The haiku style dates back to 17^th century Japan and is intended to focus on nature, which Crutchley’s poem does. But this time around, to capture the spirit of Homecoming celebrations, Town Halls and ‘How-was-your summer?’ catchups, we asked UM community members for their best Haiku on the theme of connection through their lens. Meet these somewhat reluctant poets as they bring us together, 17 syllables at a time.

Packing and unpacking

Every year our campus swells to the size of a small city as students and faculty return from all parts of the globe. Hang out by any residence on move-in day and you witness a great academic migration as 1,350 excited students from over 75 countries meet new friends and settle into fresh dorms. It’s an energy Barry Stone, director of student residences, loves. And these students are deeply connected to this community: living on campus provides unique engagement opportunities, cultural connections and support systems that all contribute to student success and an unparalleled sense of belonging. 

This is Stone’s haiku:

Futures far and near
Alone together at once
Connections untold

Growing joy

Trust Beta, a Canada Research Chair in Grain-Based Functional Foods in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, explores how food, especially whole grains and cereals, connects to health. She understood this connection even as little girl drying corn under Zimbabwe’s sun for her mother. Today, her lab has catalogued  more than 30 phytochemicals—non-nutrient chemicals, like antioxidants, made by a plant—in wild rice, wheat, barley, corn and rice, and companies such as Kellogg and Heinz seek her expertise to make their products healthier.

This is Beta’s haiku:

Produce diverse food
Enriching lives everywhere
Planting health and joy

Show kindness

Knowledge Keeper Kim Guimond returned to her alma mater in early 2023, having graduated from the Faculty of Education in 2000. She is a proud Anishinaabe Ikwe from Sagkeeng First Nation, who taught junior high students there for 17 years, following in the footsteps of her mother. In 2017, Guimond took on a new challenge and worked with four other teachers from different communities to launch the Ojibwe Bilingual Program at Seven Oaks School Division—a first of its kind in Winnipeg. Today she’s honoured to be in Migizii-Agamik (Bald Eagle Lodge) providing support, guidance and connection to students who need it. (She is available Wed-Fri from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) 

These are Guimond’s haikus:

Ancestors guide us.
Threads of culture intertwine.
Roots, everlasting.

And a haiku in Ojibwe, with translation:

Anishinaabe. (Indigenous).
Mino-bimaadiziwin (Lives a good life).
Minode’e win (if you show kindness).

Men-tor

Warren Clarke, an assistant professor of sociocultural anthropology who came to UM in 2021, is interested in a broad range of topics from race to masculinity to liberalism, paying particular attention to how Canadian social norms continue to affect the social development of African and Caribbean Black men. He refers to himself as a public scholar as his research and outreach takes place in public spaces, from barbershops where he runs The Barbershop Talk Series: Black Men & Misconceptions, to high schools where he has students learn about anti-oppressive behaviours through theatre. The theme of all his work is helping Black youth overcome social barriers and so he founded The Afro-Caribbean Mentorship Program, which operates a variety of programs that build connections.

This is Clarke’s haiku:

Inspiring and
Paying it forward to Black
Youth is my passion

Flowing

Barry Prentice, professor of supply chain management in the Asper School of Business, has spent his life studying literal connections: how we flow goods, how we move people, how we bring A to B. He’s been in the media for his work on airships, airports, and sea ports and has even weighed in on how Winnipeg bus routes should work.

This is his haiku:

Buoyant flight is green
What is old is new again
Let’s join North to South

Needful things

Back in April 2020, when COVID was severing our in-person connections, anthropology professor Kent Fowler published a paper that defied such isolationism. The paper in PLOS One described how he accurately dated and identified the sex of fingerprints left in ancient pottery. His quote then still rings true to him today: “These are the fingerprints of 4,700-year-old people! Right there to see. To connect with. It is very intimate.”

This is his haiku:

They work together
with mud in the summer sun
to make needful things

Ancient bond

Meghan Azad, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease in the College of Medicine, studies how experiences in utero and during infancy shape lifelong health. One of the most enlightened people when it comes to our ancient, foundational, beautifully mammalian connection between mother and child, Azad researches breast milk and secured a $6.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She’s also the first  female UM researcher to receive the prestigious Steacie Prize.

This is Azad’s haiku:

Breast milk is not just
food but also medicine
and a lifelong bond

Paper coffee

If you’re not near retirement age, the University of Manitoba Retirees Association (UMRA) is an organization you might not be aware of, but it has over 800 members. UMRA is a community of university retirees that focuses on enriching the lives of its members through advocacy and community. In addition to defending the interests of retirees in the pension and benefits plans of the University, UMRA encourages retirees to support the United Way (in 2022 retirees’ donations totaled nearly $350,000) and it sponsors the student competition 3MT, as well as bursaries and scholarships.

Dennis Cooley, professor emeritus in the department of English, Theatre, Film & Media, wrote this haiku on behalf of UMRA:

Whenever they meet
there is plenty of coffee
plenty of paper

Throughout the month of March, you will receive messages from colleagues and students to help launch our 2022 UM Faculty, Staff and Retirees Campaign. Last year, the UM community contributed nearly $400,000 to crucial student supports, state-of-the-art facilities and groundbreaking research.

The campaign has played an important role in the success of two initiatives in particular. Through the UM Student Technology Fund, your generosity has helped provide over 700 students with computers that meet their learning needs. Your support has also been essential to the UM Student Food Bank’s ability to deliver more than 1,900 hampers last year alone. Many students have expressed deep appreciation for the impact the support has made on their education, removing financial barriers, and allowing them to continue pursuing their studies.

“I felt a tremendous sense of relief when I learned that the UM Student Technology Fund would cover the cost for me to acquire a laptop for my coursework,” says nursing student, Funmi Morakinyo, a recipient of the fund. “Thanks to UM donors, I was able to continue my studies and successfully rise above a challenging time. My goal is now in sight, and I expect to graduate in June 2022. I look forward to joining the frontlines of our healthcare system during a time when help is needed more than ever.”

Every gift makes a difference, and all support is appreciated, no matter the amount. There are several ways to contribute, including through payroll deduction, with 100 per cent of your donation going to your fund of choice.

“UM students rely on these crucial supports, and without them, many would be forced to pause or even discontinue their studies,” says Christine Cyr, Associate Vice-President Indigenous – Students, Community and Cultural Integration. “Reciprocity is an important teaching in my culture. I have benefited immensely from the guidance and generosity of people that came before me. I am certain the same is true for you.”

Your support will make a meaningful difference in the lives of UM students.

To make your gift today, please see the options below:

Payroll deduction
Credit card: one-time Gifts and monthly gifts

If you would like to increase your current payroll commitment or would like help making your gift, please contact Jennifer Triggs at jennifer.triggs@umanitoba.ca.

Throughout the month of March, the FSR Campaign encourages faculty, staff and retirees to make a philanthropic gift to support the COVID-19 UM Student Technology Fund or an area of their choosing.

Launched last year, the COVID-19 UM Student Technology Fund provides students in need with $500 to help cover the cost of a refurbished laptop, or to subsidize the purchase of a new computer that meets online learning needs. Many students have expressed heartfelt thanks for the impact it has made on their education, allowing them to continue pursuing their studies during the pandemic.

“I would like to thank the donors for the laptop I received,” says a recipient of the COVID-19 Student Technology Fund. “If it had not been for them, it would have been impossible for me to do the courses as I did not have a laptop to use for my remote learning courses. Because of them, I can continue learning and hopefully graduate in 2021. Thank you sincerely, I will forever be grateful.”

Every gift makes a difference, and all support is appreciated, no matter the amount. There are several ways to contribute, including through payroll deduction, with 100 per cent of your donation going to your fund of choice.

Charlotte Enns.

“There are many scholarships, bursaries and access programs available for students because of philanthropy. An important part of philanthropy is that it provides all students the accessibility to quality education and programs,” says Charlotte Enns, 2021 faculty co-chair.

Enns is also director at the Arthur V. Mauro Institute for Peace and Justice and professor in the Faculty of Education, St. Paul’s College, University of Manitoba.

During the pandemic, contributions from the UM community have meant:

• Over 6,000 students received additional bursary support
• Over 450 food hampers delivered from UM Student Food Bank
• Support for more than 600 students through the COVID-19 Technology Fund

Shelley Sweeney. // Photo by Kitty Wong, Winnipeg Free Press

“As a retiree, you are more careful with your money and you want to make sure that the money you do give to charity makes the biggest impact it can. In my opinion, the University of Manitoba makes that impact by making a huge difference in the lives of everybody it touches,” says Shelley Sweeney, 2021 retiree co-chair.

Sweeney is also a senior scholar and retired head of UM archives & special collections.

To make a contribution to enhance students’ education, click here.

Now, the newly-retired librarians want to pass along their good fortune to others by establishing an endowment fund to support the research activities of librarians and archivists at the U of M.

“If you look at the hundreds of millions of dollars available for other research in the country, there is essentially no money for librarian research,” explains Ducas. “Nicole and I have been lucky, because we applied for the U of M’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grants twice and got them both times.”

In the many cases where they couldn’t secure funding, Ducas and Michaud-Oystryk did what many librarians do – use their professional development allowance and personal funds to support their work. With this new fund, they hope that burden can be alleviated for future librarians and archivists.

Michaud-Oystryk [BèsA/74, MA/88], who was the unit head of Elizabeth Dafoe Library, explains that “the research librarians do adds to the body of knowledge, which benefits all library users. Some librarians have produced literary works, poetry, artwork or historical books. I recently did a bibliographical and archival survey of works about women in French Manitoba. If you have funds, it opens up the possibilities of what you can study.”

In a world that now thrives on data, librarians also contribute their own analytics by conducting benchmarking studies, applied research, service assessments and systematic reviews.

Ducas, who was head of libraries in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences libraries, notes that librarians now play a bigger role in supporting faculty, which requires its own set of resources.

“The whole profession is changing; it’s really an information science profession now. One of the new roles for librarians is providing research support to faculty by managing their data and making it available to others,” says Ducas. “They also work hand in hand with faculty in terms of scholarly communication, digital scholarship and instruction. Librarians become involved in course planning, as well as delivering teaching related to library resources and how information is structured and organized.”

The Ada M. Ducas & Nicole Michaud-Oystryk Librarians Research Endowment Fund is unique to the U of M and one of the only library research funds in Canada funded by private donors.

Both women are thankful for the “exciting” and “energizing” careers they had at the U of M, and hope that like-minded retirees, faculty and staff will do the same as them and pay it forward.

“If you’ve had a good career, maybe it’s incumbent to give back a little bit too to help it become better,” says Ducas. “You have to help the place that helped and nurtured you.”

The Faculty, Staff and Retirees Giving Campaign is a year-round initiative which raises funds for all areas of the university, including libraries. Learn more about how you can support the campaign and initiatives like the Ada M. Ducas & Nicole Michaud-Oystryk Librarians Research Endowment Fund and build brighter futures for our U of M community.

“Thank you to our outstanding faculty, staff and retirees for volunteering at Orientation!” says Gregory Juliano, associate vice-president, human resources. “You helped create a welcoming environment on campus and we appreciate your contributions.”

“To a new student, it means so much to have a smiling face greet you and point you in the right direction on your first day,” adds Cora Dupuis, director, student life.

This year, the program had the highest number of first-time volunteers and wide representation from across the campus.

 The Meeter and Greeter program is an annual Fort Garry Orientation tradition. Faculty and staff wishing to volunteer at future Orientation events can contact Jade Kirstein, student leadership coordinator, student life, at 204-474-9155 or jade.kirstein@umanitoba.ca