The Brock community is mourning the loss of fourth-year Game Design student and passionate accessibility advocate Mark Krutik, who passed away Feb. 12.<\/p>\n
Well-known at Brock for his dedication to championing accessibility initiatives, Krutik was co-founder and Co-President of the Brock University Students\u2019 Union\u2019s Brock Accessibility Association (BAA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n BAA co-founder Michael Selbie, a fourth-year Labour Studies and Sociology student, said Krutik was a vocal advocate for \u201ctaking matters into your own hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMark believed that if you want change, you need to mobilize it yourself. You can\u2019t wait, because no one will do it for you,\u201d Selbie said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Krutik was also recently involved in planning Brock\u2019s 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<\/p>\n \u201cMark 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,\u201d Selbie said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Mauro said Krutik will be missed profoundly in the department.<\/p>\n \u201cMark represented the very best of us. I\u2019ll always remember him for being a hardworking and kind student,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a person, he was remarkable for drawing passion for the things he loved by tackling challenges in his daily life. In that way, he\u2019ll continue to be an inspiration to me.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Selbie said Krutik always connected accessibility work to jazz music.<\/p>\n \u201cMark would say the jazz community runs on mutual respect. You support each other, you make space and you don\u2019t help because you\u2019re owed, you help because that\u2019s what community is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Krutik also participated in the inaugural session of Brock LINC\u2019s NAVIGATE program<\/a>.<\/p>\n The University\u2019s flags will be lowered to half-mast on Thursday, Feb. 19, Ability Empowerment Day, in Krutik\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n