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Assistance of Windsor, Community Legal Aid and Intellectual
Property Law Network – would do without them. “They cannot
afford what was asked of them and I always think, where would
these people go if we weren’t here.”
Combined, the clinics provide an estimated $1.2 million in free
legal assistance annually, according to the University’s 2006/2007
annual report To Greater Heights. And they reflect the little-
publicized, though all-embracing interaction between UWindsor and
the broader community.
That is a phenomenon that Mayor Eddie Francis LLB 2002, for
one, is acutely aware of. “Imagine the city without a university and
that will speak to the issue of what the impact of a university is.”
The inter-relationship between UWindsor and the community
is immense. For example, the University injects an estimated $585
million into the local economy annually, though most observers
say it is impossible to quantify its full value. At the same time, it is
difficult to give a precise value to the critical contribution of the
community to the University in, for instance, funding scholarships
and bursaries to students, helping fund capital projects, providing
jobs for graduates, and numerous other services.
It is a unique kind of co-operation that UWindsor president
Dr. Alan Wildeman says he is keenly aware of. Discussing the
relationship between town (community) and gown (university),
Wildeman puts the emphasis on the word relationship “because it’s
really about creating an environment within which mutual interests,
mutual challenges and mutual opportunities can be talked about.”
Volunteer internship and social work programs, industry
partnerships, the new Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and
now talks with St. Clair College on establishing a health-sciences
training centre – these are all examples of what Wildeman calls
“breaking down the insularity” that exists at many universities.
Observers, both on and off campus, cite other examples of how the
university affects the community and vice versa.
They include an Odette School of Business course in which
students have to work on a fundraising initiative with a not-for-
profit organization, as well as the newly established Cross Border
Transportation Studies Institute that is researching the critical trade
links – of which Windsor is the major hub – with the U.S.
There are businesses posting signs welcoming back the
University’s 16,000 students each fall and the local Italo-Canadian
community which raised $3 million to ensure the long-term stability
of the Italian Studies program at UWindsor.
Essex County Warden Nelson Santos BA ’93 refers to the
value of the University’s increasing collaboration with high school
technology classes encouraging students to select UWindsor for
their post-secondary education and to remain in the area after
The University of Windsor contributes $585 million to the local economy each year.
