This article was written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When one hears of a hymn sing, university students spending their evening singing from a hymnal is rarely the first image that comes to mind. However, at Conrad Grebel University College, students have organized Sunday evening hymn sings for several years.
Students who take courses with Jennifer Ball appreciate her active example of what it means to live peaceably. Jennifer is Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo. She holds a Doctorate in Rural Studies with a focus on Sustainable Rural Communities. Her research stretches across women’s community-based peacebuilding, Circle practice, and community development. Jennifer is known by her students as someone who, as Charity Nonkes explained, “not only teaches the course concepts, but also embodies them.”
Helen Martens, Conrad Grebel University College’s first music faculty member, passed away on Thursday, April 9 at the age of 92, surrounded by family in Winnipeg. She last visited Grebel in 2013 during the College’s 50th anniversary.
Grebel staff and faculty remember Helen Martens for her extensive contributions to the Music Department and the College community.
The only visitors to the Grebel campus these days have feathers. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, students, faculty, and staff have settled into a new normal of working and studying from home.
On March 11, three Grebel students competed in the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest. This Peace Speeches competition invites students from Mennonite and Be in Christ colleges and universities across Canada and the United States to present speeches exploring the application of the Christian peace position to contemporary concerns.
The Mennonite Historical Society of Canada is utilizing the resources of Mennonite universities in Canada to research and write an updated history book on the history of Mennonites in Canada from 1970-2020. They have invited Conrad Grebel University College (Grebel) Archivist-Librarian Laureen Harder-Gissing to co-author this book with Brian Froese, Associate Professor of History at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).
Facilitating engaging classes is just one of the ways that Lowell Ewert cares for and supports students in achieving their goals. Lowell is Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo. Originally a lawyer, he researches the ways that peace interacts with human rights, law, and civil society. His teaching and in-class discussions empower students to apply what they are learning in whatever vocation they find themselves.
Photo by Seyran Mammadov
Lukas Wormald of the Waterloo Warriors swim team has called Conrad Grebel University College home for the last two years. Lukas is in his second year of mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo and appreciates how living at Grebel suits his busy schedule.
As a new term began, students flocked back to campus, just like our resident geese. However, those living on the other side of Laurel Creek were preparing not only for a new term of studies, but to put skill and perseverance to the test. That’s right, the Inter-College Cup has been revived for another year of lively competition and community-building across the Affiliated University Colleges and Institutions of the University of Waterloo.
Conrad Grebel University College presents Nunsense, an off-Broadway hit musical comedy (Book, Music and Lyrics by Dan Goggin), running February 20-23, 2020. Nunsense follows the misadventures of a group of nuns as they work together to fundraise for the burial of their fellow sisters following a tragic cooking accident. It is fitting then, that this comical tale is presented as a fundraising effort for the Fill the Table campaign at Grebel.