News and Releases
Keyword: Alumni News
Alumni in Their Own Words - Nicole Richard Williams
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 @ 9:45 AM
Nicole Richard graduated from CMU in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music Therapy.
Where has your life taken you since you left CMU?
After finishing my Bachelor of Music Therapy at CMU, I worked as a music therapist in Winnipeg for about three years. During this time, I started working with many clients on the autism spectrum and noticed that doing rhythmic and drumming interventions with these folks really seemed to help them reach some of their therapeutic goals. I wanted to deepen my understanding of how exactly music therapy could help autistic children. Going to grad school had always been a dream of mine, and so I decided to take some time off working to do a Master's in Music and Health Science at the University of Toronto. During that degree, I decided I wanted to continue on and do a PhD and was accepted again at the Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory (the lab out of which the master's and PhD are based) at the University of Toronto.
Read MoreTen stories of CMU alumni (audio)
Monday, February 12, 2024 @ 2:27 PM
As an extension of the A Time of Reckoning symposium that took place at CMU in October 2023, this student-led media project is one way of reflecting CMU's story from 2000 to 2023. Every now and then, it's good to consider what we say we're doing, what we think we're doing, and what is actually going on.
Read MoreAlumna explores intersection between land, people, and faith at Yale
Monday, December 11, 2023 @ 10:11 AM
Anika Reynar (CMU '17, Interdisciplinary Studies – Social Ecology) lives her life with one foot in the library and one foot in the garden—and also the classroom, the church, and around the table. She's pursuing her passions by doing not just one, but two, master's degrees simultaneously at Yale University.
Reynar is working on a Master of Arts in Religion through Yale Divinity School and a Master of Environmental Management through Yale School of Environment. She's in her third and last year of the joint program in New Haven, Connecticut. "I broadly describe what I'm interested in as being focused around land use and how communities who potentially hold different value sets negotiate how land is used."
Read MoreCMU graduates chosen for prestigious Manitoba Legislature internships
Tuesday, October 17, 2023 @ 11:01 AM
Two Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) graduates have been accepted into the highly competitive Manitoba Legislature Internship Program. Kyla Willms and Nicholas Harder, both graduates of 2023, will be a part of the prestigious 10-month internship from September to June.
Open only to six Manitoban students each year, the program provides opportunities for recent university graduates to experience firsthand the legislative process within the Manitoba legislature.
Read MoreAlumnus reflects on the heart of generosity
Monday, August 21, 2023 @ 3:40 PM
"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 innumerable, but include podcast host and founding his own public relations firm—all share that similar theme: storytelling.
Read MoreUnraveling the modern Mennonite story, one panel at a time
Monday, July 24, 2023 @ 11:39 AM
You may think that most books about Mennonites wouldn't dare to begin with young adults drinking, smoking, and driving a car in donuts around a church parking lot, but author Jonathan Dyck isn't so sure.
Dyck (CMU '09) is the author of the award-winning graphic novel Shelterbelts, which explores themes of Queer identity, inclusive churches, the history of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and much more, all set in the fictional, sleepy Mennonite community of Hespeler.
Read MoreCMU alumna brings climate action into the provincial election
Monday, July 17, 2023 @ 10:14 AM
In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report stating that a global average temperature increase of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels would significantly increase the severity and occurrence of extreme weather events, forever altering Earth's ecosystems.
The World Meteorological Institute estimates we are on track to hit that sustained average temperature increase in roughly a decade. Worse yet, there is a 66 per cent chance of that occurring temporarily within the next five years. The time for climate action is now.
Read MoreBreaking barriers: CMU alumnus defends doctoral dissertation on disability theology
Thursday, March 23, 2023 @ 9:00 AM
Daniel Rempel is smiling from ear to ear.
Having successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland just a week before the Zoom interview for this story, Rempel was visually, and rightfully, excited to share on his research on the often-overlooked field of disability theology.
Read MoreCMU alumna transforms dream for justice through peace program
Monday, March 20, 2023 @ 10:30 AM
CMU alumna Odelia Duffus wanted to be a lawyer after she graduated high school. Six years later, she's liaising with the court—but not in the role she expected.
Duffus is a mediator and caseworker with Mediation Services, a Winnipeg-based organization offering conflict resolution and training to workplaces, families, and communities. She wants to make a safer and more just future for all people involved in conflict, by navigating it in ways alternative to conventional punishment. Through mediation, she acts as a neutral third party that hears each side's perspective and helps create an agreement that benefits everyone and an appropriate solution.
Read MoreCMU alum recontextualizes art song through queer, ecological lens
Monday, January 23, 2023 @ 1:18 PM
At first glance, it may not seem like music, climate justice, and queerness would cross career paths. But Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) alum Anna Bigland-Pritchard has built a life that weaves together these strands.
The 30-year-old soprano lives in Victoria, BC, where she divides her time between studying under renowned soprano Nancy Argenta, managing marketing at Vancouver Bach Choirs, directing music ministry at Oak Bay United Church, and teaching through her small business, ABP Music Studio. She also dedicates time to advocating for climate justice and facilitating workshops on eco-mindfulness, which she has done for institutions like KAIROS, University of Toronto, and CMU.
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