Tag: conu

Categories
Student Life

ConUncovered: from YMCA to university

Photo from jasonparis on flickr

We aren’t an old university, though our presence in the city now appears ubiquitous. Prior to 1974, Concordia as we know it did not exist. Yet, our origins, obscured by time, run deep, and nowhere is this better shown than when one examines our close historical affinity (indeed, our origins) to the YMCA.

Photo from JasonParis on Flickr.

Now known primarily as a place for physical recreation, the Young Men’s Christian Association originally began, and still is in many parts of the world, as a holistic organization for the installment of wholesome character. But it was also the parent organization from which one-half of our university sprang from.

Sir George Williams, the founder of the YMCA and whose name now graces our downtown campus, was an English draper who experienced a religious epiphany and decided to create a non-secular organization to combat the immoral distractions of a London wracked by rough social changes and rapid urbanization. From prayer meetings and bible study, the YMCA expanded to provide vocational activities and teachings and, by 1851, the very first YMCA in North America was founded in Montreal.

The YMCA, following its mandate to care for the mind as well as the body, was for the longest time the main provider of vocational studies for Montreal’s adult anglophone community who couldn’t attend school during the day because of work. This educational arm, christened Sir Williams College, was centered on the YMCA building still extant on Stanley street. Prior to the Second World War, Sir Williams College acted as the first university to offer undergraduate credit courses to adults in Canada.

After the war, the college became a university and was granted a charter. By the 1960s the YMCA ceased being used for classes and a proper location, the Hall building, was constructed in its place and various other annexes added on to house its expanding enrollment. Not coincidentally, this was around the same time the university had sufficiently developed its own independent character and means of support to cut all ties with its erstwhile parent organization, the YMCA.

So now you know the surprisingly deep roots of our university. It’s still anybody’s guess, though, if you can use this information the next time you’re negotiating for a discount membership at the Y.

Categories
Sports

A closer look at Concordia’s athletic facilities

File photo.
Concordia’s Loyola Campus. File photo.

Each year, people around the world make the same New Year’s resolution — to be healthier. Whether that means exercising more, shedding a few pounds or improving your overall diet, Concordia’s Athletic Department can help accomplish this goal.

In terms of facilities, Concordia is home to two full-length artificial turf fields — one acting as the 4000-seat Concordia Stadium and one covered by the dome in the winter — Ed Meagher Arena and the Concordia Gymnasium. The university also offers two state-of-the-art gyms, Le Centre and Le Gym.

The artificial turf fields, the arena and the gymnasium, both on the Loyola campus, are home to the Stingers varsity teams. However, these facilities are not solely available for varsity-level athletes. The Athletics Department offers 10 intramural leagues available to Concordia students, faculty members and the public.

Concordia’s intramural leagues include basketball, ball hockey, ice hockey, indoor soccer, dome soccer, outdoor soccer, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, dome ultimate frisbee and volleyball. Outdoor soccer, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee leagues take place in the fall on the artificial turf fields. Basketball, ball hockey, indoor soccer and volleyball intramural leagues all take place inside Concordia Gymnasium. Dome soccer and dome frisbee last throughout the winter in the Stinger Dome. Finally, intramural ice hockey takes place at Ed Meagher Arena throughout the winter. Although registration deadlines have passed for these leagues, there still might be space available.

At certain times throughout the day, the arena, gymnasium and dome fields have open time for any Concordia student. Check the Athletic Department’s website to see when each facility has its open period.

If organized sport leagues are not of interest, Concordia offers a list of activities and classes to join. Aerobics/spinning, dance, fitness and relaxation and martial arts classes are available starting mid-January and ending mid-April. Depending on the activity, the cost to join one of these classes ranges anywhere from $20 to $60.

Twice a week, inside the Stinger Dome, the golf driving range is open. Students, faculty members and the general public can buy a basket of 70-75 golf balls for $8, $10, or $12 respectively.

Fancy a workout before or after class — or on break? Both of Concordia’s gyms are equipped with high-tech and up-to-date machines to make your workouts more efficient. Le Gym, located in the EV building on the Sir George Williams campus, boasts 10,000 square feet of training space and includes 75 cardio machines, the Technogym kinesis system and 75 strength stations. Le Gym is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and weekends starting at 9 a.m.. Memberships, which lasts until the end of April, costs Concordia students $60, staff, faculty and alumni $120 and the general public $150.

Back at the Loyola Campus, Le Centre is another option for those based in the area. This gym is a part of the PERFORM Center and has some of the best and top-of-the-line equipment at everyone’s disposal. Le Centre uses Technogym equipment which tracks and organizes all your information and workouts in a simple-to-use system. Memberships are the same price as Le Gym; however, memberships are not interchangeable. Two separate memberships are required for both gyms.

For more information check out http://athletics.concordia.ca/

Categories
News

ConU kicks off strike with a protest

Week-long strike starts with a march of more than 250 ConU students - Photo by Navneet Pall
The week-long strike voted on at the Concordia Student Union’s March 7 general assembly kicked off today with a march of more than 200 Concordia students through the streets of downtown Montreal.

Some students gathered early this morning in front of the Hall building, chanting, dancing and peacefully blocking the front entrance of the building with tape and balloons. At 11.30 a.m., about 100 students started marching in circles around the downtown campus, progressively joined by more protesters along the way.
“At the beginning, we were supposed to stay around the Hall building, but then a bunch of people said ‘let’s go to Charest’s office [on McGill College Avenue],’ so we did,” said CSU VP external Chad Walcott. “It went amazingly well and our numbers more than doubled during the march.”
After a couple of circles around the Hall building, the protesters walked on Ste-Catherine Street, escorted by police cars and attracting drivers’ and pedestrians’ attention with vuvuzelas, accompanied by a giant bookworm made out of a dozen students hiding under sewed sheets.

The protesters then went up McGill College Avenue for a quick stop in front of Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s office, before heading back towards Concordia.
“I am extremely proud of Concordia students today,” said School of Community and Public Affairs professor Anna Kruzynski, who took part in the march. “It’s the first time in Concordia’s history that students go on strike for more than one day and this march went great. We have to take the tuition hikes issue to the street in order to be visible and gain the most support before the provincial government passes the budget on March 20.”
When the march ended around 1 p.m., students remained in front of the Hall building, enjoying free food and partially blocking traffic by chanting and dancing to the sound of drums.
“If we continue like this, we will hopefully get a positive momentum and make all students join us without even having to picket,” said Walcott. “Our next step is to continue demonstrating and taking to the streets to make the message public and attract the maximum number of people at the March 22 protest.”

Categories
News

Look who decided to come back

Former Concordia president Judith Woodsworth is back at Concordia, but this time as a professor in the French department.

After a controversial departure in 2010 that saw her being sent off with a $700,000 severance package, Woodsworth has returned to her old job as translation teacher without any public announcement from the university.

Concordia spokeswoman Cléa Desjardins told The Gazette that there was no announcement because Woodsworth is still considered a faculty member, and is entitled to return to her academic position.

In an interview with The Concordian, Maria Peluso, president of the Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association, said, “There is nothing abnormal about an administrator who continues to teach.” CUPFA had been quite vocal in expressing its discontent with the unanswered questions surrounding Woodsworth’s dismissal and with the severance package she subsequently received.

Woodsworth was shown the door by the BoG in December 2010, halfway through her mandate—a mandate she got after replacing Claude Lajeunesse, who left the position with a $1 million severance package two years into his five-year mandate. Her ousting was originally described in a Dec. 22, 2010 press release as a “resignation,” although rumours of her firing were confirmed several weeks later.

Woodsworth’s dismissal created a major controversy and raised serious concerns about university governance, as the administration refused to give any explanation for dismissing two university presidents in a row.

Her ousting was the main reason for the creation of the External Governance Review Committee, which released a report last June calling for sweeping changes to be made to all levels of Concordia’s governance structure.

Concordia Student Union president Lex Gill did not seem surprised by the news of Woodsworth’s return. “She’s certainly not an excellent administrator, but it’s a different job,” she said.

The Board of Governors’ presidential search committee is currently working on a shortlist of candidates for the president’s job after interim president Frederick Lowy’s term ends in August. Lowy, who served as Concordia’s rector between 1995 and 2005, was brought back to Concordia by the BoG following Woodsworth’s firing to fill the position on an interim basis.

With files from Marilla Steuter-Martin.

Exit mobile version