News

Explore how Halloween and related traditions are celebrated around the world, highlighting their diverse cultural and religious meanings. From seasonal celebrations to honouring ancestors and remembrance, this article encourages cultural awareness and appreciation for the different ways communities celebrate and connect.

The traditions below offer just a glimpse of the many ways people celebrate around the world. If there’s a tradition or story you’d like to see showcased, we invite you to share it with us using our intake form.

The University of Waterloo’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (EDI-R) was recognized for its leadership and partnership contributions to the Inter-Institutional Forum on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education. The recognition, acknowledging Waterloo’s contributions in 2024, was presented at the biennial forum co-hosted by University of Ottawa and Carleton University in May 2026.  

Are you a Black graduate student registered full-time in a doctoral program at UWaterloo? The Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism is no longer accepting applications for the “Black Graduate Students EDI-R Award”  Please forward your questions to  sankofa@uwaterloo.ca.

The Healing from Racial Trauma workshop is designed by Jennisha Wilson and Mifrah Abid, from the Office of EDI-R, to support that process. Open to racialized students, staff, and faculty, this session offers a supportive space to better understand how racial stress manifests and to learn practical strategies for grounding, self-awareness, and care. No personal sharing is required. 

At the University of Waterloo, the decisions we make about research, programs, policies, and even physical spaces ripple across campus life. So how do we ensure those decisions genuinely reflect the people they impact? The Community Engagement Guide was developed to help answer that question.

The University of Waterloo launches the Pan African Initiative for Research (PAIR), a new interdisciplinary research initiative designed to advance collaborative, community rooted, and globally engaged scholarship across Pan African contexts, including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Afro diasporic communities worldwide.

Ramadan will begin on February 18 or 19 in 2026, depending on the sighting of the moon. Many members of the University of Waterloo Muslim community are observing this month of fasting and prayers.

What is Ramadan/ Ramzan about?

Ramadan/ Ramzan is a sacred month for the Muslim faith, where those observing it refrain from any food and water from dawn to sunset. This would translate to 11.5-to-13.5-hour long fasts (accounting for the varying sunrise and sunset times through the course of this month). Muslims dedicate the month (which can be 29 or 30 days long) to fasting, charity, spiritual reflection, seeking forgiveness and bonding with community. They often engage in long late-night prayers. Most people understand that Muslims may be a little low on energy during the day, but most don’t know that they also might be sleep-deprived.

Fostering belonging and inclusion for the Muslim community on campus

In keeping with University of Waterloo’s values of inclusivity and working together, here are some practices that foster the feeling of belonging within the Muslim community on campus.

The Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (EDI-R) is sharing two new supports for community-led work across campus and in the broader Waterloo community: Community Resources and Community Microgrants. Both initiatives reflect a belief in the care, leadership, and knowledge that already exist within our communities, and a commitment to supporting that work in practical ways.