Bruce Cockburn to perform on campus

Canadian music icon Bruce Cockburn is kicking off a seven city Ontario tour with a solo concert at the Humanities Theatre on Thursday, February 13.

Cockburn is coming to Waterloo at the invitation of Conrad Grebel University College as part of its ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations.  “When our alumni committee brainstormed about having a special concert to celebrate our 50^th anniversary, Bruce Cockburn was at the top of the list,” said Fred Martin, the college’s director of development.  

A restless spirit haunting the Canadian music scene, Cockburn has spent four decades travelling the world out of humanitarian concern—often to trouble spots experiencing events that have led to some of his most memorable songs.

His music has always been popular with students and alumni at Grebel. His humanitarian work and his voice for social justice in places like Mozambique, Nepal, Central America and more recently in Iraq, have always struck a chord at the Mennonite college.

"The halls of the Grebel residence always echoed with Bruce Cockburn tunes," says a statement from Conrad Grebel. "Over the years, talent shows included Cockburn covers, letters in student newspapers discussed his newest albums and many students explored deeper understandings of spirituality as the result of his music.  As recently as three years ago, students created a “Cockburn Vespers” service in the chapel."

Grebel is also home to an innovative music department that focuses on the way music intersects with students' daily lives and whose courses include jazz, pop music, and most recently global music. The link between music and peacemaking is a natural focus for a college. The strong advance ticket sales with Grebel alumni demonstrate this keen interest in his music.

Cockburn’s last visit to Kitchener-Waterloo was in April 2011 when he released his 31st album Small Source of Comfort. Many of the new compositions come from his travels and spending time in places like San Francisco and Brooklyn to the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Tickets are now available to the general public and start at $43, available at the Humanities Theatre box office (519-888-4908). The concert starts at 8:00 p.m.

Top photograph by Kevin Kelly.

Back to top

The evolution of University Relations

“I often tell people that we in University Relations have the best jobs on campus because we get to tell the story of this incredible institution,” says Vice-President, University Relations Tim Jackson. Recent changes, new hires and additions to the units under the University Relations portfolio are changing the way the University tells that story.

University Relations, in its current form, was born out of the decoupling of the university’s advancement and external relations activities in September 2011.

“The scope of the former External Relations portfolio was very broad,” says Jackson. “And with the way it was structured, we weren’t able to pursue strategic communications, government relations, and community relations in the way we wanted to.”

A review resulted in the creation of two vice-presidential roles, one to focus on advancement and alumni engagement and the other on university relations activity, which included the University’s government relations efforts and the marketing, communications and events work within the Communications and Public Affairs unit.

After the reorganization, Jackson and his colleagues in University Relations took the opportunity to review each of the units under his portfolio and determine how they could be enhanced to better support the University.

The new University Relations unit now consists of the following teams:

Government Relations, under Senior Director, Government Relations Rob Esselment, takes a proactive approach to promoting the University of Waterloo to all levels of government. “This includes highlighting the significant strengths of our institution and ensuring that public policy makers are aware of the impacts our students, researchers and staff are making and the social and economic benefits we are having on our community, province and country,” says Esselment, who joined the university in March 2013. The Government Relations unit collaborates with internal and external partners to provide effective advocacy to government.

Community Relations and Events, led by Senior Director, Community Relations & Events Kelly McManus, acts as a conduit between the university and communities regionally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. Established in the spring of 2013, the team’s mandate is to promote the University of Waterloo as a partner that both cares about and contributes to its community.

The team leads signature university events such as the annual Canada Day celebrations and the Waterloo Innovation Summit, and has hosted events featuring speakers including Jack Dorsey, Alexis Ohanian and Chris Hadfield. The team is also leading efforts to establish stronger partnerships with the corporate, not-for-profit, and government sectors, contributing to community initiatives such as Random Acts of Kindness Day, the United Way’s annual campaign, the Kitchener Waterloo Immigration Partnership, the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and the Town & Gown Committee. In partnership with community leaders and with partners from across campus, the team is developing a university-wide Community Relations framework to be launched in 2014.

Communications and Public Affairs, the department responsible for, among other things, the publication of the Daily Bulletin, is now known as Marketing and Strategic Communications.

“The unit was renamed to more clearly reflect the work that we do,” says Associate Vice-President, Marketing and Strategic Communications Ellen Réthoré, “and to signal our new structure after the move of event management to the Community Relations and Events group.”

For those of you with long memories, you’ll recall when this unit was known as Information & Public Affairs, and then rechristened Communications & Public Affairs in 2003.

An overhauled marketing and strategic communications website was launched last Thursday. The new website spells out the services and expertise offered to the campus community and beyond.

Other changes include:

External Communications, led by Stacey Ash, is now known as Integrated Marketing and Communications.

Digital Initiatives, with recent hire Mark McKay at the helm, is now known as Digital Communications.

Internal Communications, the area under my domain, retains its scope and title, as does Media Relations and Issues Management, under Nick Manning, and Creative Services, run by Christine Goucher. Creative Services came under Communications and Public Affairs’ banner in May 2010.

A number of individual job titles have been tweaked in the same spirit.

"I realize that some are uncomfortable with the use of the word marketing in an academic environment,” says Jackson. "However, when our academic colleagues are featured in the media, sharing their expertise, it shows that the University of Waterloo is involved in the public discourse. Students considering Waterloo, their parents, and researchers as well as potential employees see a university with a wide breadth of research activity that is playing an active role.”

And, as Jackson points out, we have a mandate to attract the best and brightest students, faculty, and staff. "Marketing is simply telling our story, and as we move into the implementation phase of the University’s strategic plan, for our team, it solidifies what stories we’re telling—the priorities and themes for the institution.”

There are plans to continue to evolve in areas including internal communications and social media. “We’re listening, and whether it’s technologies or processes, we’re finding ways to respond and act quickly,” says Jackson.

Under this new structure, Government Relations, Community Relations and Events, and Marketing and Strategic Communications will work closely together to development consistent messages.

“Our positioning with government will fit seamlessly with our media relations and marketing activities, as well as our community outreach,” says Jackson. "Good things are happening at the University of Waterloo, and we want to share that with the world."

Back to top