Tradition and new initiatives brought the St. Michael’s community together this fall. Here’s some of the things we celebrated in September and October.
Michaelmas
St. Michael’s celebrated our patron saint with our annual Michaelmas festivities, cohosted by SMCSU and the President’s Office, on September 26. As per tradition, the celebrations began with an academic procession into St. Basil’s Church for a special mass. The festivities continued with food trucks on Elmsley Place; games and activities in the Quad; and President David Sylvester and SMCSU President, Yusuf Durmus, cutting a cake with a sword.
Legacy Wall Event and Luncheon
The Michaelmas celebrations also honoured the newest inductees to St. Michael’s Legacy Wall. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin; Joan MacDonald Smith, Ontario’s first female solicitor general; and founder of St. Mike’s Continuing Education division Dr. Mimi Marrocco joined the legacy wall, which honours the efforts and achievements of key community members. Portraits of the three inductees were displayed alongside citations noting their accomplishments. The celebrations included a tour of the legacy wall followed by an intimate luncheon.
Archbishop Francis Leo to Named Cardinal
St. Michael’s extends its congratulations to Archbishop Francis Leo, Chancellor of the University of St. Michael’s College, who is to be elevated to the College of Cardinals. Pope Francis made the announcement on October 6. Archbishop Leo will be officially named as a Cardinal at the consistory that will take place on December 8 at the Vatican in Rome. Archbishop Leo is one of 21 men from around the world to be named a Cardinal.
St. Michael’s Now Home to Sheptytsky House
Following a generous $1-million donation from the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute Foundation (MASIF), the building known as Windle House has been renamed in honour of one of the most important figures in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Sheptytsky House houses the offices and classrooms of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI), which operates as an academic unit within the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology.
FAS Fall Convocation
St. Michael’s most recent graduates received their diplomas at the Faculty of Arts and Science Fall Convocation on October 28. Graduates gathered in Convocation Hall, where the University of Toronto installed their newest Chancellor, Wes Hall. Following the ceremony, a reception was held in Father Madden Hall for the newest graduates and their families.
St. Mike’s Annual Book Sale
This year’s St. Michael’s College Book Sale, organized by the Friends of the Kelly Library, raised a new record. Now in its 20th year, the sale depends on high-quality donations as well as a team of student and community volunteers whose skillful sorting, judicious pricing and good-humoured energy ensure the event’s success. In consultation with the Kelly’s Chief Librarian James Roussain, the Friends are using the proceeds to buy a cylinder printing press for the library’s Print Studio, set aside funding for library exhibits, refurbish worn-out chairs and sponsor an undergraduate research colloquium.
Launch of AMPlify, a New Alumni-Student Mentorship Program
AMPlify, an alumni-student mentorship program, kicked off during Grad Week with a speed mentoring event. Students and recent grads had the opportunity to meet with multiple experienced alumni mentors in quick, timed sessions. Grad Week was a collaboration between Campus Life and the Registrar’s Office and offered workshops and events for students thinking about going to grad school come next fall.
Grow Week
Campus life welcomed students back to campus with Grow Week. In early September, students were invited to take part in a variety of activities designed to celebrate university life, foster a collaborative spirit and set a positive tone for the year ahead. Popular activities included a keychain making session and a peer mentorship evening at FreePlay, an arcade bar.
Wellness Week
As part of efforts to shine a spotlight on the wellness services and resources available on campus, St. Michael’s hosted a Wellness Week. The week included a pen pal writing session, a visit from therapy dogs, and a workshop on how to navigate life post-graduation. To learn more about what’s new in wellness at St. Mike’s, read ‘Checking in on Wellness at St. Mike’s’.
Fall Cleanup Day
Wellness Week concluded with St. Mike’s Fall Cleanup Day. The event, organized by SMCSU’s Wellness Team, took place on the final day before the midterm break. Staff and students came out to show their appreciation for the campus by tidying it up in preparation for winter.
Book Launch for New Book by Prof. Michael Higgins
More than 100 people attended the launch of Prof. Michael W. Higgins’ much-anticipated new book, ‘The Jesuit Disruptor: A Personal Portrait of Pope Francis’ on September 17 in Alumni Hall. As part of the launch, Michael Higgins, who is the Basilian Distinguished Fellow of Contemporary Christian Thought, shared his insights on the Synod on Synodality. A wine and cheese reception followed in Father Madden Hall.
Interactive Session on the Synod in Rome with Sister Elizabeth Davis
On September 18, Regis alumna Sister Elizabeth Davis facilitated an interactive session on the Synod in Rome in the Regis Chapel. Sister Elizabeth was one of 54 women delegates to the universal phase of the Church’s Synod on Synodality. She attended a month-long session in Rome in October 2023 and again in October 2024. She shared her experiences at the synod and those working with it.
Tomson Highway Delivers Christianity and the Arts Lecture
This year’s Christianity and Arts lecture brought renowned author Tomson Highway to St. Michael’s on October 2. Highway is a best-selling author, playwright, musician and author. As part of the lecture, he treated attendees to a brief performance on the piano.
Critical Conversations in Catholic Education Conference
The Critical Conversations in Catholic Education conference, offered by Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, was designed to empower parents and teachers to address climate anxiety with the young people in their lives. The keynote speaker Joyce Mercer, Horace Bushnell Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Yale Divinity School, spoke on the topic of ‘Youth Climate Anxiety and Religious Education’. The conference also included panel conversations on ‘Climate Anxiety, Youth, and Indigenous Knowledge’ and ‘Pedagogical Strategies for Eco-Resilience’.
Langan Lecture
This year’s Langan Lecture explored how Jesuit missionaries, led by Matteo Ricci, facilitated significant cross-cultural exchange between Christian Europe and Imperial China during the Ming and Qing dynasties through religious, cultural, and scientific dialogues. Boston College Professor M. Antoni J. Ucerler, a Jesuit priest and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, spoke on the topic of ‘Jesuit Missionaries & Mandarins in Ming and Qing China: Faith, Science, and the Arts’. In association with the lecture, a special collection was on display in the Kelly Library that included items from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History.
Tri-College Liturgy
This year’s Tri-College liturgy was held at the Newman Centre Chapel on October 16. Members of USMC, Regis St. Michael’s and St. Augustine’s Seminary participated in the mass.
New Continuing Education Courses
September marked the start of Continuing Education’s fall term with courses offered in both general interest and professional learning. Some of the general interest courses launched this fall included Letterpress Printing at the Kelly Library and Poetry and Prayer led by Mary Jo Leddy and Susie Whelehan.
The division also launched a new professional course, Unlocking Resilience: Climate Change for Social Impact Leaders as a complement to the longstanding Diploma in Social Responsibility and Sustainability.
Michael Salvatori Visits Thompson Rivers University
Continuing Education Director Michael Salvatori visited Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, British Columbia as a visiting lecturer. Michael made presentations to candidates studying in the Bachelor and Master of Education programs on professional standards and the development of professional judgment. His visit also afforded the opportunity to consult with TRU faculty on new course and program development.
Continuing Education Administers Diploma in Interfaith Dialogue
The Division of Continuing Education recently assumed the administration of the Diploma in Interfaith Dialogue, which was previously administered by the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology. Two interfaith courses, Islam 101 and Dialogues: Principles and Practices were launched this October. These courses are open and accessible to anyone who is interested in interfaith dialogue, regardless of their background, faith or experience.
Continuing Education’s Roxanne Wright Elected Vice President of OCULL
Roxanne Wright, Continuing Education’s Manager in Program Development and Delivery, and Disha Makhijani, Executive Assistant for Continuing Education, attended the Ontario Council for University Lifelong Learning (OCULL) Annual General Meeting and Professional Development retreat at the end of October. The event presented an opportunity to network with continuing education colleagues from across the country and learn from experts in the field. At this meeting, Roxanne was elected to the OCULL Executive Committee as Vice-President for a one-year term.
When Faith Meets Pedagogy Conference
The Continuing Education division joined the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology as an exhibitor at the When Faith Meets Pedagogy Conference in Toronto on October 25. This large annual conference offered an opportunity to promote the renewal of St. Mike’s Continuing Education division and its programs including additional qualification courses for teachers in religious education as well as the Diploma in Interfaith Dialogue.
Staff BBQ
All USMC staff members, as well as staff from PIMS, Loretto, Mary Ward and the Jesuit Forum, were invited to a staff barbeque on September 4. Staff chatted and enjoyed a meal al fresco on Elmsley Place.
Collegium Retreat
The annual Collegium retreat was held on September 12 in Charbonnel Lounge. President David Sylvester delivered a presentation on the rich history of the University of St. Michael’s College and Director of Mission and Ministry Sonal Castelino spoke about the Christian, and universal, values of USMC. The retreat was led by Christine Tausig-Ford, a consultant to the Collegium, who guided a set of workshops on good governance.
Collegium Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of St. Michael’s Collegium was held on October 9 in Charbonnel Lounge. Members discussed a wide variety of issues ranging from governance to finances. Outgoing Collegium members received gifts to recognize their service to the College.
Kelly Library Welcomes New Work Study Students
The Kelly Library welcomes two new work study students. Jillian Nash and Victoria Tywonek-Sobota joined the Kelly Library staff this fall and will be working on special projects until March.
Jillian Nash, our new work study Inventory Assistant, is a first year Master of Information Student at the University of Toronto in the Archives and Records Management concentration. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a BA in Classical Studies. She comes to us with experience working as a page at the London Public Library.
Jillian is working in the Access & Information department on a project to find mis-shelved or missing books. She will be individually scanning the barcodes of all our books in the collection into an Excel sheet. With this Excel sheet a report is run to compare that information with the information stored in our database to identify items that have gone AWOL. We are so excited to have Jillian working with us on this important project that will help keep our collection accessible to students and faculty!
Victoria Tywonek-Sobota, a new work study student in our Special Collections teams, is a second-year student within the University of Toronto’s combined degree program for a Master of Information and Master of Museum Studies.
Victoria’s work-study project is to digitize the entirety of The Mike, the official student newspaper of the University of St. Michael’s College, which has been in operation since 1948. The project involves two steps. The first is recording details about each issue onto a spreadsheet and mass-uploading the data to the University of Toronto’s digital repository. That’s half the job. To actually digitize the newspaper, Victoria uses a scanner for smaller issues and a camera for larger ones. Once the project is done, archival users will be able to access all copies of The Mike online!
The University of St. Michael’s College is celebrating the news that our Chancellor, Archbishop Francis Leo, is to be elevated to the College of Cardinals later this year.
“Archbishop Leo has been a valuable source of guidance and support to the university and to me,” says St. Michael’s President David Sylvester. “We look forward to witnessing his service extend from St. Michael’s and the Archdiocese of Toronto to the global Church from Rome.”
A consistory – a meeting of the College of Cardinals – for the creation of new cardinals will take place Dec. 8, 2024 in Rome at the Vatican. Archbishop Leo is one of 21 men from around the world to named as a cardinal.
“I am humbled and honoured to receive this appointment from the Holy Father. I pray and rely on the prayers of the faithful in Toronto that I will be a worthy servant of the Lord Jesus in fulfilling my responsibilities as a member of the College of Cardinals and to continue in my primary role as shepherd of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Toronto,” the archbishop said in a statement released by the Archdiocese of Toronto to announce the appointment.
Leo, an accomplished academic who has served in a variety of roles within the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, the United States and Australia, was sworn in as Chancellor of St. Michael’s in June 2023.
As stated in the University of St. Michael’s College Act (2005), the Chancellor, who is also a member of St. Michael’s Senate, presides at university convocations and confers degrees. Archbishop Leo’s appointment was made by the University’s Collegium, St. Michael’s governing board of directors.
Prior to being named Archbishop of Toronto, Archbishop Leo served as Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal. A respected academic who speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish, Archbishop Leo has taught philosophy and theology and served as a Judge for the Canadian Appeal Tribunal. He is President and founding member of the Canadian Mariological Society. He is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem as well as a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Dominic (Third Order Dominican).
Leo will preside over the Faculty of Theology convocation on November 9, 2024.
The University of St. Michael’s College is pleased to welcome Susan Helstab as Chair of Collegium, the University’s highest governing body. Current board member Helstab, an experienced business leader with extensive teaching and volunteer experience, was elected to the role in December, 2023.
Joining Helstab on the board’s executive team as Vice-Chair is current Collegium member Dr. Mike DeGagné.
Reflecting on her election to the role of Chair, Helstab says “as an alumna of the University and former resident of Loretto College, I am deeply honoured by the opportunity to give back in a meaningful way to the school that set me on the path to success in life and helped solidify my personal values in adulthood.”
Helstab’s more than 40-year career in business was capped by serving as EVP Global Sales and Marketing of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Possessing a life-long interest in supporting higher education, she taught advertising in the Radio Television Arts program at Toronto Metropolitan University in the 1980s, as well as serving on advisory boards of both Cornell University (2009-2015) and Toronto Metropolitan University (2019-2022), and as a guest lecturer at Harvard (2013-2015). Her volunteer experience also includes time on the board of the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation.
“St. Mike’s has an inspiring strategic plan. We have a visionary President. We have dedicated Collegium members,” Helstab says. “As Collegium Chair, I will apply my leadership, business, and brand-building experience to ensure continued effective governance and to support the President in the achievement of the St. Mike’s 180 Strategic Plan.”
DeGagné is the President & CEO of Indspire, an Indigenous national charity dedicated to supporting and investing in the education of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people throughout Turtle Island. A former President and Vice Chancellor of Nipissing University, his volunteer experience includes serving as Chairman of Ottawa’s Queensway Carleton Hospital and Chairman of the Child Welfare League of Canada. He has received the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. A Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough, he is a citizen of the Animakee Wa Zhing 37 First Nation.
“I welcome the opportunity to serve St. Michael’s as Vice-Chair of the Collegium,” says DeGagné. “I have extensive experience in higher education and in university administration. It will be a pleasure to be more involved in Catholic education.”
University President David Sylvester said he looks forward to working with Helstab and DeGagné in their new roles.
“Susan Helstab and Dr. DeGagné each have brought enormous governance as well as public and private sector experience to the Collegium. As Chair and Vice-chair, their leadership will help ensure our commitment to serve students in ways that are academically and socially transformative,” says Sylvester.
At its Fourth Regular Meeting on June 12th, the Collegium passed a motion with unanimous support formally thanking outgoing Chair Rosanne Rocchi for her years of service to the University of St. Michael’s College and the Collegium.
The Collegium governs the affairs of the University. It safeguards the property and funds of the University, ensuring that it has the resources to carry out its mission while operating in accordance with the best academic practices and the governing law. The Senate is the principal advisor of the Collegium on all matters of an academic and educational nature in the University.
The University of St. Michael’s College is pleased to welcome Dr. Brendan Browne and Dr. Mike DeGagné to the Collegium, the University’s governing board.
Dr. Browne currently serves as Director and CEO of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), while Dr. DeGagné is the President and CEO of Indspire, the national organization which supports Indigenous post- secondary students and recognizes Indigenous excellence through the annual INDSPIRE awards.
“Dr. Browne and Dr. DeGagné bring exceptional governance and educational experience to Collegium and will help St. Mike’s advance two strategic priorities: how the University can engage fruitfully in the journey of Reconciliation and how best to leverage our position as a leader in Catholic education to serve teachers, school administrators and the community,” President David Sylvester said.
An Ojibway from the Animakee Wa Zhing 37 First Nation, Dr. DeGagné served for seven years as President & Vice Chancellor of Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario and in 2020 he became the first President & Vice Chancellor of Yukon University in Whitehorse. His more than 25 years’ experience in public service includes serving as an executive with Health Canada as well as with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
In 1998, Dr. DeGagné became the founding Executive Director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, working on a national level to encourage and support community-developed and delivered culturally based initiatives addressing the intergenerational effects of abuses suffered in the Indian Residential School System. The recipient of numerous awards and honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014 and Member of the Order of Ontario in 2010. He was made a Visiting Fellow at St. Michael’s College in 2021 and is a member of the advisory council for St. Michael’s Diploma in Social Responsibility & Sustainability program.
The 14th Director of Education for the TCDSB, Dr. Browne has served as a teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent and executive superintendent. He has written extensively on matters relating to education, including creating Catholic leadership course modules, and is the author of Leading for Educational Lives: Inviting and Sustaining Imaginative Acts of Hope in a Connected World.
He has served on numerous provincial and international committees and boards focused on educational leadership, including his current position on the provincial committee for school mental health, and internationally on the Board of Directors for a Christian mission hospital in Kenya.
In 2022, Dr. Browne received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Brock University, where he earned his doctorate in Leadership and Policy Studies.
“It is an honour to welcome Drs. DeGagné and Browne to Collegium. Their respective skill sets will further enrich a very talented and dedicated board,” said Collegium Chair Rosanne Rocchi.
Dr. Browne and Dr. DeGagné take up their new role as of the October 11th Collegium meeting.
Collegium is the principal of two bodies that govern the affairs of the University of St. Michael’s College. Its members work to safeguard the property and funds of the University and ensure that it has the resources to carry out its mission while operating in accordance with the best academic practices and the governing law.
Senate is the other governing body. Its responsibilities concern academic matters and it has the exclusive power to grant degrees and award diplomas and certificates within the University. Senate also advises the Collegium on all academic and educational matters.