Thank you for leading the way to a bright future.
Our Waterloo community has demonstrated so much resilience over the past year — and that’s in no small part, thanks to the generous gifts of our Circle donors.
By championing and empowering countless students across campus, your financial support is critical to our collective success and real-world impact. In this report, you’ll find just a few of the many inspiring stories that your generous gifts have made possible.
Your commitment to the University shows great leadership — the kind of leadership we need now and into the future to stay resilient and innovative in the face of rising global challenges. Thank you for your dedication to helping students reach their highest potential and for investing in a future of positive impact. We have much to be proud of and so much to look forward to.
Sincerely,
Vivek Goel
President and Vice-Chancellor
A donor-funded scholarship is helping him tackle climate change
If reducing our reliance on fossil fuels seems like a monumental task, that’s because it is. Just ask PhD candidate Choyon. He’s making it his life’s work to tackle climate change — but he doesn’t have any illusions about what it will take to address one of the biggest threats of our time.
As a scholar at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Choyon’s research focuses on how his home country of Bangladesh and other least developed countries (LDCs) can pressure developed countries, who are responsible for 80 per cent of human-made greenhouse gases, to cut back on fossil fuel production.
I think it's important to come up with realistic strategies to pressure high-producing countries to reduce fossil fuel supply and production.
His award from Waterloo donors has helped cover his international student tuition and living expenses so he can focus full time on his research. In the last year, that included attending two conferences, writing three articles and a book chapter, completing his comprehensive exams and defending his PhD proposal on schedule. Over the first few months of 2022, the funding will help support his doctoral fieldwork in Bangladesh.
“My ultimate goal is to become a negotiator for the LDC group at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” Choyon says. “I think it’s important to come up with realistic strategies to pressure high-producing countries to reduce fossil fuel supply and production. That would be a great contribution to confronting the climate crisis we are facing right now.”
Supporting wellbeing through an equity-informed lens
University is a time of transition in which many students deal with stress, loneliness, homesickness, new relationships and other psychological and emotional challenges. According to Ontario’s Universities, 75 per cent of mental health issues first appear before the age of 25, making university students especially vulnerable. The isolation and anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic have only exacerbated the problem.
At Waterloo, the Wellness Collaborative creates an environment in which every student can reach their full potential. Using an equity-informed lens and community development approach, the strategy works to break down systemic barriers to success.
75 per cent of mental health issues first appear before the age of 25, making university students especially vulnerable.
Launch of the Mental Health Literacy Program
With the generous support of donors, the Wellness Collaborative launched a Mental Health Literacy Program to foster a culture of compassion, care and concern on campus. The program trains employees to recognize mental health issues, understand systemic barriers to mental health and intervene to help students and colleagues get the support they need.
Jennifer McCorristan, associate director of Health Promotion, says the program gives support to students, faculty and staff that’s highly targeted to the challenges they’re facing and delivered by the people they feel most comfortable confiding in, such as residence dons, academic advisors, professors and colleagues.
The culmination of two years of research and consultations, the Mental Health Literacy Program officially launched in September 2021. The program will run on an ongoing basis to continue building capacity for mental health support on campus and beyond.
Helping student-athletes reach their highest potential
When Michael Soligo (BASc ’83, MASc ’84) started his Civil Engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, he decided to put his passion for football on the backburner to focus on his studies. But that didn’t last long. By second year, he had joined the varsity team and was surprised by the results. The challenge of managing assignments, exams, practices and games actually made him more focused — and helped him excel in the classroom and on the field.
Now, as President and CEO of environmental engineering consultancy RWDI, Michael sees firsthand how high-level extracurriculars teach students important life lessons that help them thrive in the workplace.
My hope is that the award will allow student-athletes to excel at whatever they want to excel at. And then hopefully they will give back and help however they can. That's really what it's all about.
It’s one of the reasons RWDI funds an annual scholarship for a deserving full-time undergraduate engineering student-athlete. Award candidates must be on a varsity team, have an average of 80% or higher and demonstrate positive impact through extracurricular or volunteer activities.
Acknowledging how difficult it is to work part-time and self-fund your studies while playing sports, Michael says the goal of the scholarship is to help student-athletes stay focused on what matters. “My hope is that the award will allow student-athletes to excel at whatever they want to excel at. And then hopefully they will give back and help however they can. That's really what it's all about.”
