Keyword: alumni news

CMU alumna brings climate action into the provincial election

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.

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Breaking barriers: CMU alumnus defends doctoral dissertation on disability theology

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.

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CMU alumna transforms dream for justice through peace program

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.

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CMU alum recontextualizes art song through queer, ecological lens

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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Peace Beyond Policing: Kristen Wiltshire

What's peace in a society where social systems can do harm to the people they are meant to serve? Jonas catches up with Kristen Wiltshire (CMU '14) on her work in family and social services.

Credits
Theme Music: Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/33345 Ft: Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza

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Alumnus explores the relationship between art and commerce in daring new novel

In 2017, André Forget was asked by friend and collaborator Joel Peters (CMU, 2011) to write a short story about a fictitious underwater organ. The only rule was to keep the story around 2,000 words. Forget ended up writing a 10,000-word academic dissertation about the mythical instrument, which he named the hydroöganon. Complete with invented scholars debating each other's theses and extensive details as to the engineering of the instrument, the story, originally titled The Lower Registers, served as the impetus for writing his debut novel In the City of Pigs, published by Dundurn Press in the summer of 2022.

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Summer 2022 alumni updates (new content)

Readers of CMU's The Blazer magazine often say they flip right to the Alumni News section before reading anything else.

Again, as with the past several issues of The Blazer in its digest format, we were unable to squeeze in alumni news. Below is a compilation of updates provided to CMU by alumni.

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Reconciliation: Man-Made Temples

Jesus called for an end to oppression. How did the Bible become a weapon of colonization? Jonas talks with Christy Anderson, CMU Indigenous Engagement Advisor, about a sermon she gave at CMU in Fall 2021.

Anderson's full sermon is available as a special feature episode of this podcast.

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MBA alumna protects data of millions at innovative tech company

CMU alumna Tomisin Bolorunduro moved to Vancouver, a city where she knew no one, in the midst of a pandemic. But what she moved for was worth it: a job at Trulioo, an innovative tech start-up and global leader in online identity verification and data privacy.

In today's digital world, one can do almost everything online, from opening a bank account to buying cryptocurrency to renting a house—but all these transactions require identity verification and data protection to ensure they're safe and legitimate.

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Forestry management helps alumnus find a just and equitable world

Hearing Darcy Reimer ('15, Environmental Studies) reflect on this time at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), you see how CMU was a place of intersection, bringing together his passions and helping direct him into his career.

Reimer appreciated the small, interactive biology classes with Dr. Rachel Krause where he had the freedom to explore individual curiosities. Important to these classes was how the dialogue between science and faith were incorporated into his education, through which Reimer found a congruity between faith and science.

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