Media releases

• Brock to celebrate athletes and coaches headed to Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio

  Friday, July 29, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA ADVISORY: R00165 – 28 July 2016

  Six athletes and two coaches headed to the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have connections to Brock University.

  Former or current students, club members and coaches make up the Brock contingent headed to the Summer Games in three sports: wrestling, rowing and track and field.

  To celebrate the Brock connection, the community is invited to a send-off party Tuesday, Aug. 2 from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Guernsey Market.

  Expected to be in attendance will be wrestlers Michelle Fazzari, a Brock alumna and her Brock Wrestling Club teammate Jillian Gallays, as well as Jessica Lewis, a fifth-year Brock student who will represent her native Bermuda in the track events of the Paralympic Games.

  Also at the send-off party will be Marty Calder, head coach of Brock’s legendary wrestling program who will serve as assistant coach for the Canadian women’s wrestling team in Rio. Another Canadian women’s wrestler, Jasmine Mian, is a Brock graduate who went on to continue her studies in Calgary, where she now lives and trains.

  Three other Brock alumni headed for the Games in rowing won’t be in attendance because they’ve already left for training camps. Competing on the Canadian men’s rowing team are Brock Badgers alumni Eric Woelfl and Tim Schrijver, while fellow alumnus Terry Paul will coach the men’s quad team.

  Tuesday’s send-off party is open to everyone at Brock and from the Niagara community. Refreshments will be served.

  Olympic and Paralympic send-off party
  Where: Guernsey Market, Brock University
  When: Tuesday, Aug. 2 from 3 to 4 p.m.
  Who: Athletes Jessica Lewis, Michelle Fazzari and Jillian Gallays

  Brock contingent headed to 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games
  •    Michelle Fazzari and Jasmine Mian: Brock alumnae, women’s wrestling
  •    Jillian Gallays: Brock Wrestling Club member, women’s wrestling
  •    Jessica Lewis: Fifth-year Brock student, track racing in Paralympics representing Bermuda
  •    Eric Woelfl and Tim Schrijver: Brock alumni, men’s rowing
  •    Marty Calder: Assistant coach of Canadian women’s wrestling team
  •    Terry Paul: Brock alumni, coach, Canadian men’s quad rowing team

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• New book gives voice to hidden crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

  Tuesday, July 26, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00163 – 26 July 2016

  They are mothers, daughters and sisters. They number more than 1,200. They are Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Their voices have been silenced. For decades, no one was listening.

  That is finally starting to change but there is still so much work to be done to put an end to this national tragedy, says Brock University Faculty of Education PhD candidate Jennifer Brant, co-ordinator of the Gidayaamin Aboriginal Women’s Certificate Program.

  Brant and D. Memee Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, have compiled and edited a new book that shines a light on the ongoing problem.

  In Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada, a variety of voices from academia to the front-lines discuss the issue, its root causes and its terrible human toll on families, communities and the very culture of Canada’s First Nations.

  “There’s case after case of another missing or murdered woman. It’s ongoing,” Brant says.

  In 2004, Amnesty International released a report called Stolen Sisters, identifying a problem that, at the time, involved more than 500 Indigenous women who were victims of racialized and sexualized violence. That number, according to the most recent RCMP report that notes Indigenous women are eight times more likely to die as a result of violence, climbed to 1,181 between 1980 and 2012.

  Brant says Amnesty International’s initial report was the first time the crisis was brought to light for many Canadians. In subsequent years, there have been more reports from human rights organizations, First Nations organizations and governments all calling for action. But, not much has been done.

  The issue has made it into the public consciousness in recent years, with media reports and political discussion largely inspired by grassroots movements.

  However, Brant says it isn’t enough just to know about the problem. Indigenous communities are looking for accountability and immediate action. 

  She says the new Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded to the call for a national public inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

  It’s a start and gives advocates hope, but there is a lot of work to be done, Brant says.

  Forever Loved explores everything from police and government responses to media coverage and education.

  She says the book includes stories from the loved ones of the missing and murdered. It gives them a voice that is too often left unheard.

  “We want this to be healing and reach the hearts and homes of those affected by this issue.”

  Brant says the book exposes the hidden crisis and she hopes it promotes awareness, action, dialogue and ultimately an end to the violence so Canada can be a safe place for Indigenous women and girls.

  Brant first heard of the issue in 2006, in class at Brock University. She was shocked that so many hundreds of Indigenous women were gone as a result of racialized and sexualized violence, and she’d never heard about it. During her time at Brock she’s worked to raise awareness and the issue features in her research into Indigenous women’s realities.

  Brant, who teaches in the Indigenous Studies program at Brock, has noticed a “distinct shift” in student awareness since the push for the national inquiry.

  Jessica Riel-Johns, graduate of the Gidayaamin program, also first heard of the problem when she was a student at Brock. From that moment in class, she’s worked to try and make a difference. Her essay in the book looks at the systemic issues that perpetuate violence against this population, including political and legal discrimination and the sexualization of Indigenous women.
  Riel-Johns shared her personal journey exploring her cultural roots and the reasons she is an advocate for more awareness. Her reasons are simple and powerful.

  “These women lived real lives, and they are not a number,” she writes. “They have names. They have stories. They matter.”

  The book is available through publisher Demeter Press and at the Brock Campus Store.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases