view . spring 2009
5
dear
viewer
ALAN WILDEMAN
President and Vice-Chancellor
There is a familiar question that most people have heard. It goes
something along the lines of: If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a
sound? The answer is that if someone was there to hear it, it surely did.
If no one was there to hear it, we can’t be sure. In the same way, the
changes that the University of Windsor is forging will be undeniable if
the community around us feels them. Without the community, there
would be less certainty about whether we are having an impact, and
whether we are on the right track for the future.
The University has many, many connections with Windsor and
Essex County, and in this issue of View you will discover a sampling
of what they are. Through our legal clinics that serve those in the
community who otherwise would not have access to legal assistance,
our social work programs that support people living in community
housing, our medical students in hospitals, and our athletics programs
and facilities that are available to other organizations, the connection
between the University and the community is one of our indisputable
strengths. Our research into strategies for saving energy, into
understanding the complex physical and biological nature of the Great
Lakes, into critical cross-border issues, and into the best practices for
protecting intellectual property is relevant right here and now.
However, the real greatness of these connections lies in the
extraordinary contributions that our students make. Undergraduate
and graduate students are putting much of the vitality into our local
outreach. Without our students, far fewer people would “hear” the
University of Windsor. They are not only involved in community
change – in many cases they are leading it.
Many of our alumni remain in the region and are a vital part of
the fabric of Windsor and Essex County. Currently, there are in fact
more than 30,000 local UWindsor grads. Alumni who are further afield,
across Ontario, Canada and beyond, are often an integral part of their
communities. Together, they are all our greatest ambassadors for the
kind of university we are, a university of academic excellence where
commitment to community is one of our greatest sensibilities. It is a
sensibility that underscores the future of the University of Windsor.
Dr. Alan Wildeman
