Convocation 2016

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Students

University of Toronto

When a person starts to profoundly lose their vision, there are a number of resources available to help them physically adapt – like how to navigate the city using a cane or a guide dog. But what about their mental well-being?

Kathleen Forestell from the University of Toronto’s Class of 2016 wants to ensure those resources are there.

The 29-year-old from Ottawa, who is receiving her MEd in counselling psychology from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) on Tuesday, says she believes the mental health of people undergoing dramatic life changes needs to be addressed.

Forestell wants to be an advocate for Canadians with disabilities. She is one of more than 4,600 students graduating this fall from U of T. From Nov. 7 to Nov. 9, the university will award undergrad and graduate degrees to students from all three campuses. When combined with spring convocation, U of T’s Class of 2016 is more than 18,000 strong.

Helping Forestell take her final steps as a U of T student across the stage at Convocation Hall will be her guide dog, Tiffany, a two-year-old black Labrador retriever.

“I’m going to very proud to walk across the stage with her,” she says. “I want people to see, ‘Yes, we’re here, and yes, you can do this, too!’”

Read about more of our amazingly inspiring graduates below:

The Advocate

Being a mental health advocate for people learning to live with disabilities is not an academic discussion for Forestell, it’s a lived experience. Two years ago, after moving to Toronto to pursue her postgraduate studies, her vision dramatically worsened.

“It was just like ‘great timing,’” Forestell explains.

Legally blind since birth, the former Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team World Cup racer has fearlessly zoomed down the slopes of the Matterhorn and was once clocked at 100 kilometres an hour as she crossed the finish line — relying solely on her skills, confidence and a ski guide.

With just 20 degrees of peripheral vision, she excelled as a top athlete. Losing more of that field of vision has been a staggering loss — especially as she adjusted to life in a new city and university life.

What that experience is like is complicated, she says. There’s the physical change but “you’re also dealing with loss and grief. What you’re used to experiencing is not your experience anymore. For me, there was a lot of anxiety. When I was outside, I would feel things sneaking up on me [like quiet bicycles] ... I was constantly being surprised.”

Her mother, who often came to visit, was a great emotional support and her professors at OISE found ways to accommodate her that didn’t involve vision fatigue. Recorded materials or talking books from the library helped her do research, but “the best thing ever” was the decision by one prof to allow her to give oral presentations rather than write papers.

“I had to learn how to learn again,” she says simply. “It was really challenging. I’m just glad I made it through!”

Her vision has now stabilized, and she’s moved from using a white cane to working with Tiffany as she gets out and about in the city.

She’s now job searching and looking for the right job to be an advocate for people with disabilities.

The Smooth Jazz Hands

The looseness of jazz improvisation is “like talking and having a conversation... just with instruments. It offers a lot of creativity and freedom,” says alto saxophonist Anthony Argatoff.

Graduation is fast approaching but he and fellow graduands Victor Vrankulj (jazz bass) and Andrew Miller (jazz drums) are looking towards the future and the CD release party for their avant-garde/improvised music ensemble Bellwether4 in December in Hamilton, Guelph and Toronto.

Why the Hammer and Guelph? Well, it turns out they have humming improv jazz scenes, says Argatoff. Much like where he hails from in Kelowna, B.C.

On November 7, his family will be in the office to cheer him on as he officially receives his Bachelor of Music in Performance. He’s enjoyed the four-year jazz program so much his own brother (tenor sax) is now taking it, too, as well as a growing number of fellow Kelownians.

“It’s a really special place. I’m just really grateful I came here,” says Argatoff. There is always a community of musicians at U of T ready to hang out and play “all the time” and the professors, who are professional musicians themselves, are always available to talk anytime and offer advice.

“The faculty was outstanding with lots of one-on-one opportunities,” agrees fellow fall graduand and jazz guitarist Christopher Platt, who switched to U of T after studying jazz performance at Mohawk College with Vrankulj.

For Platt (below), the path to jazz started when he first picked up a guitar at the age of 12. At first the blues had him in their grip with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan among his favourites.

“But I just wanted to consume more and more music and jazz was the next obvious step for me. I just kept going deeper down the rabbit hole,” he says, naming American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery as a strong influence on his playing.

Now, he lists Brazilian jazz as his latest musical obsession. “So much of it is so sad and some is quite joyous. I like the sad stuff,” says Platt.

Like Argatoff, he’s focused on finding gigs through his website and has several side projects on the go with various musicians around the city.

“Toronto is the place to be in Canada [for jazz]. In the states, it would be New York... but New York just seems to be so... like Toronto on steroids,” he says with a laugh, noting a lot of people he knows have gone down to the Big Apple to test their chops. He may do it at some point, but he’s in no rush to leave the community network of musicians he’s built up here.

As for his time at U of T, “I don’t get tied to nostalgia. When it’s over, I kind of leave it in its place.”

The he adds: “I’ll miss this. You’re just consumed by music all the time. You’re constantly rehearsing and having jam sessions late into the night... You can only really get that by going to school.”

The Global Thinker

Wenjie (Shirley) Wu has got her eye on the world.

Originally from China, she’s a true citizen of the world after spending her teenage years in Japan and later moving to Canada at the age of 17.

“After living in different countries, I’m interested in how different people and countries see and interact with each other,” says the trilingual Wu who speaks Mandarin, Japanese and English.

It was that interest that drew her like a magnet to U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs two years ago. And on Monday, she officially graduates with her Master of Global Affairs, which she completed alongside the Collaborative Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies.

“I really liked being here. I’ll miss our Munk school, which has such a nice environment,” says Wu, noting the impressive number of events Munk hosts where a roster of internationally respected thought leaders speak on pressing global issues.

Her time at U of T has also been filled with hanging out with fellow classmates who are passionate and engaged in their studies, as well as a dream internship at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where she worked on the Canada desk in Washington, DC.

Although Asia has been her main area of focus in studies, her classes at Munk broadened her country interests with projects on Brazil, Bangladesh, Hungary, Mexico, Uruguay, Syria and others. At the IMF, she also had the chance to do work on Canada and Caribbean countries too.

Munk also taught her analytical methods and practical management skills with an immersion in the latest thinking on global issues, which will be crucial in launching and sustaining her career as an international policy researcher. This adds to her practical work experience in the non-profit and higher education sectors and her BA in international relations and economics earned at the University of British Columbia.

“My dream job is kind of hard to say,” she says, “but anything that involves policy research maybe in a think-tank, government organization or international organization would be great.”

For the full schedule of #UofTGrad16 convocation ceremonies, visit http://www.convocation.utoronto.ca/events.

#UofTGrad16: this transgender artist partially funded his degree through his own company

lanthierj — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 16:10:51 +0000

#UofTGrad16: this transgender artist partially funded his degree through his own company

lanthierj Thu, 06/16/2016 - 12:10

Christine Elias

Author legacy

Christine Elias

Topic

Trinity College

Bright blue. That’s the colour of Nicolai Farber’s hair, his eyes and his “creative mascot” Yozhik, the chubby cartoon hedgehog.

Farber, who graduates from the University of Toronto this June with a double major inpsychology and Russian language & literature, is an illustrator and graphic designer who partially funded his education through his company,Yozhik is Blue.

“The idea came from one of my favourite childhood cartoons — Hedgehog in the Fog.”

The internationally acclaimed animated film, directed by Russian children’s writer Yuriy Norshteyn, tells the story of a little hedgehog on his way to meet his friend the bear for a cup of tea. But along the way he gets lost in a mysteriously thick fog — filled with scary things both real and imagined. Hedgehog is eventually reunited with the bear, a little shaken, but also stronger and wiser.

It’s a parable about choosing your own path and overcoming adversity that resonates with many.

Yozhik is featured in a series of buttons Farber has created.

“Some people say they have spirit animals,” said Farber. “I feel a kinship with hedgehogs — they are kind of like me.”

Faber, who was assigned female at birth, is a transgender person who began his transition midway through his university career.

“Being transgender and bisexual distanced me from my family, so I was afraid of losing the bond to my Jewish-Ukrainian background,” said Farber.

Fortunately his connection to the department of Slavic languages and literatures helped keep him in contact with his native language and the culture in which he was raised.

“I studied the Soviet cartoons and films I grew up with, as well as history, literature and poetry,” said Farber. “It really helped to keep my culture alive in me.”

“I did not need to provide reasons — they believed I am who I am.”

The university made it easy for Farber to change his name and gender on his official academic record and to get a new student card reflecting that change.

“My college registrar’s office was very supportive. I met with the assistant registrar who helped me with the process, put me in touch with other resources and helped me craft a plan to move forward,” said Farber. “I did not need to provide reasons — they believed I am who I am.”

“U of T has had a policy in place since 2009 allowing students to change their name and gender on their official academic record without requiring legal documentation,” says Allison Burgess, U of T’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Officer.

“This policy ─ which is recognized as a best practice by the Ontario Human Rights Commission — is one way of acknowledging students’ right to self-identify and to have their correct name on class lists, emails or student identification cards. And this is so important in terms of fostering an inclusive environment for trans students on our campuses.”

(Below: social media banners designed by Farber for Gender Talk, a monthly conversation café for transgender students at U of T)

Farber’s advice to incoming students —whether they are members of the LGBTQ community or not — is the same:

“Find a circle of people with shared interests and values — that’s the strongest basis for long-lasting friendships.”

As a student, Farber followed his own advice. He was the creative director of Design and Design, a career development club for students interested in pursuing graphic design and was also involved in set design for student productions at Trinity College’s George Igniateff Theatre.

And he tries to draw something new every day, including work on his comic sketches.

A creative future in a new city

As for his future, Farber plans to continue his creative work.

“I do illustrations, animation, infographics and other forms of visual storytelling for my clients as well as my own short comics, but I want to get my work to a higher level before I pursue my own graphic novel.”

Farber and his partner — a fellow U of T student who will graduate in November — recently moved to Barrie.

“There are many artists and a great sense of community; it really feels like home.”

#UofTGrad16: Highlights of Convocation 2016

lavende4 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:51:07 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Highlights of Convocation 2016 lavende4 Wed, 06/15/2016 - 16:51

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(photos and video by Johnny Guatto)

Arthur Kaptainis

Author legacy

Arthur Kaptainis

Topic

Sunny and 23. During the University of Toronto's three weeks of convocation this spring, that was the typical forecast.

It could also describe many of the 18,000-strong Class of 2016, including the 13,500 students who crossed the stage of Convocation Hall as friends and family applauded their years of curiosity, study, creativity and perseverance.

“Sometimes we get these lucky breaks with the weather,” said Silvia Rosatone, director of Convocation. “It was not like this last year. But the climate inside Convocation Hall is always good.

“That forecast never fails.”

Among those graduating: Clive Davies, 79, who received his BA as a history specialist in Woodsworth College, where he started his undergraduate journey in 1977.

Davies' charm and wisdom so captivated media that the retired police officer and busy dog breeder graciously made time during convocation for interviews with CBC, the Toronto Sun, Metro and more.

“I have an enormous sense of pride that I am graduating with honours from one of the great universities of the world,” Davies said before the big day on June 10. “That is an great satisfaction to me.

“It is a destination worth all of the effort and the trials and tribulations. That will be my moment.”

See highlights from week one

See highlights from week two

See highlights from week three

And while some grads have already been snapped up by employers (the prestigious architecture firm of Janet Rosenberg, for example, just hired these three landscape architects) others are continuing on with their studies.

Faculty of Arts & Science grads James Flynn, Kaleem Hawa and Jessica Phillips are headed to the University of Oxford as Rhodes Scholars.

“I feel I’ve learned a lot from really, really good professors,” said Hawa, a double major from Trinity College in international relations and global health. “And it’s a beautiful campus in a big metropolitan centre. You get the best of both worlds.”

#UofTGrad16: convocation moments from social media (week three)

lanthierj — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:11:28 +0000

#UofTGrad16: convocation moments from social media (week three)

lanthierj Wed, 06/15/2016 - 16:11

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(photo by Johnny Guatto)

Kristina Doyle

Author legacy

Kristina Doyle

Topic

City & Culture

June 16 marks the final day of spring convocation at U of T – three weeks of celebrations across three campuses bringing together family, friends, faculty, staff and 13,500 graduating students from around the world.

At U of T News, we've shared social media highlights from week one and also from week two.

Below, see some of the most recent highlights from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of the third and final week of convocation:

View the story "#UofTGrad16: Social Media Highlights from Spring Convocation Week 3" on Storify

#UofTGrad16: Fresh water saviour David Schindler

lavende4 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 19:56:48 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Fresh water saviour David Schindler lavende4 Wed, 06/15/2016 - 15:56

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(photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

They say a photo is worth a thousand words. David Schindler can point to one that has likely saved a thousand lakes.

Four decades ago, an aerial photo of a remote Ontario lake known only as 226 showed the evidence in stark contrast: on one side, pristine water, on the other a green algal soup nourished by phosphates found in common household products like detergents.

It was a photo that couldn’t be ignored. And it pushed policymakers in Canada and several American states to finally get tough and force companies to reformulate their products.

The person heading up the experiment was Schindler, the first director of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) where the famous divided lake experiment took place.

It was just the first success in a remarkable career that U of T will celebrate on June 16 by awarding him with a Doctor of Science, honoris causa.

“When I turned 18, I knew I wanted to be an ecologist. I knew someone had to do something and I knew I had to do it,” says the famed limnologist who grew up in northwestern Minnesota, became a Rhodes scholar and is a professor of ecology (emeritus) at the University of Alberta

He empathizes with the young graduates he’s standing with today. With a world facing climate change and other massive environmental issues the future looks bleak.

“I remember when I graduated the world looked pretty hopeless,” he says. “There were a lot of huge problems at that point that looked unsolvable.”

One of those problems was the aforementioned eutrophication, which causes plant growth to explode and oxygen levels to drop in fresh water, essentially choking the life out of fish and other organisms. In the 1960s, the situation in the Great Lakes was so bad experts thought Lake Erie was dying.

But no one could agree on the cause. Schindler recalls attending a symposium after graduating with his PhD with all the preeminent minds in the field in attendance.

“There was no consensus. Pick any element on the periodic table and people would have a theory,” he says.

But instead of getting discouraged, the meeting turned into a positive. While there, Schindler met Swiss eutrophication expert Richard Vollenweider, as well as prominent ecologist Jack Vallentyne, of the newly opened Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg. Both of them would eventually work with Vallentyne in Canada.

The work they accomplished was tremendous and had a huge impact not only on science but on ground breaking legislation and agreements to protect fresh water resources and habitats.

Following the success of the lake phosphate tests, Schindler decided to tackle acid rain and was able to demonstrate how water acidity levels have a profound impact on the ability of aquatic species to reproduce and survive. His work once again pushed governments to take the problem seriously.

The cri de coeur of the 1980s environmental movement, acid rain now seems like a rare triumph, one we no longer need to worry or talk about. Industries cut their emissions in the 1970s and ‘80s and installed scrubbers to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions. Case closed, right?

Not at all, Schindler warns. The problem hasn’t gone away. Emissions remain a concern and there is also a legacy of calcium depletion in soil that has a profound impact on healthy forests.

“The clues that helped me understand weren’t out of textbooks,” he says. “They were things I learned directly from nature.”

Like nature, things in science also go in cycles, he says. In Canada, the leadership role of scientists seems to have diminished when it comes to helping shape public policy. But he’s hopeful, there’s positive change coming.

“Maybe we’ve lost touch with the outdoors,” he muses. “Certainly, scientists today don’t spend as much time outdoors. Ecology was a blue collar job with mosquito bites and dirt under the nails. They rarely go out into the field anymore — they send their grad students.”

But we also need leadership “someone who understands scientists — who can speak to them directly. I think that used to happen in the 1970s. We used to have politicians visit and discuss our experiments. That era is long over.”

Most of all, Schindler says, he wants Canada — and U of T’s new graduates — to push hard again to be a leader on the world stage when it comes to global environmental issues like it was when he was starting his career. Stop thinking small. Stop being small. Act big. Think big.

“We have to redevelop that confidence,” he says. “Back in those days, Canada felt confident that it was a leader… We didn’t sit around and say ‘when will other countries make the move?’ And we didn’t talk about how it would impact the great god economy.

“If I can reach a half-dozen minds in that audience [today] to turn back the clock and redevelop that confidence then I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

Professor David Schindler will speak today at the 2:30 p.m. ceremony for graduands from the School of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Information and the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.

A video of his speech will be available on U of T’s YouTube channel following the event.

#UofTGrad16: A love-in for math

lavende4 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 18:46:02 +0000

#UofTGrad16: A love-in for math lavende4 Tue, 06/14/2016 - 14:46

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Panelists Irene Sterian, Neil Turock and Luis Seco exchange ideas (Jackie Shapiro photo)

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

Fresh off receiving his honorary doctorate from U of T, Manjul Bhargava was the guest of honour at a special panel discussing It’s All About Math!

In a room filled with people who love math, he received a rock star welcome as he extolled the importance of fostering in children an appreciation of the creativity and beauty found in math.

All too often, being good in math is seen as “social suicide” in North America — especially for women — and that needs to change, said Bhargava, the leading expert in Number Theory and winner of the 2014 Fields Medal, the highest honour a mathematician can receive.

“When you meet someone and tell them what you do, they always say, ‘I was never good at math,’” he told the audience, which nodded and laughed in shared sympathy.

“The conversation almost always stops there... They’re almost proud of it. It’s a cultural thing in North America but it’s not universal. Here, it’s a badge of honour. It shows you’re socially forward.”

The panel, which was brought together on June 10 at Hart House, also featured Neil Turok, director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics; Irene Sterian, a director at Celestica (and U of T engineering alumna); and Professor Luis Seco, director of U of T’s RiskLab.

At the event, Professor Kumar Murty, chair of U of T’s mathematics department, also announced the creation of a new Centre for Applied Mathematics at the university. Currently, the math department is ranked #1 in Canada and 14^th in the world.

Education is always the key when it comes to boosting math participation, the panellists agreed. Teachers need to discard their reliance on rote learning in math class and embrace the creativity inherent in their pupils when it comes to solving problems.

“Math is already inside of us. You just need to bring it out,” explained Seco, who is also the president and CEO of Sigma Analysis & Management. “When they say they’re not good at math, I say ‘How do you know?’”

Doing 500 examples of the same problem was pointless to me, said Turok, who learned how to figure out problems on his own when his teacher in Tanzania encouraged him to make a map of his school. The same goes for the old train travelling puzzlers — a favourite on high school math exams everywhere.

“Why would I care when two trains are going to meet?” Bhargava asked jokingly.

When Sterian moved to Canada from Eastern Europe at the age of 12, she couldn’t speak English but “I could speak math,” she said proudly, adding perhaps the problem “of today’s society of instant gratification” is that people aren’t spending enough time on math to become good at it.

For Turok, who is also the founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, math tells us something about who we are. It’s our language to explain the universe and our place in it and it makes him incredibly optimistic about our future.

“It’s incredibly precious,” he said. “The thing I love most is it’s simultaneously our most precious knowledge and it’s infinitely fruitful and it’s completely free to share. Math genius can occur anywhere. Sharing mathematical knowledge is the key to humankind’s future.”

#UofTGrad16: Film festival CEO Piers Handling

lavende4 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 14:24:36 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Film festival CEO Piers Handling lavende4 Tue, 06/14/2016 - 10:24

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Piers Handling (centre, facing camera) at Convocation (Lisa Sakulensky photo)

Toronto International Film Festival

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

The man in charge of one of the world’s most important film festivals is thrilled to receive an honorary degree from the University of Toronto, which he says played a pivotal role in helping launch the filmmaking industry in English Canada.

Norman Jewison. David Cronenberg. Atom Egoyan. Don Owen. All huge names in Canadian cinema and all were shaped by their experiences as students at U of T, Piers Handling told fellow graduates in a rousing speech today.

The connection even extends to the brutalist architecture of the University of Toronto Scarborough having its close up in two Cronenberg features: 1969’s Stereo and 1970’s Crimes of the Future. He really started something since the location continues to draw TV and film crews to this day.

It’s an honour to be celebrated in my home city and “to feel I am a part of this illustrious cinematic history” at U of T, said Handling, who described himself as a self-educated cinephile who craves intelligent, kinetic films.

The director and chief executive officer of TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival, since 1994 was recognized with a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa for his work transforming the way people see the world through film and in placing Hollywood North on the map as the place to premiere the biggest and best new films from just down the street and around the world.

In his convocation address, Handling said he’s also been honoured with the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest cultural insignia. “Don’t you love the French?” he joked with the audience of new graduates and proud parents, adding he was sure to ask them if any rights or privileges came with the honour.

“They said I can ride a horse into any church in France. I haven’t actually done it yet... but I look forward to the rights and privileges that come from today’s honour.”

Later in the day at an intimate Q&A with a group of 20 film studies students at Innis College, Handling explained the true purpose of the festival, which now has a $44-million annual operating budget and employs 200 full-time staff in its 40^th year. “We’re trying to create a more informed citizenry and ultimately a more curious one.”

When asked how he selects films for the film festival, he said he can tell “in the first five minutes the first three shots” if the filmmaker has hit the mark.

“You can feel the authority of the filmmaker also immediately,” he said, adding that commitment, passion, imagination and creativity are key.The festival is put together in three months but first he and other selection committee members must plow through an estimated 5,000 films before determining their roster. Many of those films are unsolicited, just like Michael Moore’s seminal film Roger & Me was back in 1989.

“He made it clear. He had a movie,” Handling recalled. “He was a brilliant marketer. He’s a talker, he’s a charmer and he clearly has a point of view.”

That movie made it into the festival because of a call he made to a 21-year-old student on contract for the summer in their office. That call led to a word of mouth campaign that made everyone want to see it, Handling said.

Squeezed in between film screenings and attending other film festivals around the globe, Handling told his fellow graduates that he and his partner, Federica, recently travelled to Europe to help as unattached volunteers in Syrian refugee camps along the Greek-Macedonian border.

“We were in two camps and the experience was in a word: humbling,” he said. More than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict and five million more have fled “travelling towards the beacon of Europe.

“We’ve both been processing our experience since our return. They were living in appalling conditions... but their spirit and resilience were truly uplifting.”

Many of their fellow volunteers were “people of your age, people like you.” And although the problems of the world seem insurmountable, like the current refugee crisis, “collectively, the volunteers were making a difference. The camps couldn’t survive with them.”

The world in 2016 is an unsettled place that’s under extreme pressure and it’s easy to be overwhelmed and want to block everything out. But that uncertainty shouldn’t be something that frightens you, you should embrace it, he said.

“You do not know your own power. Start believing in it... We need the best parts of you,” Handling said. “You have received a privileged education. What you make of that experience will mark this country and quite possibly the planet.”

Piers Handling spoke at the 10 a.m. ceremony for graduands from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management and School of Graduate Studies. A video of his speech is available on U of T’s YouTube channel.

#UofTGrad16: Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler

lavende4 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 14:12:03 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler lavende4 Tue, 06/14/2016 - 10:12

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Degrassi producer Linda Schuyler received an honourary degree June 14

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

City & Culture

Acclaimed Canadian TV producer Linda Schuyler could slow down, if she wanted to.

There are literally thousands of hours of the teenage touchstone Degrassi in the can, prestigious awards line her office (a Peabody, multiple Emmys and Geminis and so on) and now the franchise — in its fifth iteration — has made the jump from traditional TV to the binge-watching mecca of Netflix.

But no, the woman who gave superstar Drake his first big break has decided to take up music herself.

“I’m loving it,” says the former school teacher, who says her piano teacher – U of T music grad Charleen Beard – is planning to do a PhD in music focused on adult learners and “I’m her star pupil!” she says with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Today, the University of Toronto is recognizing Schuyler with a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa at the convocation ceremony for her alma mater Innis College, where she graduated with a BA more than four decades ago.

“You think I had the option to say no?” she says with a laugh when asked why she decided to accept the degree. “Obviously, just getting the honorary doctorate itself is definitely very exciting” but the fact it’s with fellow Innis students makes it super special, she added.

It was Innis that drew her to U of T in the 1970s because it was one of the few places that offered students the chance to take classes in film studies.

“It was very of its time. It was a very alternative college,” where students would relax on the carpeted floor covered in throw cushions and watch films on a 16mm projector. “There were great discussions.”

Her time at Innis, fused with her time in the classroom, ultimately led to Degrassi, which is an unusual success story — and not just for Canadian television.

It’s 36-years-old this year but somehow still passes convincingly as 14 as it explores the trials and tribulations of teenagers that continue to resound with generations of young people around the world.

Perhaps, it could only have started here. It’s very Canadianess — the fact it isn’t glossy and Hollywood, that it uses real kids playing their real ages and controversial issues aren’t shied away from or tidily dealt with — could be the key. It’s the anti-Saved by the Bell.

“It’s absolutely a mystery, eh?” Schuyler jokes when asked for the secret to the Degrassi longevity. “I think when you say frank storytelling; it’s not just frank it’s also as authentic as possible to the teenage experience.”

In 2011, when Degrassi won the prestigious Peabody Award, Schuyler and her team were lauded for an episode arc about a transgender teen that “neither trivializes nor over dramatizes its subject.”

“I was really touched by that,” she says, adding the stories and issues they explore are never “a ratings grab” or talk down to young people as “you’re just going through a phase.”

And how they approach an issue has changed over time to reflect societal changes. “Our stories should reflect the times,” she says. An example is how the Degrassi universe has evolved when it comes to LGBTQ characters.

In 1986, Snake’s older brother confides in him that he’s gay and Snake doesn’t know how to deal with it, explains Schuyler. The parents even reject their son. Fast forward to 2003, this time viewers watched as a main character named Marco learns to accept, embrace and explore his sexuality over time. “It was a process for him.” But in 2015, three or four main characters start their first day in Grade 9 on the show “totally out and totally cool” about it.

But along with the heavier issues was a lot of fun. Clerks director Kevin Smith is a self-confessed super fan of the shows, as is Girls creator and star Lena Dunham and celebrity gossip maven Perez Hilton. Degrassi is so well-known, it even gets name-dropped on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

And when Drake drops in an interview with W that he was “kicked off” Degrassi because of his music, well, people sit up and take notice.

“He graduated. His character graduated!” says Schuyler when teasingly asked about it. “I don’t know how that story started.”

But things are cool with Drake — he’ll always be Aubrey Graham to me, she says, adding the last time she saw him he gave her a big bear hug.

Schuyler certainly knows how to spot talent.

When they first auditioned Drake... er, Aubrey... for the role of Degrassi basketball player Jimmy Brooks, his charisma was just overwhelming. His acting chops, well not so much because he didn’t really have any at the time, she says.

“But the camera loved him. He was just so charismatic.”

And mention the name Joey Jeremiah, Snake or Wheels and women (and men) of a certain age will still swoon to this day even though Degrassi High ended its run in 1991.

“We auditioned so many kids for that role,” says Schuyler about the fedora-wearing jokester and wannabe musician Joey. “Pat Mastroianni was the first one — and we just looked at each other and knew.”

Linda Schuyler addressed the 10 a.m. ceremony for graduands from Innis College and Trinity College. A video of Schuyler's speech will be available on U of T’s YouTube channel following the event.

(Above: Professor Janet Paterson, Schuyler and Governing Council Chair Judy Goldring/ photo by Steve Frost)

#UofTGrad16: Engineering students put the "U" in U of Toronto

lavende4 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:05:23 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Engineering students put the "U" in U of Toronto lavende4 Tue, 06/14/2016 - 09:05

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U-Haul: Members of U of T Engineering’s Blue & Gold Committee and Outreach Office on their way to Nathan Phillips Square (Kyle Coulter, U of T Engineering photo)

Arthur Kaptainis

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The order came in on June 3. The photo shoot of the TORONTO sign in Nathan Phillips Square was scheduled for June 8.

No problem for the Blue & Gold Committee.

“I don’t think that either of us were every really concerned about being able to complete the project on time, or even had thoughts about not taking it on,” Joshua Calafato, co-chair with Ozan Coskun of a volunteer organization of Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering students who make it their business to make things – and make things happen.

The task in this case was to construct a big “U” and lower-case “of” to stand to the left of the TORONTO sign, which was illuminated partly in U of T blue for a day as the City of Toronto recognized the university and its 2016 graduates.

Why U of T grads love Toronto

There were some complications. Coskun, a mechanical engineering student who was in charge of design, was visiting family in Istanbul. Not that the distance posed much of a problem in the Internet age. The main issue was coordinating working with waking hours.

Using Solidworks software, he was able to design letters of appropriate dimensions and font and sent the plans across the Atlantic, where Calafato, an engineering science student with a major in electrical engineering, had assembled a team of eight volunteers who were good with their hands.

“We were able to finish construction in about four hours, and painted them in an hour,” Calafato said. “All in all, we finished working just before midnight Tuesday night.”

The plywood and other materials came from Home Depot but the work was done in the Blue & Gold Room. True to engineering ideals, this space adjacent to the “pit” in the Sanford Fleming Building is outfitted as a woodworking shop rather than a conventional meeting space.

“We don’t get paid, and our involvement is totally driven by passion,” Coskun said. “We signed up for this role knowing that such tight timelines can occur.”

According to Calafato (who, like Coskun, has just finished his third year) the volunteer workers did not hesitate. Who could refuse an offer to give senior classmates and other graduates a fitting send-off?

“The best part about this build was seeing our peers come together,” Calafato added.

And what now happens to the Big U? It is an impressive letter, six feet high and four-and-a-half feet wide. The handsome font is Azo Sans Bold.

“The fate of the U is unfortunately the same as all of our builds, mostly recycling,” Coskun said. “We usually salvage any useful materials, like metals or big chunks of wood. However, we keep tons of photos which let us remember what we have accomplished.”

#UofTGrad16: Rotman valedictorians reflect

lavende4 — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 18:24:03 +0000

#UofTGrad16: Rotman valedictorians reflect lavende4 Mon, 06/13/2016 - 14:24

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Rotman graduands at Convocation Hall: “There are so many possibilities out there” (Johnny Guatto photo. Other photos by Stephen Watt)

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