Inspiring minds find meaning through connection

Neighbour. Knitting partner. Internet chat room buddy. Favourite professor. International colleague. Mother. We are all part of communities—connected to others by common goals, location or heritage. These groupings play an important part in building an identity, something that grows and changes over time.  Members of the University of Calgary family define “community” and describe those communities of which they feel a part.

By Meghan Sired

Susan Smith

Head of a small organization of volunteers in Mexico, “Caminamos Juntos para Salud y Desarrollo” (Walking Together for Health and Development).
2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient BN’75, PhD’95

The word “community” means common unity—an ever elusive state, often difficult to obtain and even more difficult to sustain, but how deeply satisfying when truly achieved even momentarily. Having experienced this powerful force—with others and within oneself—we long for it again: strong tangible energy that is grounded and yet allows a freeing of spirit, and happiness. This energy fills a spiritual vacuum and, opening up our minds and hearts, prepares us for a shared vision and thoughtful, definitive actions. A sense of community, be the group large or small,  is a prerequisite for meaningful humane social change.

I belong to several overlapping communities. The depth of interconnection within each varies as does its purpose, culture of interactions, and actions. My primary community consists of a small core  of people that I live and work with every day; our determined efforts to do our best and our willingness to take risks under difficult circumstances develops an ever more intimate knowledge of our setting, of each other and of ourselves. Through this, I recognize my happiness and satisfying fulfillment.

Huasheng Zheng

President, U of C China Alumni Branch
MBA’05

From my perspective, a community is a social group with common interests, living close to each other and sharing an environment, normally with shared infrastructures and public facilities.

With the rapid development of information technology in the world, today the concept of “e-community” is paid more and more attention. The goal of “e-community” is to create a more supportive and productive online environment for everyone in a community, which makes it possible for us to work, learn, collaborate and communicate together more effectively and efficiently.

Sanjeev Dutta

Pediatric surgeon, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University
MD’96

Aristotle first described community as a group established by men having similar values. Since that time, the concept of community has gone through many evolutions, but at each iteration, we have come one step closer to realizing the strength of true human solidarity. 

In the internet era, this is culminating in the now popular concept of the “global community.” In academia, intellectual isolation is being broken down as we begin to realize that no one discipline is an island. From this is sprouting a brand new community comprised of individuals who see the value in interdisciplinary collaboration, a community that I feel most part of. 

In the medical sciences, interaction with the engineering, social and education sciences has revolutionized the way we practise, innovate and teach medicine. In the final analysis, the end result of such a community is as Aristotle describes, men and women working together, despite our differences, to advance humanity.

Dalmy Baez

President-elect, Students’ Union 2008-2009

I believe a community is an environment that fosters a sense of belonging. Although a community is made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds, values and experiences, it provides each of us with a piece of common identity. This identity unites us by encouraging us to celebrate our differences while also allowing us to relate to one another. Everyone who is involved including students, teachers and staff members are all participating in this community. Everything we learn, whether it be in a classroom or through day to day experiences, has an impact on our development as people and as a community.   I strongly believe that we learn as much from each other as we do through our education which is why it is imperative that we continue to strengthen the sense of community on our campus.

Dave Irvine-Halliday

Founder, Light Up the World Foundation
Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering

Community means a coming together, a sharing of ideas, philosophies, moral codes, interests (for example, music or theatre), and sweat (as in volunteering in children’s hockey or soccer). It also means knowing your neighbours well enough that you are not strangers in each other’s homes and that you always acknowledge them and their children in passing.

It is virtually impossible for me not to feel part of all the different communities, but there is no question that the international community is the one I identify most strongly with at this stage in my life. This is due to the fact that although I am at peace with myself regarding my participation in all the other levels of community, I feel that I have so much yet to accomplish before my contribution to the international community is acceptable and relevant.

Robert Thirsk

Astronaut, Canadian Space Agency and NASA
1985 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient BSc’76

A community could be a group of people who live in the same geographical location. Or a community could be a group of people who share a heritage, a common belief or past experiences.

In a nutshell, the most important attribute of a community is a sense of belonging together. Those communities that share a common passion exhibit the strongest bonds between the individual members. When one member succeeds, then all members elate. When one experiences sorrow, then all feel the pain. 

I feel a part of my community where I live. I feel a special bond with my University of Calgary classmates (mechanical engineering, 1976) since we all share a common educational experience. I have a special bond with the global spaceflight community that sees merit in pushing back space frontiers.

Judy McCaffrey

Convocation volunteer and U of C retiree
BA’82

The term community to me means a group of people that have come together with a common goal or purpose. These communities can and do evolve in the work place, through social events or common interests.

I have been fortunate to be part of a number of communities within the University of Calgary. I have been a student, staff member, alumna and retiree.

The U of C community I am particularly proud to be a member of is fondly known as the “Friends of Convocation.” This enthusiastic group of volunteers is drawn from other communities including U of C faculty and staff, the Faculty Women’s Club, the Canadian Federation of University Women and individuals from greater Calgary.

Friends of Convocation work with a host of other volunteers who come together several times a year to produce all of the convocation ceremonies at the U of C.

Glynn Hunter

Director, Centre for International Students and Study Abroad

The boundaries of community and the notion of who is my community are no longer the same as when I grew up in Nova Scotia. Of course, I talk about my neighbourhood in the city and my community, but I can no longer be restricted by those boundaries.

Working in international education for so long, sending students abroad, welcoming them to Calgary and in my own travel, my community has become much broader. It is not a confined physical space—it is global and it is virtual as well.

My physical community in Calgary provides me some sense of security, safety and familiarity. My global community provides me with professional connections, shared purpose and a sense of adventure. 

David Coletto

President, Graduate Students’ Association
University of Calgary
MBE undergrad

A community is a group of people united by a common set of beliefs, goals and aspirations. Strong communities share in the responsibility of achieving their common goals, working together to make life better and easier for all within.

I feel a part of the university community here at the University of Calgary. Students, faculty and staff all work towards a common goal of building and sustaining one of the best universities in the country.

I also feel a part of the Canadian community. We share a common pride in our national community’s tolerance, its compassion and leadership in the world as a beacon of peace, hope and optimism.

Kirk Dunkley

Fine Arts student, University of Calgary
2008 Arch Awards sculptor

I believe the term community refers to a group of individuals working toward a common goal. This collective effort results in a feeling of fellowship among these individuals and creates a sense of belonging.

I believe I belong to several communities—some large and some small. At the moment, I am part of the student body and am working alongside my peers to earn an undergraduate degree. I am also part of the professional art community at the university and am helping to represent the university to the public through my artwork.

Outside my involvement with the university, I am involved professionally as an artist with Learning Through the Arts where I work with teachers to deliver school lesson plans based on visual fine arts. Finally, the smallest but most important community that I am involved with is my family. We co-operate, support and look out for one another and provide one another with unconditional love.

Harvey Weingarten

President and Vice-Chancellor,
University of Calgary

In many cases, community refers to a group of people who live together in the same place. But equally, and more importantly for me I think, community refers to a group of people who hold certain attitudes or interests in common.

So, in the first sense of the word, I feel a part of the Calgary community or, more rightfully, a Canadian. In the second sense of the word, I feel part of a community dedicated to education, especially university higher education and to the community that shares my ethnic background and roots.

Carlos Soler Montes

Coordinator of Canada’s first resource centre for the promotion of the Spanish language, located at the U of C

For me, a community is like a personal spider’s web that you can constantly expand and build in any direction with big doses of generosity, solidarity and, of course, creativity. Eventually all these personal webs will connect with other webs that have something in common, becoming a sharing web that could be considered a community.

For me, as the only representative of the Government of Spain in the city of Calgary, sometimes it is hard to feel part of a specific community. I do consider myself one of the 40,000 members of the Spanish speaking community of Calgary, and, of course, a member of the U of C community which generously supports all my work day by day.

Tamara McCarron

President, U of C Alumni Association
BSc’00, MBA’05

To me, the term community refers to a group of people who share an environment or space and also share common interests. Now, this is difficult to define since community is one of those things that is ever-changing. To further complicate, as a person grows, their sense of community changes.

I think the biggest challenge for a community is keeping that feeling of “belonging” alive. I think the best example of a community that has done this for me is the U of C. As I have grown, the university community has grown with me. Even though the way in which I contributed to this community has changed (first as a student, then an employee and now as a volunteer), I still feel very connected and, as a result, extremely passionate about my alma mater.

Gayla Rogers

Dean, Faculty of Social Work
BSW’74, MSW’78

More often than not, social workers use the plural form “communities,” which has a special meaning to me as dean of the Faculty of Social Work. Because we offer our programs across the province, we are inextricably linked with numerous geographical communities.

Still, other communities are defined by area of focus—such as communities of practice in the areas of mental health or family violence or international development. We ask our students to come together as a community of learners.

And in return, we are the kind of school of social work that our communities turn to for solutions to society’s most challenging problems and for whom we can be a source of pride and inspiration for our teaching, research and service.

Mary-Wynne Ashford

Past president, International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Author, Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions
to Violence, Terror and War.
2006 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient MD’81

Although community can be defined in geographic terms, I am part of many communities of the heart that are more significant to me than the location of my home. A community of the heart brings a deep sense of belonging and shared understanding. It has been tested by conflict and trouble but stands firm and welcoming. 

One of my communities—my peace community includes those I work with on disarmament and peace-building. It is larger than a single organization, but smaller than the whole peace movement because it is limited to those I work with most closely and trust with my enthusiasm and my mistakes.

My peace community is closely related to my spiritual community. This is a network of people who are open to discussing the life of the spirit even when they are uncertain about their own faith—or perhaps especially when they are uncertain about their faith.

I am also a new member in a community of writers who are challenging, humbling and wildly creative. With them, I am enjoying jumping off tall buildings with makeshift wings.

Joanne Cuthbertson

Chancellor, University of Calgary
BEd’73

It is the sense of community, commonality and common interest among the people who live in this region of the world and beyond that has created this university in Calgary, and it is upon the ongoing conviction of a common good or benefit derived, a community interest served, that the University of Calgary survives. 

Community is that place where we see ourselves connected by a common interest. The Chancellor is charged with the role of representing that common interest in the university. I see that role as expanding the sense of inclusion in the interest served by the university and broadening the sense among many of connection to, and benefit from, the work of the university.

George Melnyk

Associate professor, Faculty of Communication and Culture
Author, The Search for Community: From Utopia to a Co-operative Society, (1984)

Community is a term that is used frequently in public and private discourse today. We are all expected to be part of numerous communities as we go through life. In the digital age, communities spring up as frequently on the internet as new suburbs pop up in Calgary. Talk about connectedness is everywhere in our culture, but the essentials of community are elusive.

My life is spent within a large web of communities, whose boundaries I inhabit at different times. Some of these communities exist for me only in memory; other communities come and go and then return; while still others are only potentialities that I reach out to as I search for community.

Stephanie Garrett

Director, U of C’s Women’s Resource Centre
BA’04

A community becomes more than a circumstantial grouping of individuals based on geography or interest when its members are able to synergize in a way that values each individual’s experience as not only a contribution, but a necessity to the achievements of the whole. In this psycho-social space, no one is silenced and diversity becomes an asset. 

While I find myself a part of many beautiful communities in several regions of the world, I derive a great sense of strength, stability and joy from my daily interactions with the community of individuals who come to the Women’s Resource Centre right here at the University of Calgary.

Our vision involves the creation of a community so strong that members of this campus, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, class, ability or age can thrive and maximize their potential for creating positive change in our society.

Vicki Adams Willis

Artistic director, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
BFA’72

I suppose that a community is born when a group of individuals join forces to embrace both their commonalities and their differences. Some communities are deeply rooted in ancestral conscience and memory, but I also believe the seeds of a new community can be sown when several individuals simply look one another in the eye and feel a connection.

I think community all boils down to belonging and the comfort and protection intrinsic to the state of belonging. In the words of the remarkable John O’Donohue: “There is a huge abyss within every mind. When we belong, we have an outside mooring to prevent us from falling into ourselves.”

Without a doubt, the community that has played the most vital role in keeping me from falling into myself has been the Decidedly Jazz community. For nearly 25 years, this wonderful conglomerate of dancers, choreographers, musicians, designers, teachers, admin staff, theatre crews, board members, volunteers, students, audience members, sponsors and supporters of every ilk have worked together with common passion and purpose, and together we have accomplished much.