Mary Robinson was a Grade 7 student standing in a hallway of her Ottawa school when she heard about the Dec. 6, 1989 tragedy.
Only 11 years old at the time, Robinson recalls the “gut punch” she felt after finding out 14 women, mainly engineering students, were murdered during an anti-feminist rampage at École Polytechnique in Montreal.
Now an engineering lecturer, she served as associate director of first-year engineering for more than a decade before being appointed the Faculty’s first associate dean of outreach, equity and diversity earlier this year.
In Robinson's new role, she worked with Waterloo Engineering's outreach department to organize its first 16 days of Activism designed for participants to learn more about gender-based violence and how to address it on campus and beyond.
This year’s initiative includes the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women to recognize and honour the lives of the 14 young women killed 32 years ago. The University of Waterloo’s online ceremony will begin at 10:30 on Dec. 6. Registration is required.
See Taking action to address gender-based violence for complete story.