{"id":102309,"date":"2025-06-11T14:52:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=102309"},"modified":"2025-06-13T13:50:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:50:37","slug":"student-engagement-inclusivity-drive-social-sciences-spirit-of-brock-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/06\/student-engagement-inclusivity-drive-social-sciences-spirit-of-brock-recipients\/","title":{"rendered":"Student engagement, inclusivity drive Social Sciences Spirit of Brock recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock University\u2019s 117th Convocation<\/a> was more than an academic milestone for two community-building student leaders in the Faculty of Social Sciences.<\/p>\n

Christabell Creighton (BA \u201925) and Ben Johnson (BA \u201922, MA \u201925), who graduated on Wednesday, June 11, say they were honoured to receive a Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock medal. The award honours graduating students who exemplify the spirit of Sir Isaac Brock through leadership, innovation and community involvement.<\/p>\n

As a commuter, Creighton always prioritized getting involved with campus life. The Political Science and Labour Studies double-major says the Law Plus program helped her find opportunities to build skills while giving back to the community, such as serving on the Student Conduct Council to ensure students facing disciplinary action were treated fairly.<\/p>\n

Creighton became a Labour Studies Ambassador, revitalizing the Department\u2019s student club by hosting events and developing a mentorship program matching upper-year students with those who are new to the program. She says she\u2019s proud to hand over the reins to one of these mentorship pairs taking over the club, which she hopes will continue to thrive.<\/p>\n

In her hometown of Brantford, Ont., Creighton is former co-chair of the Bruce Trail Conservancy Youth Council and current Vice President of Brant for Nature, a community initiative she co-founded that runs a range of educational environmental events \u2014 from owl prowls to invasive species pulls \u2014 and engages with local policy-makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have spoken with the County of Brant on what can be done to reduce our county\u2019s impact on climate change and to advocate for other environmental causes in the area,\u201d says Creighton. \u201cThe group aims to provide fun and educational events to our community and inspire a passion for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This summer, Creighton will complete a certificate in Dispute Resolution before starting a master\u2019s degree in Immigration and Settlement Studies next fall. She then plans to attend law school.<\/a><\/p>\n

Co-curricular experiences are not new for Child and Youth Studies (CHYS) MA graduate Johnson, who received the\u00a0Spirit of Brock Medal in 2022<\/a>\u00a0after earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in Psychology.<\/p>\n

Co-curriculars inspired his research assistantship with Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning Rajiv Jhangiani, in which Johnson developed a concept integrating open educational practices with co-curriculars he calls\u00a0\u201copen co-curricular practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last September, Johnson became President of Brock\u2019s Chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society<\/a>, committed to academics, leadership and service. He also served as Canada Representative on the Golden Key International Council of Student Leaders.<\/p>\n

Johnson spent two years as Associate Editor for Mind Pad<\/em>, the academic publication for the Student Section of the Canadian Psychological Association.<\/p>\n

He sat on the CHYS graduate program committee while completing his master\u2019s thesis, which was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.<\/p>\n

He also served as a graduate student representative on the President\u2019s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity, and Decolonization (PACHRED), where he volunteered on the Anti-Ableism and Mental Health Working Group and served as Co-Chair of the Employment Equity Working Group. In 2023, Johnson received Brock\u2019s\u00a0Accessibility and Inclusion Recognition Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext, I\u2019m pursuing doctoral studies where I aspire to advance research on authentic pedagogical supports for students with developmental disabilities that address challenges while recognizing strengths,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cThis award represents the value of diversifying\u00a0my\u00a0experiences, with the biggest takeaway being that challenges are inevitable but perseverance always pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acting Dean of Social Sciences Dawn Zinga admires the community-mindedness of this year\u2019s award recipients.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristabell and Ben have devoted their time, energy and creativity to improving the experiences of others,\u201d Zinga says. \u201cThrough their leadership and determination, they have contributed to the growth and enhancement of their communities. We are thrilled to see them recognized in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two

Brock University Board of Trustees member Kevin Magee (BA \u201914), left, presents Benjamin Johnson (BA \u201922, MA \u201925) with the Spirit of Brock medal on Wednesday, June 11 during the University\u2019s 117th Convocation.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock University\u2019s 117th convocation was more than an academic milestone for two community-building student leaders in the Faculty of Social Sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":102384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,7484,3319,1,38],"tags":[11664,45,14456,156,4212,110,4104,522,1117,1759,14608],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102309"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102379,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102309\/revisions\/102379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}