The Brock community is mourning the loss of fourth-year Game Design student and passionate accessibility advocate Mark Krutik, who passed away Feb. 12.

Well-known at Brock for his dedication to championing accessibility initiatives, Krutik was co-founder and Co-President of the Brock University Students’ Union’s Brock Accessibility Association (BAA).

BAA co-founder Michael Selbie, a fourth-year Labour Studies and Sociology student, said Krutik was a vocal advocate for “taking matters into your own hands.”

“Mark believed that if you want change, you need to mobilize it yourself. You can’t wait, because no one will do it for you,” Selbie said.

During a BAA public talk last November, Krutik shared his perspective and expertise in game design, exploring living with a disability, misrepresentation of people with disabilities and how to make games more inclusive.

Krutik was also recently involved in planning Brock’s annual Ability Empowerment Day, an event designed for high school students experiencing disability to explore post-secondary opportunities and experience life on campus, on Thursday, Feb. 19

“Mark envisioned a future for Brock and beyond where everyone, disabled or not, can thrive: a world where we can all move, speak, function and exist as we are, in our own time. Mark left us more than an idea, he left us a tangible way of doing the work together,” Selbie said.

In the Department of Digital Humanities, Krutik worked with department Chair and Associate Professor of Digital Media Aaron Mauro and Assistant Professor of Music Nina Penner as a Research Assistant play testing blind accessible games in partnership with Canadian National Institute for the Blind and video game studio Falling Squirrel.

Mauro said Krutik will be missed profoundly in the department.

“Mark represented the very best of us. I’ll always remember him for being a hardworking and kind student,” he said. “As a person, he was remarkable for drawing passion for the things he loved by tackling challenges in his daily life. In that way, he’ll continue to be an inspiration to me.”

Also a multi-talented musician, Krutik brought joy through performance to the Brock and wider community as part of the Brock University Wind and Jazz ensembles in the Department of Music, playing both trombone and French horn.

Selbie said Krutik always connected accessibility work to jazz music.

“Mark would say the jazz community runs on mutual respect. You support each other, you make space and you don’t help because you’re owed, you help because that’s what community is,” he said.

Krutik also participated in the inaugural session of Brock LINC’s NAVIGATE program.

The University’s flags will be lowered to half-mast on Thursday, Feb. 19, Ability Empowerment Day, in Krutik’s honour.

Mental health and counselling services are available through Brock’s Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre.