MSU Diversity + Equity Network to bring advocacy back to the streets, aiming to spark conversations on equity, diversity and inclusion on campus
On Mar. 11, 2025, the MSU Diversity and Equity Network announced on Instagram that the Diversity on the Street series, giving students a chance to win prizes while sharing their thoughts on campus life and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Diversity on the Street is an Instagram reels series that amplifies the voices and thoughts of McMaster University students on diversity and equity. In each episode, a DEN executive engages with students on campus, asking questions about equity, diversity and inclusion while also raising awareness about the services DEN provides.
This past month, DEN released the first episode of the series, titled "Hot Takes for Hot Chips," where they asked McMaster students to share their hottest takes. This episode aimed to celebrate the diversity of opinions within the community.
Aisha Mahmoud, a social and political advocacy coordinator for DEN, shared her experience working on the series and its goals. She explained that DEN aims to engage students in a way that is both interactive and reflective of popular social media formats. She also emphasized that the series aims to highlight the diversity of the McMaster community.
“DEN is a service that is still finding its identity. One of the best ways that we can show who we are to students is by creating a really authentic online presence, and just putting ourselves out there by actually meeting people,” said Mahmoud.
DEN is a service that is still finding its identity. One of the best ways that we can show who we are to students is by creating a really authentic online presence, and just putting ourselves out there by actually meeting people.
Aisha Mahmoud, Social and Political Advocacy Coordinator,
Diversity and Equity Network, McMaster Students Union
Mahmoud also noted that the second
She explained that previous videos focused on diversity, equity and inclusion but they did not seem to engage students in the way DEN had hoped. As a result, DEN sought to explore different ways of showcasing diversity through these interviews.
Mahmoud mentioned that the second episode was designed to engage students with a variety of musical genres and introduce them to new artists or cultures.
“The idea is that by asking the next student to rate the previous song, we’ll be introducing them to a genre, artist, or culture they haven’t interacted with before,” said Mahmoud.
Mahmoud shared that the third episode was inspired by DEN’s recent mandate
“Everything we thought of [for the episodes] was still informed by celebrating and showcasing the diversity on campus, but maybe in ways that people wouldn’t necessarily expect,” said Mahmoud.
She emphasized that the goal was to record the videos in places where students already gather and feel comfortable, such as the McMaster University Student Centre and The Hub.
Mahmoud also shared her vision for expanding the series.
“It would be really cool if we continued this style of interviews at ClubFest, going around and introducing some of the cultural clubs or diverse groups in a street interview style,” said Mahmoud.
She also noted that they wanted to create a legacy for the series, ensuring that despite turnover from the academic year with new members joining and executive members graduating, the series would remain a consistent presence.
“We want to have a recurring series so that the identity of the service and our social media presence has one consistent throughline despite that turnover,” said Mahmoud.
The next two episodes will be released in the coming weeks. For more information and to watch the series, students can follow DEN on Instagram.
Simon Mills’ MSU presidential platform aims to create a more connected, inclusive and supportive McMaster community
Simon Mills, a candidate for the 2025 McMaster Students Union presidential election, is running with goals of strengthening and building McMaster's student community, improving student life and addressing issues such as mental health support, athletics and student rights.
Mills, who has worked at TwelvEighty Bar and Grill for several years, has a platform focusing on five core pillars, which are student life, athletic events and support, club engagement and on-campus well-being and safety.
Mills' vision for student life at McMaster involves revitalizing popular campus events and spaces. His platform mentions enhancing Light Up the Night, an annual campus event, by bringing in more "dynamic and engaging" performers, improving crowd management and expanding food truck offerings.
Mills also expresses a desire to revitalize TwelvEighty and Union Market, suggesting that they are underutilized spaces on campus. He plans to introduce consistent student events like karaoke, trivia and live music at TwelvEighty and stock Union Market with healthier food options and improve its look with student art.
Mills platform proposes adding additional elements to Homecoming, such as interfaculty games prior to the main football game and beer gardens. He also proposes a four day long "MSU Cup" event, which he describes as being like a "faculty olympics," as students would compete in various sports representing their faculties.
In an effort to boost student engagement with athletics, Mills wants to create more exciting game-day experiences. He wants to introduce giveaways, raffles and tailgating to attract more to sports events. Proposing to collaborate with Athletics and Recreation, he hopes to make game days more engaging with "interactive fan zones" and celebrations for important events.
Mills is also advocating for better support for student-athletes. He proposes organizing opportunities for current student-athletes to network and learn from alumni who were student-athletes. Mills also proposes organizing academic support for athletes specifically, including tutoring and study sessions and workshops to help them balance their schedules.
Mills believes that clubs play a crucial role in student life. He proposes creating a "Club Vision Program," a matchmaking tool to help students connect with clubs that align with their interests. He also calls for more frequent club fairs, two to three per year, to ensure students have ample opportunities to engage with clubs beyond the first semester.
Mills states he wants to streamline the event planning process and simplify the event health and safety approval process, ensuring clubs can organize events more efficiently. Additionally, he indicates in his platform that he wishes to collaborate with Bounce to better the ticketing system for club events.
Mills platform iterates the importance of safety and well-being for students, particularly in terms of mental health and physical safety. His platform calls for more advocacy for increased mental health resources on campus to reduce wait times for appointments with the Student Wellness Centre. He also wants to advocate for better lighting in parking lots and pathways, increased funding and new equipment for the student-run Emergency First Response Team and additional emergency call stations.
Additionally, Mills wants to advocate for online information on parking availability and shuttle bus trackers to make commuting easier for students.
Mills' platform proposes advocating for students on the issues of housing and parking enforcement. He plans to advocate for the permanent implementation of Hamilton's Rental Housing Licensing Pilot Program to increase the quality of rental conditions for students. Mills also wants to advocate against what he claims to be "predatory" and disproportionate parking enforcement in the areas near McMaster.
Mills platform also mentions creating a new service that would be called the "Academic Integrity Guardians," whose role would be to support students accused of inappropriately using AI in their course work.
Mills additionally proposes collaborating with McMaster Library services to enhance library study spaces by increasing the number of power outlets and desktop monitor accessibility.
Finally, he also plans to collaborate with Hamilton Bike Share to establish more bike rack areas outside of and near the university with high numbers of students.
Simon Mills' platform focuses on enhancing student life, supporting athletes, improving campus safety, and advocating for better housing and parking policies.
FCC and MSU Maroons revive Halloween food security campaign, going door-to-door in McMaster neighbourhoods to collect donations for first time since 2015
This Halloween, the McMaster Students Union Food Collective Centre hosted its annual Trick-or-Eat food collection campaign in the Hub, collaborating with the McMaster Students Union Maroons for the first time since 2015. On Oct. 30, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., FCC and Maroon volunteers went door-to-door in the neighbourhoods surrounding campus to collect non-perishable items for the FCC's food pantry and fridge.
The FCC, located on the third floor of the Hub, is a student-run service that offers resources to students, faculty and Hamilton community members year-round to address food insecurity amid rising food prices.
Trick-or-Eat is a youth-led national event that adds a charitable twist to Halloween by raising funds and collecting food items for local agencies. This campaign is held across the country and aims to address food insecurity in Canadian households.
Last year, FCC's Trick-or-Eat ran over the course of a week, accepting non-perishable and hygiene items at donation boxes on and off campus. This year, the campaign went door-to-door in five main areas: Westdale, Dalewood, Ofield Road, Leland and Whitney and Emerson at Main Street West and Thorndale. Acceptable donations included non-perishable foods and hygiene products.
FCC social and political advocacy coordinator Siya Sood discussed the event’s organization, which was planned with MSU Maroon event coordinators.
“With the Maroons helping us out, we have more people to go door to door. We hope that in addition to donations, we can interact with members of the McMaster community so they can hopefully hear about our services and know what is available to them if they choose to utilize them,” said Sood.
This year, with the Maroons helping us out, we have more people to go door to door. We hope that in addition to donations, we can interact with members of the McMaster community so they can hopefully hear about our services and know what is available to them if they choose to utilize them.
Siya Sood, Social and Political Advocacy Coordinator
Food Collective Centre
Sood also noted that the FCC’s move to the Hub has increased visibility among students, as the new building is a high-traffic space and is more accessible.
“Having the campaign located in the Hub, a high-traffic, new space compared to our previous location at Bridges Cafe, means people who might not have considered using our services may be more encouraged to do so, as it is more welcoming and easier to access,” said Sood.
Sood emphasized that even students without items to donate could still participate by becoming socially aware and learning more about the FCC's services.
For those outside the collection areas, the FCC arranged donation pickups through a Google Form. For more information on the Trick-or-Eat campaign and the FCC, visit their social media and website.
C/O Peter Ivey-Hansen
Four climate change and sustainability-related events happening around the Hamilton area in the month of November
McMaster students have perpetually been expressing their concerns about implementation of sustainable practices and telling the Mac learning institution to do better. In the month of October, McMaster launched a new Sustainable Development Goals hub on campus, where students can interact more profoundly with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals for 2030 and help promote sustainability at the local and global levels. Now, the McMaster Centre for Climate Change will also be planting a new carbon sink forest in Hamilton to help mitigate climate change.
The beginning of November designates an important time in worldwide action against climate change, with Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 marking COP26: the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference. Held in Glasgow, the COP26 summit is a call to action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement on an international scale. Here are a few opportunities in the month of November to get your feet wet in climate change and sustainability.
Jumblies Artist-in-Residence: Exploring In-Between Places
Jumblies is a theatre organization located in Toronto aiming to increase inclusion in the arts through collaboration between diverse people and communities. Megan Spencer, an artist-in-residence with Jumblies, will be holding community activities and workshops surrounding the theme of ecotones, liminal spaces where biodiversity thrives in the room in-between.
One of Spencer’s events will be stop motion creation sessions, where participants will learn animation skills through two dimensional stop motion. Activities will be held from Nov. 8-20 both outdoors and indoors at The Ground Floor, with an option to Zoom-in for those unable to attend in person.
Lunch & Learn at the Royal Botanical Gardens
Every Wednesday until Dec. 1, Hamilton’s Royal Botanical Gardens will be hosting half-hour Lunch & Learn events with horticulture experts virtually. As a registered charitable organization, the Botanical Gardens are a community centre for plant science, conservation and education. Each Lunch & Learn event features a different member of the Royal Botanical Gardens staff, exploring topics from water conservation to mediterranean plants based on questions submitted by participants upon registration.
GREEN BUSINESS: What does sustainability mean to you?
For those with an interest in the intersection between sustainability and business, the Hamilton Business Centre is hosting discussions on implementing sustainable practices for small businesses and entrepreneurs. To be held on Nov. 18, the discussion is intended as an opportunity for people with entrepreneurial spirit to connect and share their thoughts on ways businesses can become climate advocates at the local level.
What kind of tree is that? Tree identification
On Nov. 20, embrace the reds and oranges of the fall by learning how to identify trees in Cambridge’s Victoria Park. Reep Green Solutions is an environmental charity active in the Waterloo region. In their mission to provide community members with tools and resources to implement sustainable living, they will be holding a tree identification workshop where participants will learn to identify tree species in the fall and winter.
The workshop will be led by Nick Assad, a landscape architect and ISA-certified arborist, and will examine various aspects of tree identification including bud configuration and bark patterns.
A group of Hamilton organizations have begun developing a platform to track and address Hamilton’s high rate of hate crimes per capita
C/O Sergey Zolkin
In 2019, Hamilton had the highest number of police-reported hate crimes per capita in Canada at 17.1 per 100,000 people. The national rate, in comparison, was 4.9 out of 100,000. Further, many have argued that Hamilton hasn’t done enough to address its high rate of hate crimes.
In response to this, a variety of Hamilton organizations are in the process of developing a platform to report hate crimes online. Associate Professor in the McMaster University School of Social Work, Ameil Joseph, the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, Spectrum Hamilton and McMaster’s office of community engagement are all involved in the creation of this platform.
Kojo Damptey, executive director of the HCCI, noted that the main purposes of the online platform are to accurately track the number of hate crimes in Hamilton and to offer support and resources to those who are victims of hate.
“When we're talking about hate crimes in Canada, the only numbers that are available are what police departments submit to stats Canada. That doesn't give us an accurate picture of all the hate crimes and hate incidents that are happening . . . By having this community[-based], independent platform, it will give us a better sense of what's happening in the community and how we can address this issue of hate,” said Damptey.
“When we're talking about hate crimes in Canada, the only numbers that are available are what police departments submit to stats Canada. That doesn't give us an accurate picture of all the hate crimes and hate incidents that are happening."
Kojo Damptey
According to Sashaina Singh, project coordinator for McMaster’s office of community engagement, the project is still in the research phase and focus groups are currently being conducted.
“Students are doing focus groups with marginalized communities in Hamilton to find out what they'd like to see in the platform, if they would use it, why they would use it, how they would use it, how the data would be used,” Singh explained.
Damptey noted that one major benefit of an online platform is that it allows victims of hate to report incidents in an immediate fashion. However, Damptey added, this is only true for individuals with smartphones or access to the internet.
Given that an online platform has both benefits and drawbacks, Damptey explained that there are still many aspects of this initiative that have yet to be decided.
Singh explained that more decisions about the platform will be made once the research phase is concluded. According to Singh, the ongoing research will guide important decisions about the online platform, such as where it will be housed, what it will be used for and how it will be accessed.
“Hopefully, at the end of the focus groups, we will be able to have a broad [selection] of different options and resources for people,” said Damptey.
“Hamilton is pretty unique and well-positioned to learn from our super active and vocal communities [about] what might work best here, and it's nice to see the energy and the support,” said Singh.
“Hamilton is pretty unique and well-positioned to learn from our super active and vocal communities [about] what might work best here, and it's nice to see the energy and the support."
Sashaina Singh
Singh added that she hopes the platform will help all members of the Hamilton community, including McMaster students and faculty.
“The most important thing is making sure that people that experience [hate have access to] resources and support,” Damptey emphasized.
“The most important thing is making sure that people that experience [hate have access to] resources and support."
Kojo Damptey
McMaster University zine aims to showcase art from survivors of sexualized violence
C/O Tim Mossholder
cw: sexual violence
Four McMaster University undergraduate students have launched a zine aimed at showcasing art from survivors of sexual violence and their supporters. It is open to McMaster students and members of the Hamilton community.
The zine is part of an initiative called Colours of Solidarity that started in 2019 for the course HTHSCI 4X03 — Collaboration and Peer Tutoring. In March 2019, the organizers created an interactive survivor art installation. This year the organizers shifted the project’s focus to the zine to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Sexualized violence is a traumatic experience that can have ranging effects on survivors, including physical, psychological and social impacts. It can also affect survivors’ sense of self and identity.
“Our zine’s focus is on survivorship . . . and we're really just hoping to create a space where people are comfortable sharing their experience and talking about whatever it is that they feel is important. [Through the zine], we can try to support them as much as we can, while also letting them have a space where they can just be themselves and reclaim their identity,” explained Zahra Abdullah, a fourth-year health sciences student and member of the Colours of Solidarity team.
“[Through the zine], we can try to support them as much as we can, while also letting them have a space where they can just be themselves and reclaim their identity,”
Zahra Abdullah, member of the Colours of Solidarity team
The zine is now accepting submissions in a range of formats such as poetry, art, writing and photography. The deadline for submissions is to be determined, but will likely be in late March or early April.
The team has also provided some optional prompts for individuals to consider in their contribution.
Colours of Solidarity acknowledged that sexual violence is a large problem that exists institutionally at McMaster and within other postsecondary institutions. The organizers hoped that this zine can provide a safe space for survivors.
“We [hope we] can let people feel like there are others that they can reach out to people who've been through it to create some sort of support,” said Abdullah.
The team also recognized the importance of giving survivors the power to shape their narratives through this zine.
“I think oftentimes in a lot of these [sexualized violence] cases, survivors voices' aren't heard as much as we would like them to and there are often so many other factors that take priority over their own narrative, which should be the most important thing in that situation . . . This zine can serve as a springboard for survivors to talk about their own experiences,” said Sowmithree Ragothaman, member of the Colours of Solidarity team.
". . . survivors voices aren't heard as much as we would like them to and there are often so many other factors that take priority over their own narrative, which should be the most important thing in that situation."
Sowmithree Ragothaman, member of the Colours of Solidarity team
The team hopes that the zine will become an ongoing initiative that can collaborate with other McMaster clubs and organizations to create safer spaces for survivors.
They have collaborated with MSU Women and Gender Equity Network for their Making Waves week campaign. This week-long event hosted survivor-centric events, including a session for attendees to create art for the zine or in general
Submissions for the zine are accepted through a Google form and any questions can be directed to the team directly at solidaritysubmissions@gmail.com.
By Wei Yan Wu, Contributor
On Sept. 27, thousands of Canadians took to streets and parks to participate in the Global Climate Strike to raise awareness on the climate emergency.
On a request by students calling for cancellation of academic activities in order to make time for strike attendance. In response, McMaster Students for Climate Change Advocacy created a petition on Change.org. To date, more than 2,000 people have signed the petition, without a public response from the university. Classes and evaluations continued to be scheduled at McMaster during the strike.
Although the university showed no support for the petition, various climate change combating initiatives and programs exist at McMaster. The university’s energy management program, for one, strives to manage utilities and facilities in a way that improves energy efficiency.
“McMaster is very research-intensive. We’ve been working with a third party to reduce air volumes to the labs which reduces our carbon footprint,” said Joe Emberson, director of energy management and utilities at McMaster.
The university’s energy management staff has also worked on reducing water use on campus. They audit buildings to check where the water is being used, investigating if there might be alternative solutions to using water.
McMaster also offers The Sustainable Future Program (SUSTAIN) and the Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability to its undergraduate students.
The main pillars of the SUSTAIN program, according to Kate Whalen, current senior manager of McMaster’s academic sustainability programs, revolve around providing opportunities for students to learn about sustainability. However, they also have opportunities specifically for interdisciplinary, student-led, community-based and experiential learning.
Within their five courses, the program aims to scaffold specific skills that give students learning opportunities to prepare for tackling more complex issues in upper-year courses. On the other hand, the program’s lower-year courses have observation-based experiential excursions, projects in the community and lectures on sustainability theory.
“I expect a lot of our first-year students will be attending the climate march [on] Friday. They’ll go and participate, so they’re very much in the community in terms of project implementation and experiential learning where they’re working directly with the community,” said Whalen.
The upper-year courses focus more on community engagement and tackling city-based issues through sustainability projects. Whalen’s students, for example, are each completing a full ethics application for environmental practices. They conduct research and interviews, working with members of the community and city staff to understand environmental issues most prominent in the community and to seek solutions to these challenges.
The SUSTAIN program has garnered a great amount of interest from the student body.
“When we started the Sustainable Future Program, we had one course and I think we had just under a hundred students enrolled in it. Now we have more than five courses and we have just under a thousand students enrolled this year. We’ve seen rapid growth in the demand for our program,” said Whalen.
She attributes the success of the program to its timeliness, interdisciplinary characteristics, community-based experiences and the overall way sustainability education is being delivered at Mac. For her, it shows that Mac students are aware of the sustainability issues they face and are motivated to understand and engage with them.
Outside of academics, other McMaster students have also taken the initiative to promote sustainability across campus. Zero Waste McMaster is a new club on campus this fall.
“I decided to start the club because I thought there was a gap in the clubs at McMaster. There wasn’t really any club organization working towards conscious, sustainable, low-waste living for students,” said Josephine Agueci, president of Zero Waste McMaster and student in the SUSTAIN program.
The club is in the process of planning its activities for the year, with goals to hold monthly workshops and discussions on sustainable living. The club also aims to encourage students to attend environment awareness events like the Sustainability Walk in Hamilton happening at the beginning of October.
“Right now we’re focusing on individual impact, but from there we definitely want to work towards helping McMaster be more sustainable as a school, not just on an individual level. So whether that be working on a composting system or working with different food options or waste disposal on campus,” said Agueci.
Zero Waste McMaster also aims to collect feedback from the student body. They want to know what students want to change and what sustainability issues they see on campus.
Though the university did not support students who wished to attend the climate strike on Sept. 27, academic programs continue to find ways to contribute to efforts against climate change. While many of them were not able to skip their classes or evaluations on Sept. 27, McMaster students are nevertheless finding ways to engage in sustainability initiatives on campus.
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During the next two weeks, students will be invited to participate in Your City Survey 3.0, the third version of an MSU survey aimed at collecting feedback about McMaster students’ perceptions and experiences in Hamilton.
The survey was developed by the MSU in 2011 in response to students’ growing misconceptions about Hamilton, such as the idea that Hamilton cannot compete with metropolises like Toronto and Montreal. It asked students to report on their beliefs about Hamilton’s job market and cultural scene, their experiences in the city and the likelihood that they would live in Hamilton after graduating from the university.
The first Your City Survey revealed that most McMaster students had a negative perception of Hamilton and believed its job market and culture scene were largely inaccessible.
“It is evident that students don't believe that Hamilton offers the opportunities that they think it should offer,” read part of the report. “With 58 per cent being the biggest discrepancy, it is evident that student believe that not enough job opportunities are available to them.”
In light of these results, the MSU proposed the creation of new jobs by the Hamilton municipal government and improved promotion of Hamilton’s natural beauty and culture scene.
In 2015, the Your City Survey was updated to find out whether students’ perceptions and experiences of Hamilton had improved since the first version of the survey was released.
According to an MSU report, the responses in the 2015 Your City Survey 2.0 were more promising compared to those garnered from the first Your City Survey.
“Compared to the 2011 survey, there seems to have been a marked improvement in students’ attitudes regarding Hamilton as a viable option for their future,” read part of the report. “There is still a large percentage of students in the Maybe and No categories, so we encourage the city to continue working to increase graduate retention.”
Yet, while the report highlighted that students’ perceptions of Hamilton became more positive, it also noted that there are areas where community engagement can still be improved.
“Students still clearly believe that McMaster does a better job of advertising opportunities for students in Hamilton, and also that McMaster’s efforts have improved more significantly in the past four years than the city of Hamilton,” read part of the report.
In addition, as a result of a lack of time and awareness, students continue to be deterred from gaining new cultural experiences in Hamilton.
According to Stephanie Bertolo, the MSU associate vice president (Municipal Affairs), Your City 3.0 will be modified to focus more on transit, neighbourhood safety, and perceptions of Hamilton as a place to live after graduating from the university.
In addition, as the latest Your City Survey contained questions related to tourism in Hamilton, which generally did not concern the commuter student population, Your City Survey 3.0 will ask commuter students specifically about their unique situation and perspective.
The survey is being developed by the municipal affairs committee and overseen by Bertolo and Ryan Deshpande, MSU vice president (Education).
“These questions will help us collect more valuable data from students, which will be useful in informing the policies next year's Education Team will likely be rewriting on student housing and student engagement and retention,” said Bertolo.
The survey will be available until May 15 on the MSU website.
By: Alex Bak
Through the various “frat” Instagram accounts that often boast drunk endeavours and the typical mishaps of college students and the advertisements of beer paraphernalia, it became apparent that fraternity life has been coined into a lifestyle brand for college student.
What people often forget in the midst of all the advertisements and representations on social media is that these secret Greek letter societies were formed for the betterment of bonds between the respective brothers and sisters in the community.
The jaded view that fraternities often get at McMaster as a boisterous pack of mindless partygoers does not do their other pillars justice. I hope this piece can shed some light on the growing impact that fraternities have in the McMaster and Hamilton community and destigmatize the image of Greek life.
In my journey as an active member of the Mu Delta chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, I have witnessed numerous achievements by the efforts of the brothers that have changed my view on the supposed lifestyle of fraternities.
Through the various challenges that disguises the true intent of PiKA, the yearly chart-topping fundraising in support of the McMaster Relay for Life and the pints of blood donated for the McMaster Stem Cell Drive, I have been proud to be a part of the phenomenal support that a student organization can give to other student initiatives.
Even in the next few weeks there will be brothers shaving their heads for the Shave for a Cure initiative. This does not go to say that only one Greek life society is attributed to this cause. The growing Greek life at McMaster is responsible for a good portion of the unseen volunteer environment.
In my journey as an active member of the Mu Delta chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, I have witnessed numerous achievements by the efforts of the brothers that have changed my view on the supposed lifestyle of fraternities.
Imbued by a sense of collective ownership of the university and as stakeholders of the community’s growth, even more students will participate in these determinations of their peers as the brothers have done.
In a seemingly unnaturally inclusive environment, the status of faculty or years become irrelevant leading to a bridging of a gap between lower and upper years that wouldn’t occur in any other typical, post-secondary situation.
This leads to a unique environment, in which both seniors and freshmen are able to benefit and empower each other and push each other to strive for more than they could individually. The group not only works to empower those within the fraternity, but also seeks out the best interest of others in the community by dedicating their time to extracurricular charity work.
My time as a brother has helped me learn that university is so much more than a degree. When your kids ask you about your time at McMaster and wonder about the university experience on day, will you be stumped in trying to remember what you did here, or will you be able to flaunt your involvement with the McMaster community with pride?
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By: Elizabeth Ivanecky
Time is money, and your time at McMaster is no different. I don’t have to remind us all how much coffee we bought for those all-nighters and of course the big kahuna — our tuitions.
So yes, your time at Mac is money, no doubt about it, but you can make it count for more than that. Time is one of the most valuable things you can give when it comes to volunteering. And volunteering in the Hamilton community is an eye-opener into the inner beauty of both the city and your friendly neighbourhood Hamiltonians.
There is more to living in Hamilton than simply spending your time studying at Mac. Although it requires a larger effort, volunteering in the Hamilton community is a worthwhile pursuit in that you will feel a sense of belonging in Hamilton instead of simply being a watchful observer on the outside looking in. Hamilton is home to many people who at first came here as outsiders, and it can be your home too if you decide to move past the horror stories you’ve heard of Hamilton.
Instead of fueling these rumours, try volunteering in “that part of town” and you’ll start to see the real people behind these tall tales. But the experience of coming up with your own understanding of Hamilton is not one that should be taken lightly — it involves acknowledging someone else’s truth in their lives.
In this way, giving your time to listen, help and have fun with local Hamiltonians will serve you all the while since you’ll be showing Hamiltonians that you care and want to be more than just one of those Mac students who take up so much space on the city bus.
Hamilton may be daunting to some of us at first-glance, but I assure you, when you give the city a chance it will surprise you. If you are a new Hamiltonian, then my advice would be to start volunteering in Hamilton with a group of Mac students through volunteer placements with CVA. If these placements don’t suit you, you can always find other placements through Volunteer Hamilton.
I have volunteered at St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas for over five years and the experience has taught me priceless lessons in responsibility, communication and connection. For instance, when you make a commitment to be somewhere, you need to keep your word because you’ll learn that people will begin to depend on you over time.
Good communication will help you understand how you can answer to another’s needs and wants, but connection doesn’t necessarily require good communication. Sometimes just the constancy of someone’s presence or kind touch as in a handshake is enough to feel the warmth of someone’s care.
So at the end of the day, here’s my version of the standard ‘time is money’: time is character too. How you choose to spend your time reflects who you are as a person.
So, do you really want to be the next person to spread another strange story about downtown Hamilton?
