Grebel is intentional about beginning and ending well, while creating and maintaining meaningful traditions. Student leaders arrive early on campus, where they participate in leadership training and prepare for the school year.
While the Mennonite story has 500-year-old origins, for Mennonite Heritage Week 2026, the Conrad Grebel University College community is looking at more recent history. The Mennonite Archives of Ontario has curated an exhibit titled “Glenn Fretz: Graphic Design for the Mennonite Community.”
Logos surround us. How often do we think about the values they convey? This exhibit tells and shows the story of Glenn Fretz’s fifty-year career as a graphic designer and consultant, focusing on his work with Mennonite and non-profit organizations.
“A lot of community creation is about intentionality,” explained Corn Schattman, who lives at Conrad Grebel University College and is working toward a degree in Liberal Studies at the University of Waterloo. “Communities don’t just form; they take work to create. You also have to fight against the larger structural and cultural forces that might be keeping people down.”
Marcus Shantz has been reappointed for a third term as President of Conrad Grebel University College. Shantz is a visionary, ethical, and effective leader who deeply understands and embodies Grebel’s unique identity and mission.
At each spring Convocation, the University of Waterloo honours the top graduating scholar with the highest cumulative average in each honours program of study. Representing Peace and Conflict Studies and Music respectively, Chiara McLean and Tiffany Chan have combined strong scholarship and dedication to their disciplines throughout their degrees.
Each year in May, the University of Waterloo comes together for a campus-wide fundraising initiative called Giving Day. While still a new tradition, the excitement this year spread across campus, into Grebel alumni networks, and caught the attention of Grebel students too, thanks to the introduction of the "Goose Game".
Dr. Jeremy Bergen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, has been selected to serve as Grebel’s next Dean, starting July 1, 2026.
During the first half of May, sessional instructor Terry LeBlanc, who is also a founding Chair and current Director of NAIITS and an elder with the Abegweit Mi’kmaw First Nation Healing Centre, taught TS 733 Indigenous Theologies, a two-week intensive course, at Conrad Grebel University College.
On May 3rd, an eager group of Grebel students and staff piled into a 12-passenger van at the Saskatoon airport and set off on a 6-hour drive to Denare Beach, Saskatchewan. The group was embarking on a volunteer service trip to help rebuild homes with Mennonite Disaster Service after wildfires destroyed 200 homes in the northern village the previous summer.