News

Dear faculty, staff and students,

The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies expresses, in no uncertain terms, its solidarity with communities around the world in protesting racism, racial injustice, and inequality. We denounce any form of violence against Black or racialized persons and their communities, including the police brutality perpetrated against them here in Canada and abroad. We recognize that such violence inflicts physical, psychological, and emotional damage and trauma, often with lethal consequences.

The events of the last two weeks have brought to the foreground issues of racism against Black people in a way that we don’t always see. As a Faculty, we have begun to reflect on our own actions, inactions and systemic biases. We acknowledge that we come up short and that we desire to do better. In Applied Health Sciences, we are committed to recognizing and respecting lived experiences and we continue to work toward a world where equity, diversity and inclusion are the norm. Our Faculty prides itself for being ‘people people,’ and we take this commitment to heart.

Before the pandemic, when we occupied the same physical space as others, we paid little attention to them. Now, under the current circumstances, we’re more attentive to each other — we’re actually less socially distant while being more physically distant.

Congratulations to all of our award winners

The Waterloo Warrior athletes were recognized at the 2019-2020 Warriors Athletics Awards on Friday April 3, 2020. Typically, a banquet event, this year the awards were announced virtually through the @WlooWarriors Instagram account. The nominees for each award were posted earlier in the week and the winners were posted at varying times throughout the night. Teams had watch parties through various online platforms and even though they were not able to be in the same room together, still found ways to celebrate their teammates’ achievements.

Our TR faculty members and students created a digital thank you to those working in health care settings during this unprecedented time. If you would like to leave your thanks, visit the blog and comment at the bottom of the page. We welcome all comments and shares of this link so that health care workers everywhere see these positive messages. 

Stay up-to-date with the latest information and advisories on the coronavirus.

As part of their senior year, our fourth-year Recreation and Sport Business capstone course went to Toronto for a one-day field trip to visit the MLSE LaunchPad.

Congratulations to Diana Parry, Associate Vice-President Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion, and professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, on being named the recipient of the 2020 Angela Hildyard Recognition Award in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Profs. Feng Chang and Heather Mair with student researchers.