Vitusha Oberoi

At Sheridan, international students are supported both during their education and beyond as they build their careers after graduation. They are an integral part of the Sheridan community, and they continue to have access to many Sheridan resources after graduation. They can also seek guidance from the College’s vast network of alumni and learn from their experience of navigating success in Canada. This was the message at the heart of Life After Graduation, a conference held at Sheridan on April 26.

The International Women’s Day this year marked a milestone in Monique Burke’s journey as a rape survivor. At a networking event for women entrepreneurs held in Toronto to mark the day, she pulled back the curtain on her newly founded non-profit organization, Watching Over Women or WOW Toronto, an empowerment centre for women who have survived rape, sexual violence, sexual harassment, or any form of gender-based violence.

Sheridan alumni are sharing their knowledge, skills and lived experiences to inspire and guide Black students through their educational journey, helping them navigate the unique challenges many of them face in their path to success as persons of colour. Through the Black Mentorship Program, a joint initiative of Sheridan Alumni and Student Affairs, Black alumni and students are paired up in mentor/mentee relationships that provide a safe space for students to learn while nurturing their self-esteem.

As an assistant professor at the School of Child and Youth Care at the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), with an advanced diploma in Child and Youth Care from Sheridan and a bachelor’s and a master’s degree to his name – plus ongoing work on his PhD – Travonne Edwards (Child and Youth Care Worker ’14) has come a long way from a childhood marred by racial profiling, discrimination, and anti-Black racism.

For Jorian Charlton (Bachelor of Photography ’16), a camera goes beyond capturing images: It tells stories that might have been forgotten; it immortalizes connections of community, family, and a shared culture; it also has the power to lift the cloak of invisibility from a people made unseen over time. Charlton is using this unique ability of the camera to give authentic representation to Black identity, ethos, and culture.

Victoria Saucier was in her first year at Sheridan when she developed a juvenile form of macular degeneration. Over the course of one year, her condition worsened to the extent that she was declared legally blind after having lost her central vision. Among the many things she had to give up, the loss of her driving licence was the one that hurt her the most. It signaled her dependence on others due to her physical disability.

Victoria Saucier is legally blind, having lost her vision while she was still a student at Sheridan five years ago. Despite that, not only has she successfully navigated the challenges that came her way due to her vision loss, she is now helping others who are in a similar situation.

It took two years of persistent efforts for Ravleen Kaur (Social Service Worker ’18) to help a young woman finally escape her abuser and build a new life, away from the sordid underworld of human trafficking. With Ravleen’s support, not only did the 19-year-old, displaced from another city, find a house and a nurturing environment to live in, she also returned to school to complete her education. She is one of the many victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking rescued by Ravleen.

It’s a magical coming alive of dreams, spurring Gymiah Gariba’s vivid imagination to compare Sheridan to Hogwarts – the fictional school of wizardry in the Harry Potter series - and the animation peg bar he used in class to a magic wand. Recalling how he’d ‘geek out’ over animation with his classmates, he says: “I think the wildest experience for me was to be this singular person, so interested in animation, and then meet other people (at Sheridan) who grew up in different parts of the world and were also just as interested in these very same, specific things."

An invaluable piece of Black history is on the road to still greater recognition, thanks to Sheridan graduate and professor in the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design, Mark Stoddart (Illustration ’92). Stoddart has created a mural and a GO bus wrap for Metrolinx, featuring Canada’s first lady of the blues, Salome Bey, in celebration of Black History Month. The special edition bus, covered in Stoddart’s distinctive collage design, comprises newspaper headlines, photos, interviews, and reviews of Bey dating back over 50 years.

Over the last one year, pop-up markets organized by Sheridan graduate Ashleigh Montague (Project Management ’16) have supported over 50 BIPOC-owned businesses, helping them to boost their sales and increase their outreach in the Hamilton, Niagara, Brantford and Halton regions. The pop-up markets showcased unique arts and crafts, including jewellery, candles and ornaments, as well as food and clothes stalls, and brought holiday cheer in the communities around them, in addition to brisk sales for the business-owners.

“You can change the world.” It was the tagline of a Hallmark Christmas commercial – George Alevizos’ (Theatre and Drama Studies ’19) first-ever acting job, which he booked on his own while still in his second year at College in 2016. The theme of the commercial was how people can come together to change the life of someone living with a disability. Six years down the road, Alevizos is bringing that tagline to life: changing the world as a champion for accessibility and equity.

As a director, award-winning choreographer, and retired performer, Stephanie Graham (Music Theatre Performance ’95 and Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance ‘21) knows well how powerful music theatre can be to tell stories and effect change. “It’s one of the most incredible art forms. People can go to the theatre and witness someone else's life experience and identify with them. I think it really can create empathy and hopefully, change,” she says.

The Philadelphia Pride Flag, a.k.a. the Philly Pride Flag, will be displayed permanently in the SeneCentre at Newnham Campus. In a joint initiative from the Seneca Student Federation (SSF) and Student Life, the flag is being unveiled today in support of the LGBTQ2S+ community and as an indication that diversity is not only welcome, but celebrated on campus.

“Many of our Indigenous students have never seen or worn a ceremonial skirt because they were raised in the city away from their cultural roots,” said Peggy Pitawanakwat, Co-ordinator, First Peoples@Seneca.

A new uniform is ready to take wing at Seneca’s Flight Services programs, its pièce de résistance a stunning scarf that carries with it the sacred teachings of the Anishinaabe People.