With Valentine’s Day coming up this Saturday, there’s plenty of fun activities to pursue this weekend, whether it’s with friends or your significant other. Check out some of the events we’ve highlighted, from bouquet-building to psychic readings, get ready to make this weekend one to remember.

Make your valentine’s (or a friend’s) day by surprising them with a beautiful floral bouquet! Head over to the SLC Multi-Purpose Room this Friday, Feb. 13 between 1 p.m. 4 p.m for an afternoon of crafting and flowers. Both UW students and staff are welcome to participate. The Women’s Centre will have a card-making station open, perfect for making them a thoughtful card to go along with some fresh flowers. There will also be a DIY crafts table with an assortment of crafting supplies, from pipe cleaners to scrapbooking supplies. Sign-up is not required to attend.

The floral prices are as follows:

$4 for 1 stem 

$7 for 3 stems + 1 greenery accessory 

$10 for 5 stems + 2 greenery accessories

Are you wondering what the future holds for you and your sweetheart? Or, are you dying to know if your next great romance is just around the corner? Find out the answers to all your questions about what’s next by attending the Kitchener Psychic and Crystal Fair.

The event runs from Friday, Feb. 13 to Sunday, Feb 15. On Friday, it is open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., meaning there are plenty of opportunities to attend. In addition to astrologers, psychics, and palm readers, you will also have the opportunity to purchase sparkling crystals or handmade jewelry.

Tickets to attend the event are $10. Parking is free and the venue is located at DoubleTree in Kitchener.

February is one of the coldest months of the year, and what better way to stay warm than with a hearty meal? Each ingredient is meant to complement the others. The sweet and savoury combination of squash and sausage is enhanced by the caramelised onions and herbs, with an added crunch from the cashews. The heartiness of this dish is guaranteed to keep you warm as we approach the final hurrah of winter.

Tools

A large mixing bowl

Baking sheet 

Parchment paper 

A medium pot 

Ingredients 

2 cups of ground Italian sausage 

1 cup of quinoa, rinsed

2 cups of water 

2 cups of butternut squash, cubed  

1 cup of yellow onions, sliced 

3 cups of baby spinach 

½ cup of salted cashews

1 tbsp of rosemary, finely chopped 

1 tbsp of sage, finely chopped 

2 tbsp of cooking oil 

½ tsp of salt to sprinkle on the squash 

½ tsp of salt for general seasoning 

1 tsp of black ground pepper 

Optional: ½ cup of dried cranberries for sweetness 

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Gently massage the squash cubes with cooking oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake the squash for 30 minutes or until tender with golden edges. 
3. In a medium pot, combine the quinoa and water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Ensure most of the liquid has evaporated before taking it off the stove. 
4. Caramelise the onions, sage and rosemary for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden and softened. Then add the sausage and spinach, and cook until done. 
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions, sausage, spinach, squash, cashews and quinoa. Optionally, you can also add cranberries for sweetness. 

This recipe is perfect for meal preps and can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container. Enjoy and stay warm!

With UW president Vivek Goel set to wrap up his term in just a few months, some student senators have one trait they’re hoping the new president brings in — good faith.

“If I felt like there was hope for the current university administration making those changes, I wouldn’t be here today,” said WUSA president Damian Mikhail, referring to his conversation with Imprint. 

Tensions between students and the university administration are no secret to anyone on campus. The school is believed to be the first in Canada to sue students involved in a campus encampment regarding the conflict in Palestine, something several senators pointed to as a key catalyst for distrust between students and the administration. Students have also disrupted Board of Governors and Senate meetings over the university’s investments in weapons manufacturers deemed complicit in what has now been termed a genocide by the U.N. 

For Mikhail, the passing of a set of guidelines around university bodies (including faculty units) making collective statements, despite outstanding concerns about its wording and contents, was a clear example of the administration’s “top-down approach.” But the conversation that happened after that meeting is what he feels contributes to a larger problem with the university, what he called “a sense of antagonism” towards students.

Mikhail says he was chatting with several senators after the meeting about maintaining governance standards. As Goel joined the conversation, Mikhail says he pointed out that the taskforce used to create the guidelines were untransparent, and that presidential task forces were not a mechanism students would trust. 

According to Mikhail, Goel’s response boiled down to, “how am I supposed to trust students when they’re calling me ‘Genocide Goel’?” The term has been used in several student demonstrations against the university’s investments in companies deemed complicit in what is now widely considered a genocide in Gaza.

“In front of all these senators, he goes off about how I should be condemning it. ‘Why haven’t you condemned it?’ Even though it’s language I’ve never used, it’s not WUSA’s job to go out and police the speech of students during their protests,” Mikhail said. 

Faculty senator Hans De Sterck says he probably joined the meeting right after that exchange. “There was a lot of tension and a lot of anger at that moment,” he said, adding that he recalled hearing Mikhail rebut Goel by saying he had already condemned usage of the term. 

Student senator Rida Sayed, who was present, confirmed Mikhail’s account of events. Other senators Imprint spoke to who were not present also recalled hearing of the interaction from Mikhail.

Mikhail said Goel’s behaviour indicates that the university isn’t focused on rebuilding trust between students and the university, but rather on “protecting their own, and protecting the idea that they have done no wrong and that they must not be changed.” 

“It became obvious in my conversation with Vivek who, even when we’re not really talking about it, his feelings towards students came out naturally,” he said.

In response to Imprint’s questions about the incident, the university said they were committed to building trust and meaningful engagement with students, pointing to regular meetings between WUSA and university administrators as examples.

Imprint spoke with nine student and faculty senators, many of whom expressed that the university could be doing more to engage with students particularly when it comes to governance. Mikhail noted that although Goel’s behaviour is not the only example of poor relations between the university and students, it is at the center of a relationship that he and other student senators hope the next president will focus on improving.

“I think if we had a president who was seriously looking to rebuild that trust, they wouldn’t have seen that criticism [regarding the presidential taskforce] as a direct attack on them … and would have seriously had a discussion of how to move forward,” he said. “And I think that’s what we need from the next president, is to put the ego aside and to start having those conversations with students.”  

In response to questions directed to president Goel on whether the university had sufficiently engaged students, university secretary Gen Gauthier-Chalifour said that the responsibility to engage with students is “shared across the full senior administration, not something carried by any one individual or role.”

Gauthier-Chalifour also said that students have had opportunities to engage with the university through recent task forces like the task force on freedom of expression and inclusive engagement.

However, Sayed says the issue remains that the only chances students have to engage with upper university administration are in such formal settings like convocation or the Senate and Board of Governors, “where there is, in a sense, a power imbalance, where they’re here giving an opinion that may or may not be listened to. But there is never that opportunity for the wider student body to ever feel like they’re dealing with someone who cares about them.” 

Student senator Alex Pawelko echoed Mikhail and Sayed’s sentiments, stating that students have a “slim window” of opportunity to let their voices be heard. “A lot of the root of any, like, kind of bubbling mistrust, which I would say I’ve observed, and have myself felt, does kind of come from that where like, admin can get changes through if they want to,” Pawelko said, a sentiment shared by other senators Imprint spoke to. 

Gauthier-Chalifour clarified that the administration does not direct Senate votes. “Members are expected to be informed and make decisions in the best interests of the institution as a whole,” she said.

Pawelko said that though some individual administrators are particularly concerned about collecting student input, highlighting associate vice president, academic David DeVidi’s efforts, the system has not “baked in” consultation from students, a sentiment his colleague, student arts senator Andrew Chang, echoed. 

Chang said this effect trickles down to departmental and faculty decisions, such as the attempted moratorium on curriculum changes that according to Chang, neither he nor Arts Student Union vice president (VP) Tanraj Dulai were consulted on. Chang said that not knowing what’s happening negatively impacts his ability to affect change on the Senate floor. 

“I don’t want to say it’s like a rubber stamp institution, but I feel like a lot of the proposals have gone through so far along with the process, I think, by the time that students or anyone, like any senator has any concerns about it, I feel like it’s a little too late.”

Faculty senator James Nugent said that given the lower number of students in the Senate, the university should be “extra vigilant” in ensuring they feel like their voices are heard.

Student senators do get pre-Senate lunches where they are presented with the agenda, with Gauthier-Chalifour stating the university would like to see “stronger attendance and participation from student senators.” Chang said that though these lunches help with briefing senators, most of the time, there’s “not much we can talk about until the actual Senate”, and that administrators who can answer senators’ questions have only attended the lunches twice in the past year and a half of his time on the Senate. 

According to Gauthier-Chalifour, the lunches are “often attended” by senior administrators depending on the topics at hand.

In response to questions directed to president Goel on whether the university had sufficiently engaged students, including on topics like the collective statements guidelines, university secretary Gen Gauthier-Chalifour said the guidelines were discussed at multiple Senate meetings with “extensive debate and consideration of proposed amendments,” and “ultimately endorsed by Senate through its normal decision-making process.”

However, De Sterck said that elected representatives should get a more direct role in formulating the wording of the guidelines, because the writing of the guidelines is done largely by the office of the associate vice-president faculty planning and policy. “They basically bring the same a second time and a third time, and then people say, ‘well, it’s the third time, now we have to approve it.’”

Katie Traynor, student senator and former WUSA VP, said that though she feels the university generally does do its due diligence in consulting students, the feeling of distrust may come from student senators often having to “fish for a lot more information, specifically when it comes to impacts on students.”

Student senator Jordan Bauman said he feels the school takes sufficient measures for transparency, at least with student senators, citing the pre-Senate lunches. In reference to student protestors, he said “you do have to recognize when people are trying to work productively with you and when they’re just trying to tear things down,” and that the president’s reactions to the protests were “really admirable of him, in terms of his restraint.” 

He added that if the school were to do more informal engagement with students, both the administration and students would need to engage in good faith. 

Mikhail and Sayed said a general lack of engagement from the university with students is clear, pointing out how the previous president, Feridun Hamdullahpur, would engage in orientation lunches and the like with students, something current president Vivek Goel has not done. In response, the university cited Goel’s regular meetings with WUSA representatives as “an important forum for frank exchange,” and said many other senior administrators regularly meet with student representatives in formal and “less formal” settings. 

“If the feeling amongst [student leaders] and senators and people like this is that they’re not being listened to and they’re not able to have these conversations, even though they are talking to [admin], then really I can only wonder how the average student who never gets to have these conversations, who never even runs into these people on campus, would feel,” Mikhail said.

Foufou Abdullah, a Palestinian masters architecture student at the Cambridge campus, said she once tried to do just that, approaching the president at an event held there last fall term. She has requested to use a different name out of fear of retribution. 

Abdullah said she only found out the president would be there from chatter she overheard, as many of the professors she spoke to didn’t know he’d be there. When she saw Goel and other administrators chatting in the lobby of the architecture building, she waited for the president to finish his conversations before approaching. Abdullah said she frequently wears her keffiyeh around campus, and that when Goel saw it, his body language changed. 

Abdullah said she approached the president hoping to speak about the university’s investments in companies deemed complicit in what the U.N. labelled a genocide last September. “We never really have anybody from main campus, or somebody that’s very high up in the university, come,” she said, hoping to take the opportunity to speak to him “so that he knew that this was a problem that people felt strongly about across all different campuses.”

She says that from the beginning of the encounter, Goel seemed “combative.”

“He goes essentially, ‘We have a board working on this, I don’t know why are you coming to talk to me about it,’” she recounts. She said as she pointed out the complicity the students are involved in because their tuition supports the university’s investments, Goel became “increasingly agitated and combative.” 

While student tuition does not directly fund university endowments, other fees paid by students can, such as those that go toward faculty-specific endowment funds.

The university has taken several steps in response to student protests. In August 2024, UW created the Task Force on Social Responsibility in Investing, which among other recommendations, advised the school to disclose its investments and update its existing Responsible Investment Policy to include adherence to the UN’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. 

UW updated this policy to include internationally recognized human rights as one of its priority environmental, social and governance factors at an October 2025 Board of Governors meeting. This means these factors will receive “focused investment attention relating to its impact on the financial performance of investments.”

Abdullah says that when she pushed Goel for specifics about the university’s investments, he said, “‘I’m at a social dinner. Why are you coming to bother me?’ Something along those lines.”

Abdullah said she told him, “You’re at my campus… if you are visiting different campuses, or even your own campus, you should be open to hearing your students’ opinions. At the end of the day, it’s our tuition that funds the entire university.” Eventually, other administrators came and spoke with Goel, while she discussed further with Nick Manning, associate vice-president communications and institutional relations. 

A source Imprint spoke to who was present for part of the interaction was told the same details about the exchange when they spoke to Abdullah immediately afterward. The university did not provide further response when asked to comment on this incident.

Mikhail says that when he encourages Goel to talk to students, the president will acknowledge that the university and students aren’t on the same page. “But the question is essentially … if no one’s making the effort to talk to students, then what grace would they have to give you, right?”

After the meeting? “I was livid,” Abdullah said, adding that her experience felt reminiscent of a “consistent pattern.” 

“They’ve sued their own students and they will go after students that protest against them, that speak out against them, and now I guess if you even dare to have a conversation with the president at a time that he doesn’t feel comfortable to have a conversation with you, or he views as his social time, well, he’s gonna be aggressive towards you… he’s going to try and diminish your position and your thoughts,” she said.

With a new president will come a new cohort of administrators, as retirements are coming for several key figures, including vice president of international and research and associate vice president academic. “I’m hopeful that the nominating committee will see this, and that those in the administration, who do have goodwill for students in their hearts and who actually care about rebuilding that trust, will remember this when the next president turns over,” Mikhail said.

But some are less optimistic. “I don’t think the hope is gonna come from the students,” Abdullah said. “The hope has to come from the administration’s actions and to show that they are worth trusting. As it currently stands, they have not shown that at all.”

Winter can be rough, especially with the rough state of the world right now combined with the gloomy weather. But it’s also a great time to try some lesser-known games and feel the unique charm of the snow and ice of the season. Here are four indie video games that center around all things winter. Whether it’s a quiet reflective experience or a survival adventure in the snowy landscape, we hope you’ll find what you need among these indie works!

Developer: Pine Creek Games

Platforms: Steam (Windows), Switch, Xbox

TW: animal death, implied domestic partner abuse.

After leaving for greater opportunities, disillusionment and tragedy bring you back to your childhood home in the woods. In Winter Burrow, you play a field mouse trying to survive the winter by foraging for supplies, fending off hostile insects, and crafting furniture and clothing to slowly turn your run-down burrow into a proper home. Along the way, you’ll meet and befriend other forest creatures grappling with their own life struggles, whether it be through dealing with grief or strained family relationships. Ultimately you’ll help build a community that supports each other through highs and lows. This cozy survival simulator game strikes a balance between some light survival action (with hunger, health, and warmth meters) and the more relaxing aspects of crafting to keep you engaged during exploration and farming.

Developer: Timberline Studio

Platforms: Steam (Windows)

This game puts less weight on the cozy and more on the survival aspect, but is still comforting for anyone who loves the snowy scenery and can’t make it up north during midterm season. Traverse the vast wilderness of snowy Alaska with your dog-sledding team in this survival game, making sure to care for your team and yourself as you find your new home. Choose a team of four dogs, each with their own personalities, and upgrade your equipment to keep everyone warm and well-fed on the journey. For those who want a stress-free experience, the game offers an unlockable Zen Mode where you can remain idle and let the dogs run wherever you like.

Developer: Polygon Treehouse

Platforms: Steam (Windows, macOS), Switch, Xbox, Playstation

Based on Scandinavian folklore and inspired by Studio Ghibli, this coming-of-age narrative adventure set in the mountains comes with a simple but enchanting art style. You play Tove, a young girl who is accompanied by her brother and are both whisked away from home into a fantastical snowy world. This point-and-click game, which was nominated for Best Debut Game at The Game Awards in 2020, weaves puzzles into environmental exploration, rife with trolls and mythical denizens like the Jötnar.

Developer: Team Empreintes

Platforms: Steam (Windows)

This one has admittedly less snow in it, but no less heart than the rest. For those who are feeling isolated and stressed during this cold season, connecting with people over what makes us human can lift us up a little, especially during these difficult times. Made by a two-person team from France, Fireside Feelings gives you the space and the comfort to have heartfelt conversations with a stranger from the Internet, without the stress of leaving someone on read. Choose from one of three randomly selected prompts, ranging from personal ones like “Dreams” to lighthearted ones like “Food.” Your campfire sprite Spark will ask questions for you and another user to answer and guide the back-and-forth. Unlike regular chat apps or software, this conversation doesn’t take place in real time — answers written by the other person are dated at least one day back, so there’s no inherent time pressure to reply or risk dropping the ball like in a live conversation. Users can also choose to not discuss certain topics using 18 different blacklist tags for triggering content, like animal cruelty and self-harm. All conversations are manually moderated by humans and no text is AI-generated.

Second-year mathematics student Samir Sharma is getting ready to enter a new era as the new WUSA president. Previously a WUSA director from 2025-2026, Sharma decided to run for presidency. What he, perhaps, didn’t quite expect was being the sole candidate to put his name in the running, essentially running unopposed in his bid for presidency. Sharma shared his perspectives on why he decided to run for presidency, what he hopes to accomplish over the next year, and how it feels to be running unopposed.

Deciding to run

When asked what inspired him to run for president, Sharma touched on the current unprecedented budget deficit, adding that “both the president, provost, head of research, head of AVBA, head of academics are all gone in the next 16 months.” During his time as director, he noticed that many new faces have joined the team over the past year. “I think even though we’ve done a lot this year on board, there’s always more to do, there’s always new problems and we need to act,” he added. As president, Sharma aspires to act on these problems and do what he can to “really push the [organization] forward.”

Sharma’s vision for upcoming year

Currently in his 2B term, Sharma intends to take a year-long co-op placement to run for the presidency. When asked about his potential goals as president, he described being in favour of reforming the Undergraduate Senate Caucus and creating a policy on the rights of undergraduate research assistant (RA) and teaching assistant (TA) students. Currently, only graduate students at UW have established RA and TA policies in place, whereas undergraduate students lack this protection. He also hopes to modernize the Student Life Center (SLC) Great Hall. Sharma notes that the worn out furniture and games are in need of a revamp, and hopes funding will be invested to upgrade this space and give students another space to unwind in. At the end of the day, he emphasizes his overarching focus on “pushing the [Horizon] platform forward.” Horizon’s main four platform points include affordability, culture, education, and Senate reform.

Sharma observes that WUSA’s last three consecutive presidents were never involved with WUSA prior to running for presidency. Thus, if elected as the first president in a while to have served as a former director, Sharma would bring a strong understanding of WUSA policies and the Horizon team. One initiative the Horizon team is especially proud of pushing forward, he said, was the Pay-What-You-Can program that has been running out of the Bomber. The program saw “over 100 meals a day [served] to students who are food insecure.”

What causes is Sharma most passionate about?

Sharma states that the Horizon party is interested in seeing changes made to students’ course perception surveys, degree tracking tools, and system level changes, the latter of which is a major priority. He emphasized that “doing good changes is important, but setting up the systems and abilities for the changes to happen in the first place can be a lot more impactful over time.” In this regard, some system level changes he touched on included reestablishing the Senate Undergraduate Caucus, promoting unified Senate voting, and developing an undergraduate TA/RA policy to protect student rights.

During his time on WUSA’s Board of Directors, he outlined three main initiatives he was able to support. The first initiative was making changes to the Student Life Endowment Fund. As chair, he supported government reform efforts and co-op advocacy. Through his work there, he was able to complete “a major rewrite of the fund’s bylaws and marketing efforts, which has led to about a 10% drop in opt-outs.” This has led in turn to giving out “about 300K a year in student grants.”

Thoughts on running unopposed: A signal for a deeper level problem?

Sharma is currently running unopposed for WUSA president, essentially meaning no other student has entered their name in the race. When asked how he feels about running unopposed, Sharma emphasized that he “believes in competitive elections.” He has even gone so far as to post on the r/uwaterloo Reddit page the day before nominations closed, offering to help obtain nominations for any student willing to run. No student took him up on his offer. “Students need a real choice and I was willing to do that,” he said. “Sadly, no one stepped up, but I really hope in the future they do.” He also touched on how the lack of opposition reflects the greater problem of how students may not “feel fully connected to WUSA and their community.”  Under a new governance structure that was established in 2022 ,, he described how many WUSA officers have “been acclaimed or no one runs at all”

Overall, Sharma hints at the deeper problem  of the disconnect between the student body and WUSA, mentioning the low turnout of candidates for previous president and vice president roles. He conceded that the past two years have been competitive, however the “president and VPA, GSR, government stakeholder relations, are [all] acclaimed.”

Regardless, Sharma does believe that the UW student body has real culture and passions, citing Wat2Do, a website developed by UW students that lists many events happening on campus daily. Sharma concluded, “We have real culture, but our culture is really unique.” Touching on the faculty-oriented culture at UW, he believes that the student body is forming greater connections, although “WUSA [needs] to connect to them better.”

Sharma concluded that if he could leave students with a message moving forward, “[he] would ask students to hold the board; hold Horizon accountable. We need to relentlessly push forward. That’s the job of our student union.”

He added, “We’ve had a strong team, we have strong experience, and we really hope to genuinely improve the experience of students [at UW].”

From one WUSA President to another: Insights from our current president

Damian Mikhail, the current WUSA president shared a few insights on his run as president to date, as well as what he hopes to see from the next presidency. If he could describe his presidency in one word, it would be“fast-paced,” thanks to how governance reform added to an already packed schedule.

“My hope is that life is made a little bit easier for the next President,” Mikhail noted. He hopes that his contributions and his time supporting governance changes made a lasting impact. Mikhail cited increasing club funding and revamping The Bomber as key successes in his presidency.

Asked if he had any advice for the next WUSA president, Mikhail described how a president is not necessarily judged by the amount of work or hours put in, but by the outcomes that follow. “If you really want to make an impact, you need to find your priorities early on and you need to focus on them,” he explained. Mikhail went on to share how it can be all too easy to become distracted by “a million other minor details”, but that distraction can minimize your capacity to make an impact. He believes a meaningful way to create meaningful outcomes for students is by “[finding] some big changes that you can make that will positively impact students.” Always keeping the broader vision in mind is something he highlighted as essential to being able to make a lasting impact.

Mikhail did not hesitate to describe Sharma’s WUSA expertise, which he believes is one of Sharma’s biggest strengths he would bring into the role of president.Mikhail remarked that “[he]  has one of the most impressive memories and knowledges[sic] of the systems of WUSA I’ve ever seen.” He shared that he often finds himself relying on Sharma for historical information “about how WUSA evolved and how WUSA works.” Furthermore, he emphasized that Sharma appears to understand “that students are looking for action and not just a president that keeps the lights on.”

Mikhail believes Sharma may be a transformative president “because he has the experience and the dedication to make change [happen],” describing him as a very kind and dedicated individual. 

Mikhail joked “Sometimes I’m confused how he’s doing so well in class because he’s always in the office talking about this new thing that needs to be done!”

He ended by sharing that he feels Samir would be a dedicated president, determined to bring students change. “I’m very hopeful for him,” he added.

Many know UW’s reputation in STEM disciplines — students get co-ops at big name companies in tech and finance and donors fund new buildings like QNC and M4. But what about the arts at UW? Students and faculty members both discuss the existing challenges of being in arts, and what the upcoming faculty reorganization holds for their uncertain future.

From a broad perspective, studying a humanities discipline at UW inherently comes with its unique advantages and drawbacks. By official headcount, the faculty of arts is the second-largest faculty at UW, topped only by the engineering faculty. Official headcount statistics show that about one in five UW undergraduate students is in arts (20.7 per cent in fall 2025 and 20.3 per cent in winter 2025). Even when adjusting for students in the accounting and financial management (AFM) program, whose enrolment falls between 1,000-1,800 per term over the past three years has outnumbered other arts programs, arts only falls to third after the math faculty. With a large student body encompassing incredibly diverse programs, arts students feel a strong sense of community among their classmates.

“I love my peers, I love my classes, [and] my professors have been incredible,” says second-year English literature and classical studies student Bridget Coleman. Fourth-year arts student Amaya Kodituwakku agrees, noting not just the kinship among arts students but the commitment of its faculty to quality education. “The [professors] are some of the kindest, most supportive, and admirable people that I have ever had the pleasure of learning from … you can tell how much they care about connecting with their students.”

That dedication also transfers to official academic programming. The Arts Student Union (ASU)’s vice president of academics Tanraj Dulai notes that compared to other universities’ arts programs, UW has many interesting courses “theoretically available … that offer [great] depth of understanding” for field-specific studies. The undergraduate calendar’s offerings include upper-level courses like ENGL425: Transnational Feminisms and Contemporary Narratives and HIST231R: The History of East Asian Communities in Canada.

However, in practice, arts students have faced chronic systemic issues at UW that have been worsened by internal and external changes. On the academic side, many officially listed courses are now seldom offered regularly, save for foundational 100 and 200-level courses and courses explicitly required for degrees. Both ENGL425 and HIST231R have not been offered in the past three years. 

When courses are offered, Dulai says they are often “broad surveys” that cover a large scope of topics and fail to empower students to specialize deeply in their field of interest. Faculty policies and constraints set by the university result in these courses often not being taught by instructors who are experts in the relevant content. This also takes time away from faculty members who want to pursue research in their domains, but can’t due to teaching requirements. Dulai has spoken to students whose professors “[have] not had an opportunity to do [their] research in however many terms or years they have been around … They want to teach these courses that they’re passionate about, but they have to teach [another] course that is the money maker, the bigger course, the required course.”

The lack of options for arts students is also apparent in the co-op sphere. Official statistics from the Center for Experiential Education (CEE) show percentages of co-op hires in industries sorted via the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). From winter 2024 to fall 2025, 22.5 per cent of arts students were hired by employers in accounting and financial services, with the university sector hiring the second largest proportion at 11.8 per cent. While these jobs help AFM students jump-start their careers, opportunities in other arts disciplines are lacking. Jobs classified under “Universities” in reality are, anecdotally, often administrative jobs not relevant to degree studies. All other industry proportions for hires come in at 1 per cent or less.

“When co-op is such a big draw for students to come to this university … it becomes a thing where we’ve kind of been lied to,” Dulai remarked. “We were told that there’s all these jobs available, but there are a bunch of [finance] jobs or marketing jobs that aren’t appealing to, say, a student that wants to become a lawyer or a student that wants to work in the heritage industry.” 

Kodituwakku also observes that most jobs posted in WaterlooWorks “skew in the realm of tech and AI … [while] jobs in the realm of teaching, publishing, or research for the arts are few and far between,” a discrepancy which has worsened during their time at UW. The Center for Experiential Education (CEE) said in a statement that while factors affecting available co-ops are often a product of the highly competitive market, it strives to “facilitate access to meaningful work opportunities related to all students’ academic studies and their aspirations.”

When Dulai brought up student concerns about employment, faculty leadership pointed to AI and machine learning certificates like the Data Analytics for Behavioural Insights credential offered by WatSPEED, which allows arts students to market themselves as having both technical and creative competencies. The response received mixed feedback, in no small part thanks to ethical and environmental concerns in using generative AI.

Kodituwakku said that given these concerns, many arts students want the university to do more in developing relationships with potential employers that don’t prioritize AI. “Those jobs do still exist,” they clarified, “but because they are not being actively sought out and shown to Arts students, it creates this false narrative that the only way to secure a job is to sacrifice our values.”

Furthermore, most recently, arts students are losing dedicated physical spaces on campus. On Jan. 16, Dulai was informed by a university staff member that the storage room ASU had been using would need to be mostly vacated by February to make room for furniture storage.

“What we have been told is that this storage room is historically shared by ASU and the Arts Undergraduate Office [AUO] … but the AUO has not used that room in at least five years,” he said. “The tuck shop cannot hold all these things; we cannot hold them in a corner.” Imprint reached out to the AUO, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Having little in the way of resources and support is not new to anyone in arts. But the impending reorganization, which takes effect July 1, has exacerbated these issues and accelerated what many see as the decline of the faculty from an already shaky place.

The reorganization has been in the works since 2014, but is now being pushed forward during a period of financial strain for UW. A presentation from members of the Reorganization Working Group at the Jan. 26 student town hall noted that “current financial challenges experienced by all universities and colleges in Ontario and beyond have intensified the need for organizational changes that will help us continue to deliver our programs.”

Dulai and other faculty members he’s spoken to agree that a restructuring of arts is needed for the faculty to survive, but the process has been criticized for a reported disregard for community feedback and a lack of transparency.

According to associate professor of political science Anna Drake, each department was asked to propose ideas on which other departments they would work well with together as “natural fits” during the initial consultation stages. However, Drake said that “it became clear that this was not going to happen, that [they] actually did not get to pick who [they] wanted to work with” as the department groupings were assigned without that input. The current plan dictates political science be grouped with six other departments under the school of social, political, and historical research. Six other departments will combine to form the school of critical and creative humanities.

Both Drake and Dulai also draw attention to the discrepancy in the treatment of departments in relation to faculty leadership, visible in the reorganization planning. Out of all five arts associate deans, only one — Katherine Acheson, associate dean of undergraduate programs — is from a humanities discipline that will be absorbed into a conglomerate school. The other four associate deans are from departments that will be grouped into their own schools — namely, the schools of economics, psychology, and accounting and finance.

“If the [associate deans] went back to their teaching roles, they would be teaching in schools that would fundamentally be the same,” Dulai noted. Drake shared this opinion, saying that the four aforementioned departments “get to carry on what they’ve been doing the whole time … they get to not be part of the reorganization process.”

Meanwhile, the two conglomerate schools have been planned in a way, said Dulai, “that is not conducive to people [who] understand the actual meanings of disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship” despite interdisciplinary collaboration being a stated motive. “People who are economists are saying, ‘why don’t we combine courses like Canadian history and Canadian politics?’ while political scientists and historians are saying, ‘no, you can’t do that,’ because those are fundamentally different… in methodologies and pedagogy.”

At the Arts Faculty Council meeting on Sept. 9, 2025, where members voted were set to vote on approving the reorganization, faculty in attendance were divided in opinions, expressing both approval and skepticism. Those who voiced concerns, according to Dulai, “were not being combative, but they were fighting … they know what has happened at other universities that have done similar things.” Last year, Western University reorganized to its humanities and arts programs, resulting in staff layoffs that sparked protests. In February 2025, York University halted admissions to 18 undergraduate programs, the bulk of which are humanities programs. UW itself has suspended admissions to its German and Spanish undergraduate programs. All but one Applied Language Studies (APPLS) course are marked as “no longer available” on the APPLS minor web page.

Dulai says that “professors were shut down … someone asked a question [along the lines of] ‘what happens if we vote no?’ They were [essentially] told, ‘we’re not going to vote no.’” Drake corroborated this account. Ultimately the notion for “agreeing to the principle of re-organization” was approved, but answers to remaining questions about the process have been unsatisfactory, like the impact on administrative staff and faculty workload. “Despite the flowcharts provided, it’s still not entirely clear how [that] will take place, like who we’re reporting to, why, and all the other important details,” Drake commented.

Information provided to students has also been unclear and sporadic, often only arriving when decisions have already been made without consultation. A moratorium on course changes until 2029 was announced on Nov. 11, 2025, “blind-siding” Dulai and fellow students. It was then postponed after more than 100 students in and outside arts programs signed Dulai’s open letter to Acheson. The next opportunity to submit curriculum changes is in September 2026.

Despite the positives of her experience at UW, Coleman feels “hoodwinked into picking a university that claims to have a diverse arts faculty, only for that faculty to be attacked a year and a half into [her] degree.” For her, the past few months have signalled that “the university sees the arts faculty as an afterthought or inconvenience, rather than a fully realized faculty.”

Drake continues to call for more transparency and accountability from university and faculty leadership on plans involving arts. She also wants to strengthen communication with students to help support each other during this tumultuous phase. “I would like to know how much the students are aware of this and how it’s affecting them, because those voices haven’t been brought to our meetings,” she stresses. “We’ve been so busy trying to do what feels like damage control, and trying to make sure that we will still be able to do our jobs.”

“Believe it or not, the arts [reorganization] will affect all of us,” Kodituwakku said. They call upon arts students to get involved with their majors’ sub-societies to have their voices heard by leadership within the faculty and the university at large. 

Dulai also calls on university leadership and administration to better support the faculty, not just in spirit but also in intentional practice. “Arts is the second largest faculty [and] the second eldest faculty. We deserve your respect. We deserve your investment. The students in this faculty deserve to receive a quality education.”

With Valentine’s Day only two days away, now’s the time to channel your inner romantic and indulge in some perhaps cheesy, but absolutely delightful romantic comedies! The Imprint staff team have shared their top rom-com films, so you can make this Valentine’s Day, be it spent alone or with your significant other, your best one yet. Grab your bouquet of roses (or popcorn) and get ready to watch some great flicks!

La La Land (2016)

Overview: A love story that UW students might find all too relatable amid the need to balance social life with career aspirations (or co-op jobs!), this film follows Mia, an actress, and pianist Sebastian as they navigate love amid wild career ambitions.

“One romance I love that is more on the emotional side is La La Land. The lighting, storyline, and soundtrack is so beautiful and emotional and I believe it captures a lot of the raw emotions that come with love.”

– Karen Zhou, videographer and video editor

He’s just not that into you (2009)

Overview: The title alone might appeal to anyone who’s spent a little too much time psychoanalysing someone’s potential feelings for them. The film is inspired by a self-help book, following couples and singles as they grapple with relationship troubles and common questions about commitment, feelings, and reciprocity most will find perhaps too relatable.

“Truth is told.”

– Tiffany Wen, Staff Writer

Love Actually (2003)

Overview: We all know the holiday season can be a hectic time. Amid retail shopping and family gatherings, it can be a time love is challenged. Follow along with the lives of eight couples, each navigating the season and love, differently.

“It’s more of a Christmas movie but it’s an even better romcom.”

– Emma Danesh, senior website editor

Notting Hill (1999)

Overview: Famous actress Anna Scott begins to fall in love with Notting Hill bookshop owner William Thacker. Unfortunately, fame has a way of complicating things.

“It’s 90’s Hugh Grant—need I say more?”

– Thea East, senior magazine editor

13 Going on 30 (2004)

Overview: Sometimes finding real love means facing uncomfortable truths. When Jenna Rink’s 13th birthday doesn’t go as planned, her wish to wake up as a thriving 30-year-old comes true- except she begins to see the friendship and relationships she damaged while chasing success as an adult. Can she find a way to make things right?

“Jenna Rink is easily one of my biggest role models.”

– Arabella Hormillada, Video Editor

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

Overview: Magazine columnist Andie Anderson is tasked with writing a how-to article on the movie’s namesake. She meets Benjamin Barry, a competitive executive determined to win a bet by proving he can make any woman fall in love with him in days. Somehow, amid mutual deception and competing interests, can real love blossom?

“If you’re a journalist, this one’s for you!”

– Carla Stocco, Staff Writer

The UW Warriors celebrated a former hockey player and alum, Rob Maric, who won numerous awards in the program history, including being named a first-team All Canadian defenceman in 2001.

The celebration took place in the Columbia Ice Field on Jan. 31 before the Warriors game against the Guelph Gryphons. An all-Canadian banner featuring Maric’s number seven was raised to the rafters in the CIF arena. Maric attended with his wife, Karen, and their three daughters, Emma, Hannah and Samantha. 

“It was very good, it was actually on my wife’s birthday,” Maric said about  the event, adding that it was a busy day. “It was very nice that I was able to meet up with a lot of these former teammates. I felt like when I saw them again, we hadn’t missed a beat.”

The Kitchener native began playing hockey when he was seven years old and grew up playing in the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association. After learning the fundamentals of hockey, he played in house league, then up to the select team. By the time he was about 10 years old, Maric was playing in AA, and by 14, he was playing in AAA. He played for the Kitchener Dutchmen (now known as the Ayr Centennials as of 2020) for the 1993-1994 season before moving on to the Kitchener Rangers.

When asked about his skills, Maric said, “A lot of time was invested in skill development, fundamentals, [and] power skating. I think I had a natural affinity for sports, and I was able to pick up on certain things very quickly.”

After playing three seasons with the Rangers, Maric joined the Warriors in 1997. He was a strong player the moment he stepped on the ice, being named the 1998 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West rookie of the year. From there, he developed a reputation as one of the best two-way defencemen in Canadian university hockey, scoring a career-high 18 points in the 1998-1999 season. In both 2000 and 2001, Maric was named an OUA West first-team all-star, and was also named OUA West’s most sportsmanlike player in 2000. 

In his last season with the Warriors, Maric notched 17 points across 23 games, while playing massive minutes in a shutdown role on the Warriors blue line. He earned a first-team All-Canadian selection for his efforts — one of only three Warrior defensemen in history to make the national all-star team. Maric noted that his family, friends, fellow players, and coaches all helped to contribute to his success. “Between the players, time spent at the rink, and having coaches help to refine certain things if they see something -– I think all three of those things combined did help improve me as a player.”

After the Warriors, Maric played for the Cambridge Hornets for two seasons, then for the Dundas Real McCoys for the 2006-2007 season. He also played recreational hockey until about 2020. He is an assistant power skating instructor and has coached his daughters. 

As a student at UW, Maric earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental science, and a master’s degree in earth science. He currently works as a senior hydrogeologist, becoming an expert in groundwater resource management and protection.

“I’m grateful for my career, I’m happy with the career I’m in right now, [and] I’m glad my girls are playing sports, going to school, and working hard,” Maric said. When asked if there was anything he would like to add, Maric said, “I’m very grateful for my wife and kids, and parents, family.”