Alumni

Conrad Grebel University College is hiring for 3 contract positions! The Office Assistant and Receptionist (9-month contract) ensures that the main office runs smoothly and efficiently while providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere to students and visitors. The Conference, Bookings, and Events Coordinator (10-month contract) ensures that conferences and events are well-planned and organized. The Administrative Assistant to Theological Studies & the Anabaptist Learning Workshop (2-year contract) is responsible for attending to the administrative tasks that of the Theological Studies department and the ALW program. This position requires an individual with strong organizational skills, excellent interpersonal skills and outstanding attention to detail. Apply by April 25, 2018. Read complete job descriptions at www.grebel.ca/positions.

Working toward reconciliation with Indigenous neighbours takes time and requires building awareness and understanding. Following the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Justice Murray Sinclair issued this challenge: “We have described for you the mountain. We have shown you the path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.”

Representatives of Anglican, United, Lutheran, and Mennonite Settler communities are lacing up for the climb. Muriel Bechtel, a retired Mennonite pastor says, “We are well aware that re-educating ourselves about our colonial history takes courage. We believe building awareness is a vital step in the reconciliation process for churches, governments, and all people who call this land our home.

Four productions of Discovery: A Comic Lament will occur in Waterloo Region from May 31 to June 3. As chair of the planning committee, Bechtel says “Only as we acknowledge our complicity in the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous communities, will we be able to move beyond our paralysis and confusion to deeper listening and action in partnership with Indigenous-led healing and justice efforts. We believe that this drama will inspire and motivate us for the climb ahead.”

“I always find hope in the resilience of the Rohingya people — in their dignity in the face of incredible abuse,” remarked the Honorable Bob Rae, in a CBC interview in early March. Currently working as Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, Rae has spent four months traveling to Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the UN in New York. Tasked with investigating the humanitarian crisis, Rae is actively assessing efforts required to ensure the secure return of refugees to their homes, and gathering evidence of breaches of law and human rights. He reports that Canada has been “publicly associated with the peace process, with the dialogue on governance and pluralism, and with a number of other critical issues, and this engagement needs to continue.”

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we announce the winners of the orchestra@waterloo concerto and aria competition. 

Eric Liang performed spectacularly with Brahms 2nd piano concerto, winning him the 1st place position. Eric will be performing the 1st movement with the orchestra@waterloo on our upcoming concert on March 29, 2018. 

With an air of celebration, in a hall filled with support from over 400 friends, family, alumni, students, staff, faculty, University of Waterloo representatives, and community members, Marcus Shantz was installed as Conrad Grebel University College’s eighth president on October 29, 2017.

With deep sadness, Conrad Grebel University College announces the passing of Ralph Lebold (1934-2017) on Tuesday, October 31. Lebold followed Frank H. Epp as the third president of Grebel from 1979 to 1989. Ralph is survived by his wife Eileen, and his children, Cindy and Scott, Connie and Tony, Marvin and their families. The funeral service will be held at Waterloo North Mennonite Church on Saturday November 4, 2017 at 11 am.

Peace has been an important value in the lives of Aden and Joanne Bauman and their sons Barry, who passed away in 2016, and Michael.  Lifelong members of the Elmira Mennonite Church, Aden and Joanne were fixtures in the community at their Arthur street jewelry store.    “Peace is a Mennonite thing,” observed Joanne. “Peace is important to our family, and our boys remember that their uncle Elias was a conscientious objector during WW II,” noted Aden.  

Students at the University of Waterloo are an incredibly diverse group, with interests spanning math, health, engineering, science, environment, and arts. Many of these students have spent hundreds of hours of their life learning a musical instrument and, instead of giving up their love of music while at university, they have found a collective place to express it. The orchestra@uwaterloo is a full-sized symphony orchestra whose players are students, staff, faculty, and alumni of Waterloo.

Living in Toronto for 46 years, Mary Groh was increasingly surrounded by a multi-cultural society. As an active member of the Danforth Mennonite Church, following the closure of Warden Woods Mennonite Church, she witnessed the growth of various Mennonite congregations in the east end of Toronto.