Alumni Profiles

Ben Borne (CMU ’13) completed a BA with a major in Biblical and Theological Studies. His time at CMU nurtured his love for storytelling and community, shaping a career in communications and public relations focused on building relationships and advancing reconciliation.

Advancing reconciliation through storytelling

"I have always been a storyteller," says Ben Borne over a Zoom call from his home in Saskatoon, SK. "And what I'm really good at is bringing people together."

Since graduating from CMU with a Bachelor of Arts in 2013, Borne's various endeavors and accomplishments—which are far too innumerable to list but include podcast host and founding his own public relations firm—all share that similar theme: storytelling.

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Gode Katembo (CMU ’23) completed a BA in Social Sciences. His CMU experience deepened his sense of purpose, justice, and community—values that shape his work as a soccer coach, mentor, and entrepreneur creating spaces for newcomers and youth to grow, belong, and lead.

From newcomer to community-builder: A CMU alum’s journey of purpose, justice, and leadership

When Gode Katembo thinks about his time at CMU, he doesn't just remember classes and assignments. What stands out is how the experience reshaped his sense of direction.

"For me, CMU did not prepare me for a career," he said. "It prepared me for purpose."

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Tai Linklater (CMU '25) completed a BA with an interdisciplinary major in ecological pacifism and a minor in biology. The degree, and the whole interdisciplinary approach of CMU, deeply nurtured their love of learning, especially across such a variety of fields.

From martyrology to herpetology: A CMU alum's global journey of curiosity, community, and conservation

A few days after graduating from CMU in 2025, Tai Linklater was in an airplane on the way to the Netherlands. The 23-year-old from Altona, MB travelled an ocean away from CMU, and yet it was present in almost every adventure of their two-week trip, a microcosm of their university experience: curiosity and community.

While at CMU, Linklater took a course on The Martyrs Mirror, a chronicle of the persecution and martyrdom of Anabaptist Christians particularly in the 16th century with Dr. Chris Huebner, Professor of Philosophy and Theology. Linklater and a fellow classmate met up with Huebner, who was on sabbatical doing research in Amsterdam, and together they toured many of the historical sites where the book's stories took place. They even did an escape room based on one of the martyr accounts, in the very area where it occurred hundreds of years ago.

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Marvin Marcial (CMU ’07) graduated with a Bachelor of Music and is now Policy and Program Coordinator in Manitoba’s Immigration Division. He credits CMU with teaching him the value of inclusivity and curiosity—lessons he carries into his work building welcoming communities for newcomers.

Finding Connection as an Outsider: How CMU Shaped a Public Servant

Marvin Marcial didn't mean to become a CMU student. What was initially supposed to be one music elective as a visiting student from the University of Winnipeg turned him into a full-time student who ended up graduating from CMU with a Bachelor of Music in 2007. "I ended up in choir and that changed the whole trajectory of my education, and I transferred over to CMU the next year," he says.

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Notes, Nursing, and New Horizons: A Journey of Learning and Service

When Heidi Derksen meets for a conversation in the mid-afternoon, she's wrapping up her day and going to sleep after the interview ends. This unconventional bedtime is because she's an ICU nurse in Saskatoon's hospitals, working alternating day and night shifts. The routine can be taxing, but it allows her a lot of flexibility for one of her favourite activities: travel.

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