website.

Renison faculty member Dr. Vinh Nguyen has worked for years in the area of critical refugee studies. Throughout his academic career, he’s asked the question, “what is refuge?” and his award-winning 2023 book Lived Refuge, examined the lived dimensions of refuge via gratitude, resentment, and resilience. That work allowed Nguyen to turn his focus inward and examine his own experiences as a refugee in his memoir, The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse. Nguyen, his mother, and his siblings were among the millions of asylum seekers who fled Vietnam after the end of the war in 1975.

Nguyen categorizes The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse as a “speculative memoir,” one that centres on the mysterious death of his father, who got on a boat to flee post-war Vietnam in 1989 and then subsequently disappeared. In some ways, it’s part memoir and part mystery; the book begins with recalled memories, but then slowly becomes reliant on speculation to explore what could have been, what should have been, and what Nguyen wanted to have happened. He calls this a book about  “desire.”

The timing of the memoir is significant, both in its writing and its release. Nguyen says he started the book during the pandemic by “putting down words that needed to be put down, and some kind of story began to emerge.” During this time, he was grieving the death of a close friend and mentor, and that death opened up space for Nguyen to process the unresolved grief over the loss of his father decades earlier.

2025 is a significant year for Vietnam and those of Vietnamese ancestry—it is the 50^th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. From the beginning, Nguyen knew he wanted the publication of his memoir to coincide with the anniversary, placing it within a wider context with the goal of increasing the meaning for readers. The anniversary marks an important historical moment, the end of a long and contentious global war that shaped a generation and produced a refugee crisis with millions fleeing their homelands in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. It’s a deeply personal story but, Nguyen says, “it’s not unique – many refugee families share the same arc, if not the exact details, of the story I’ve recounted.”

Nguyen hopes that readers will recognize that, at its core, his memoir is an anti-war story, a book that sheds light on the aftermath of war and displacement. Rather than a heavy-handed political tract, Vinh says the message of the memoir is: “Look at what war has done. Look at what it necessitates people to do, and live, and yearn for. Look at its ruins, its long-lasting imprint. It stains.”

The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse will be released on Tuesday, April 8. Book launch events are being held across Canada and the United States. Locally, the book launch will be held at the Waterloo Public Library’s Eastside branch on Tuesday, April 8, in partnership with Words Worth Books.

Warriors celebrated at student leadership breakfast

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Athletics and Recreation website.

A memorable group of passionate and hard-working Athletics & Recreation student leaders were honoured for their achievements on Friday, March 28 at the Student Leadership Breakfast.

Throughout 2024-2025, these students contributed their time, energy, and passion to representing the Athletics & Recreation in a proud way; showcasing the Warriors brand to fellow students across campus, alumni, and the Waterloo community.

The 2024-2025 Student Leadership Award Winners:

Event Staff Leadership Award - Preet Savla

After starting with Warriors Athletics as a Camp Counsellor, Preet brought his leadership and strong work ethic to the Event Staff team. His eager approach to expanding his knowledge of facility operations and event management has allowed him to grow into a strong leader for the team. Taking on the role of Student Lead – Training, he has contributed to the development of many of the newest cohort of staff, updating training documents and leading training sessions. His impact on this staff team will be seen for years to come. 

Facilities Staff Leadership Award Winners

Bella Videnovic

Bella has been an outstanding member of the facilities team since 2023, consistently demonstrating leadership, reliability, and teamwork. She goes above and beyond in ensuring smooth operations, assisting with set-ups, and supporting her colleagues. Her strong communication skills, proactive approach, and commitment to creating a positive work environment make her an invaluable asset to the PAC team. 

Connor McKellar

Connor has been a dedicated and versatile member of the arena team since August 2021, quickly mastering various roles, including edging, blade changing, laser calibrating, logo painting, and ice installation. As a senior student for the past two years, he has led staff training, scheduling, team meetings, and policy development while serving as a key point of contact for staff concerns. Beyond the arena, Connor has contributed to the Athletic Department through multiple work terms, taking on roles such as Golf Simulator Attendant and Game Day staff for varsity teams. His strong work ethic, leadership, and adaptability have made him an invaluable asset to both the Arena Team and Athletics. 

Read the full list of award winners on the Athletics and Recreation website.

Senate meets today and other notes

The University's Senate meets today at 3:30 p.m. in NH 3407 and online. Among the agenda items:

• A motion to delegate Senate's authority for approval of the Roster of Graduands;
• An item for information regarding a proposal to Amend Senate Bylaw 4;
• A motion to recommend that the Board of Governors approve the operating budget revenues and expenses for 2025-26;
• A motion to approve major modifications to the PhD in Psychology effective May 1, 2025; MA in English - Critical Media Studies, and MA in English - Critical Media Studies (Co-op) effective September 1, 2025;
• A motion to approve the new specialization in Future Cities for the MEng in Civil Engineering, and the new collaborative programs MEng - Civil Engineering - Health Technologies (Co-op), MEng - Electrical and Computer Engineering - Health Technologies (Co-op), and MEng - Systems Design Engineering - Health Technologies (Co-op);
• A motion to approve major modifications to the Master of Climate Change (MCC);
• A motion to recommend that the University of Waterloo Board of Governors approve the removal of the Department of Knowledge Integration (“KI”) from the organizational structure of the Faculty of Environment (“Environment”), into the School of Environment Resources and Sustainability effective July 1, 2025; and
• A motion to approve amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty of Environment, with said amendments to take effect when approved by Senate except the change in Section 1.2 which will take effect on the later of July 1, 2025 and the date the related organizational change is approved by the University of Waterloo Board of Governors.

Senate will hear the report of the Vice-President, Academic and Provost on University Professor Designation, a report from the Senate Executive Committee on the 2025-2026 Senate Nominations for the Board of Governors, to name but two.

Also happening today is the 17^th Annual Waterloo Brain Day, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in DC 1302.

The 12^th Annual SMF Research Symposium takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in SJ2 2002 at St. Jerome's University hosted by the Department of Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies. This year's symposium keynote speaker is Neil Shyminsky, professor in English and General Studies at Cambrian College in Sudbury, whose address is entitled ""Hit Me With It": Clapping Back at the Manosphere on Social Media."

Photo credit: Basil D Soufi/Wikipedia Commons

The Balsillie School of International Affairs hosts an event entitled The Trump Administration and the UN: An Initial Damage Assessment, from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. at Balsillie School of International Affairs and online via Zoom.

"The second Trump administration has taken a deliberately disruptive approach to the United Nations system, denouncing and defunding numerous UN agencies and agreements," says the talk's abstract. "The U.S. has also upended its established diplomatic relationships in New York, working with Russia on Ukraine and Syria in the UN Security Council, while demonstrating contempt for the concerns of its NATO allies. Some of Trump’s high-profile gambits, such as his repeated proposals to annex Canada and Greenland, clearly contradict the core principles of the UN Charter."

"Richard Gowan, who has watched the UN at close quarters for 20 years, will do his best to predict what comes next."

Finally, the Research Impact Challenge, organized by The Libraries, runs all week from Monday to Sunday, April 11. The Research Impact Challenge is a "guide lays out a pathway to help UW researchers better understand their scholarly presence and enhance the discoverability of their research and scholarly outputs."