News

Conrad Grebel students take refugee rights out of the classroom, and into the theatre.

For five senior Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) students at the University of Waterloo, learning about refugee claimants in Canada is a journey that is leading them from the classroom to the theatre as they prepare to perform their culminating project, “Open? A Story of Refugee Claimants in Canada” on stage at the Conrad's Centre for the Performing Arts on April 1st, 2011.

Waterloo, Ontario — Conrad Grebel University College is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman as its seventh president. The Board of Governors accepted the unanimous recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee at its March 10, 2011 meeting.

It started as an altruistic dream, but almost two years later, a vision for a cleaner and greener Grebel has been realized.

The 2006 shooting of ten girls in an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, shocked the world. It was horrific, senseless, and random. Professor Donald Kraybill has studied this heartbreaking event and is co-author of the award-winning, best-selling Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. Kraybill will visit Conrad Grebel University College on Friday, February 11 at 7:30pm to give the 2011 Sawatsky Lecture. In his address, entitled “Forgiveness in the Face of Tragedy: Amish Grace at Nickel Mines”,hewill tell the tragic story, describe the unique features of Amish forgiveness, and explore the meaning and relevance of Christian forgiveness in a contentious world.

Donald B. Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. Nationally recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups, Professor Kraybill’s research and commentary is featured in magazines, newspapers, and on radio and television programs across the United States and in many other countries. He frequently speaks on topics related to his research.

Kraybill has received numerous awards including the National Religious Book Award for The Upside Down Kingdom. He has authored or co-authored numerous books on Amish life including his flagship work, The Riddle of Amish Culture. Kraybill’s most recent books are The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World (co-authored with Nolt and Weaver-Zercher) and a Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites.  

The Sawatsky Visiting Scholar is awarded to renowned scholars, practitioners and performers whose expertise in their field represents the wide range of interests of the Conrad Grebel community. Dr. Rodney Sawatsky joined the faculty of Conrad Grebel in 1974, teaching History, Religious Studies, Mennonite Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies.  This lectureship honours the leadership and contributions of Rod and his wife Lorna, to Conrad Grebel, the University of Waterloo, the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada, and the Kitchener-Waterloo community during his years as professor, Academic Dean and President of the college. After leaving Conrad Grebel he was President of Messiah College in Pennsylvania for ten years. He died on November 27, 2004 of brain cancer.

Sarah Freeman, a ThD student at the University of Toronto, is witness to the positive impact of the supportive and nurturing environment offered at Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC). In her experience,

TMTC provides a means for connecting with other Mennonite students for friendship, support, and guidance and it also provides a place for academic conversation and debate from a Mennonite perspective.

Conrad Grebel University College announces the establishment of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace (CSRP). This centre was formally approved by Conrad Grebel’s Board of Governors on October 14, 2010.

The centre, which will focus on research, dialogue, and public education activities,

aspires to advance knowledge and awareness of religious contributions to peace, and to enhance the capacity of religious communities to engage contemporary conflict issues and practice the peaceful values they profess.

Colloquium is inaugural event for Conrad Grebel University College’s Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace.

Conrad Grebel University College has long tried to keep a blend of first year and returning upper year students in its residence program, but this year, the balancing act became more complicated when the University of Waterloo insisted Grebel reserve 100% of its residence beds for first year students.

Grebel said no.

Mary Brubaker-Zehr, Grebel’s Director of Student Services, says:

This was not who we are. Grebel would not be Grebel without a strong contingent of senior students who enhance and impact in profound ways the quality of residence life.

At its regular meeting on June 22, the Conrad Grebel University College Board of Governors named members of the presidential search committee. The committee is chaired by board member Debra Simpson, a lawyer from the Niagara area.

Board of Governors Chair, Bert Lobe, noted that,

we are confident that there are good candidates who will have interest in leading the college into its next chapter as we build from a position of strength.