News

Contributions by Leah Wouda and Grace Wright

Each year, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a non-profit organization focused on using business and entrepreneurship as a tool to alleviate poverty, hosts a convention to engage its supporters. This year’s convention, held in Indianapolis, IN, included a stream of activities that brought together young professionals and students to connect with innovators and entrepreneurs.

A crowd of old friends and alumni as well as people interested in Restorative Justice filled the Grebel Gallery on October 11 to hear from Dean Peachey. He reflected on the seeds of peace that were sown during the 25 years he and his wife Missy Miller spent in Kitchener-Waterloo. As Grebel's 2018 Distinguished Alumni Service Award winner, Peachey returned to the College to take part in a discussion entitled "Backward/Forward: Reflections on Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights” with Peace and Conflict Studies professor Reina Neufeldt,

At the beginning of the school year, students, staff, and faculty at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, ON took a deep breath and sang together – first in unison, and then in several different parts to build a new melody. The piece called “We all Sing” was written by Grebel Professor Karen Sunabacka and commissioned for the College’s 2018-19 integration initiative. This year marks the fourth year that Grebel has intentionally planned a year-long series of activities intended to offer meaningful ways for the different people and programs of Grebel to interact with one another, and with the University of Waterloo and the broader community.

Conrad Grebel University College is pleased to announce an exciting series of public lectures set for 2018-19, on a wide range of topics that reflect the College’s areas of interest and expertise.

Peace is not an absence of war, but the living process of freely interacting with others across borders seeking to understand their values and perspective, while striving for justice and truth.

Professor Troy Osborne, associate professor of History at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, has been selected as Grebel’s new dean, beginning January 1, 2019.

In April, the University of Waterloo hosted its 10^th annual Teaching and Learning Conference. Each year, the conference brings together instructors from a variety of faculties and departments to share research and teaching strategies through interactive workshops and panel discussions.

Each April, the community at Conrad Grebel University College gathers together to recognize the achievements of all graduating students who have been involved in the College’s residence or academic programs, at both graduate and undergraduate levels. The Convocation ceremony took a surprise turn this year, as a rare mid-April ice storm shut down the University of Waterloo and Grebel for three days. With the celebration scheduled to take place right in the middle of the storm, the event was cancelled for everyone’s safety. About 70 students and a few of their families held an impromptu gathering at Grebel.  This provided an opportunity for them to hear valedictorian Jared Baribeau deliver his address. Jared left Canada the next day to work in Cambodia for Demine Robotics.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo, on April 20 Conrad Grebel University College hosted a sold-out gala dinner featuring the Honourable Bob Rae as keynote speaker. Focusing on the theme of “Pursuing Peace: Stories from Home and Abroad,” the evening included alumni stories, acknowledgements of those who have impacted the PACS program, as well as Bob Rae’s reflections on the pursuit of peace.

The Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel University College announces the 2018/2019 recipient of the J. Winfield Fretz Fellowship in Mennonite Studies, Dr. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen.  A Latin American historian whose research focuses on the evolving history of the low-German Mennonite diaspora in the region, he completed his PhD at Emory University in 2016 and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University.