Lawyer, teacher, coach, musician, Olympic athlete – Larry Plenert (CMBC ’78) has worn many hats. His 6’6” frame and prowess on the volleyball court earned him a spot on Canada’s national volleyball team starting in 1973, which led to competing in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. After a short stint teaching, Plenert finished his Bachelor of Theology and then moved on to law school. Plenert practiced law in Abbotsford, B.C. for 27 years. Since 2008, he has worked as an adjudicator of claims of serious physical or sexual abuse by former students of Indian Residential Schools. He lives in Fort Langley, B.C.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards celebrate alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society. The awards are presented to alumni from CMU and its predecessor colleges: Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC)/Concord College.
Lawyer, teacher, coach, musician, Olympic athlete – Larry Plenert (CMBC ’78) has worn many hats. His 6’6” frame and prowess on the volleyball court earned him a spot on Canada’s national volleyball team starting in 1973, which led to competing in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. After a short stint teaching, Plenert finished his Bachelor of Theology and then moved on to law school. Plenert practiced law in Abbotsford, B.C. for 27 years. Since 2008, he has worked as an adjudicator of claims of serious physical or sexual abuse by former students of Indian Residential Schools. He lives in Fort Langley, B.C.
CMU is ‘a place where I was formed significantly,’ says Kevin Derksen
A Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) alumnus is preparing to return to campus as Pastor-in-Residence.
Kevin Derksen, a 2007 graduate who currently serves as pastor at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (SJMC) in St. Jacobs, ON, will be on campus Monday, November 2 until Friday, November 6.
“CMU was a really good place for me. It was a perfect fit in terms of where I was at and what I needed,” Derksen says of his time as a student. “There’s something kind of novel about being able to bring what I do now to a place where I was formed significantly.”
Kevin Derksen, CMU, alumnus is preparing to return to campus as Pastor-in-Residence
Now in its sixth year, CMU’s Pastor-in-Residence program is designed to encourage out-of-province pastors to live in residence and participate in the life of the CMU community.
The Pastor-in-Residence provides spiritual care in various ways, including speaking in chapel sessions, visiting classrooms, participating in lunch-hour discussions for students interested in vocational ministry, and informal conversations throughout the week.
“It’s an exciting partnership between CMU and our supporting churches,” says Melanie Unger, Spiritual Life Facilitator on campus. “We’re looking forward to the many ways Kevin will speak into our life at CMU!”
Derksen, who graduated with an Honours BA in Biblical and Theological Studies, says he didn’t know he was going to be a pastor while studying at CMU.
At the same time, it was during the practicum each CMU student must complete that Derksen realized he had pastoral gifts.
In consultation with Director of Practica Werner Kliewer, Derksen chose to spend the summer of 2007 in Toronto doing an internship at Toronto United Mennonite Church.
“It was a good experience—tough in some ways, but good,” Derksen says. “It was there that I realized pastoral work is something I could do reasonably well.”
While finishing his Master of Arts in Western Religious Thought at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in 2009, Derksen and his wife, Pam, decided he should get a job so that she could pursue some of her vocational interests.
Derksen came across the posting at SJMC and applied.
“It was a bit of a ‘follow your nose’ situation,” he says. “It wasn’t me deciding to be a pastor and then looking for a job. It was certainly that particular church and that particular job that appealed to me.”
Today, Derksen is part of a three-person pastoral team at SJMC, where he enjoys preaching, worship planning, and “negotiating the ongoing challenges of Christian community.”
In addition to his work at the church, Derksen chairs the Congregational Ministries Council for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and sits on the editorial council of Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology.
Derksen and his wife both grew up in Winnipeg in the Mennonite Brethren church. They currently live in the village of St. Jacobs with their three young children.
When he isn’t supervising the craft-corner and walking to the playground, Derksen enjoys softball, gardening, and reading.
He looks forward to his visit as Pastor-in-Residence.
“It will be nice to come around full circle to CMU with this life we’ve been living elsewhere,” he says.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
I was invited to reflect on the opportunity and challenge of emerging technologies in local and national contexts in a recent article for the MB Herald. I’m happy to share it here. I trust it offers up some food for thought as you decide on your own technology use.
CMU welcomes University of Notre Dame history professor Darren Dochuk
How have religion and oil together shaped existence for modern North Americans at the moment of their heightening authority in the 20th century?
That’s one of the questions Dr. Darren Dochuk will explore at this year’s J.J. Thiessen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU). Titled, “Crude Awakenings: The Faith, Politics, and Crises of Oil in America’s Century,” the three-part series takes place in the CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.) on Tuesday, October 20 at 11:00 AM and 7:30 PM, and Wednesday, October 21 at 11:00 AM.
Dr. Darren Dochuk from the University of Notre Dame, 2015’s J.J. Thiessen Lecture Series presenter
Dochuk, Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Notre Dame, will track a history of religion and oil in the 20th century, with a particular focus on “oil patch evangelism,” showing how encounters with petroleum helped shape a certain theology, a certain understanding of land and environment, and ultimately, a certain understanding of politics.
“I’m lecturing and writing very much as a historian, but I would assume that people can see the connections to our present moment,” says Dochuk, who is currently writing a book on the subject, titled Anointed With Oil: God and Black Gold in America’s Century.
“Ongoing battles about pipelines, energy, and the environment… always stir up moral critique, and in some ways, discussion and debate about theology itself—the ways in which people are to connect with, and manage, the Earth and its resources.”
Each of the three lectures will focus on a momentous flashpoint in the life of North American oil and evangelicalism and pause for reflection on what this moment meant long-term for matters of faith and society in the 20th century.
In the process of tracking the chronology of God and black gold in the modern era, the lectures will also raise questions pertaining to evangelicalism’s relationship to capitalism and globalization, energy and environment, notions of time, and broad interests in politics.
Dochuk says that his experience growing up in Edmonton, AB is one of the reasons for his interest in the subject of oil and faith.
“[Growing up,] I kind of knew intuitively that there was… a certain uniqueness to Alberta, and much of that comes out of its experiences with the boom and bust culture of oil, and the way that landscape again encourages certain religious and political practices,” Dochuk says.
“This is a way for me to revisit my own past, and revisit Alberta itself, and see if I can place that in a broader context of historical development.”
Brian Froese, Assistant Professor of History at CMU, suggested the university invite Dochuk to speak after hearing him present at a conference and reading some of his work on the intersection between oil, religion, and politics.
“The papers and articles he’s produced on that so far are wildly interesting,” Froese says, adding that Dochuk is an engaging presenter and empathetic scholar with keen insights.
“He has something provocative, in the best sense of the word, to say,” Froese says. “He really makes you think about something in a particular way.”
More on Dochuk’s lectures can be found at cmu.ca/jjt.
Founded in 1978 by one of CMU predecessor institutions, Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), the J.J. Thiessen Lectures are named in honour of a founder and long-time chairperson of the CMBC Board. The lectures seek to bring to the CMU community something of Thiessen’s breadth of vision for the church.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Canadian Mennonite University’s School of Music presents Bachtoberfest: An Evening in Leipzig.
This presentation of Bachtoberfest, the second biennial Bach event at CMU, will take classical music lovers back to 18th century Germany with performances by music faculty, students, alumni, and guests led by Dr. Janet Brenneman and Rosemarie van der Hooft.
The evening will start in CMU’s Laudamus Auditorum for Vespers at Thomaskirche, where Bach’s uplifting Cantata BWV 70 Wachet, Betet, Betet, Wachet will be presented in its liturgical setting with readings and reflections by Dr. Sue Sorensen and Dr. Dietrich Bartel. Then, as was customary upon leaving the Thomaskirche, the audience will make its way to Zimmermann’s Kaffeehaus in CMU’s Great Hall to enjoy coffee and German desserts while listening to portions of popular secular works—the Goldberg Variations and the Hunting Cantata, as well as arrangements of Bach for jazz guitar duo.
Bachtoberfest: An Evening in Leipzig will take place on Sunday, October 25 at 7:00 PM at 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. General admission is $10, $5 for students. Everyone is welcome to attend.
For further information, contact Rosemarie van der Hooft at rvanderhooft@cmu.ca.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Respected theologian and churchman remembered as beloved teacher, mentor to many
His name was David Schroeder, but those who knew him affectionately and respectfully referred to him as ‘Doc.’
Schroeder, who worked as Professor of New Testament and Philosophy at Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), one of Canadian Mennonite University’s (CMU) predecessor institutions, died peacefully in his home on Sunday, Sept. 27. He was 91 years old.
David “Doc” Schroeder with his wife Mildred
A theologian and churchman with a D.Th from the University of Hamburg, Schroeder taught at CMBC from 1959 until 1994.
Harry Huebner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology, remembers Schroeder as a beloved teacher and inspiring mentor to many students.
Schroeder’s gifts extended to his colleagues and to the shaping of CMBC.
“He refused to give simple answers to difficult problems because he believed in the capacity of people to hear the voice of the spirit,” Huebner says. “His charisma was infectious and his influence cannot easily be overstated.”
That influence stretches far beyond CMU.
“Churches across the Mennonite world sought not only his Biblical knowledge, but his wisdom in bringing issues of the times into interaction with the Biblical narrative in ways that often resulted in that ‘a-ha’ moment,” Huebner says.
Schroeder was born in Altona, MB on Sept. 20, 1924. As a young man, he was a conscientious objector. He felt so strongly about the matter that, rather than allowing his bishop to speak for him before the judge, Schroeder went to Winnipeg to face the judge himself.
Schroeder earned a Bachelor of Theology at Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC) and became an ordained minister. Polio struck, derailing his career as a minister but leading to the opportunity for Schroeder to further his studies.
He earned a BA from Bethel College (1951) and a Master of Divinity from Mennonite Biblical Seminary (1956) before moving on to the University of Hamburg, where he finished his D.Th in 1959.
Reflecting during a recent CMU event on his time spent studying under Schroeder in the 1970s, alumnus Larry Plenert remarked on how Schroeder inspired him to become a lawyer.
“He was someone who all of us students at CMBC looked up to and thought highly of,” Plenert says.
A student asked Schroeder if it was appropriate for Mennonites to be lawyers.
“Doc felt that the legal profession would benefit by lawyers that had integrity and had good, strong values, and although we came from this tradition of ‘Stillen im Lande’ (the quiet in the land), it was OK for a Mennonite student to become a lawyer,” says Plenert, who practiced law in Abbotsford, B.C. for 27 years. “That was tremendous encouragement for me.”
CMU President Cheryl Pauls notes that Schroeder leaves a legacy as a beloved teacher to many students.
“He was known for his gentle nature, student mentoring, and visionary, creative capacity to take complex questions forward in the classroom and the church,” Pauls says.
Gerald Gerbrandt, President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Bible at CMU, says that Schroeder was a gentle yet passionate teacher with a fertile imagination and an ability to connect with anyone.
“Dave had a special capacity to relate with integrity to a broad range of people, whether renowned Biblical scholar or devout layperson, whether non-Christian or conservative Mennonite,” Gerbrandt says. “In each case, he could develop a genuine relationship built on respect and trust.”
Doc Schroeder in 1961
Upon Schroeder’s retirement from full-time teaching in 1989, CMBC held an academic symposium in his honour.
Speaking at the event, Rodney Sawatsky, a former student of Schroeder’s and president of Conrad Grebel College (Waterloo, ON) at the time, remarked that churches sought Schroeder out not because of what he said, but because of who he was as a person.
“He is heard because he does not so much negate or scold or imply his intellectual or spiritual superiority but rather he adds to, builds bridges, surprises, encourages, and assures,” Sawatsky said. “He breathes new life, new faith, new hope, and new love.”
“His master teacher is Jesus the Christ, the Word made flesh,” Sawatsky added.
“We honour Dave best when we too, as teachers of the church, look to Jesus as our master teacher, when our words too become flesh in and through us. Then and only then will we have been true students of Dave Schroeder. Then and only then will we be servants of the church as Dave has modelled so powerfully for us!”
Schroeder’s passion for peace and justice, the global church, and the Mennonite church were equalled by his passion for his family. He lived in a four-generational house for more than 50 years.
He is survived by the love of his life, Mildred (Bartel), who he was married to for 66 years. They had three children: Dorothy (Don) Sugimoto, Lynette (Ernie) Wiebe, and Alan (Ruth) Schroeder; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Reunions, Concerts, Alumni Awards, and Donor Recognition Highlights of Annual Event
Although it’s only been five months since she graduated from Canadian Mennonite University, Amber Neufeld was eager to return to campus for Fall Festival.
Neufeld performed at the festival’s MPK folk concert, shopped at the farmers market, and attended the opening program. She hopes to attend more CMU events in the future because of the impact the university has had on her life.
“Not only did CMU teach me valuable things that are the foundation for my faith and education, it gave me some amazing people that I’m honoured to be friends,” Neufeld said.
More than 500 people gathered at CMU for Fall Festival this past weekend (Sept. 25-26).
CMU President Cheryl Pauls addresses those gathered for the Fall Festival 2015’s opening program
Celebrated at the end of each September, Fall Festival features opportunities for students, alumni, friends, donors, and community members to connect, learn, play, and celebrate with the CMU community.
In addition to the folk music festival and farmers market, the weekend included class reunions, community meals, a Manitoba Cycling Association-sanctioned bicycle race, MCAC basketball games, and a tour of Marpeck Commons, the new building on campus that houses a library, a bookstore/resource centre, learning commons, and a café.
The weekend kicked off on Friday, Sept. 25 with a Face2Face community discussion exploring oil dependency.
After a full day of activity on a warm and windy Saturday (Sept. 26), Fall Festival wrapped up with CMU’s annual opening program, a time of worship to celebrate the start of a new school year.
For the first time ever, the opening program was held in Marpeck Commons, which opened at the end of November 2014.
Delivering a message based on CMU’s chapel theme for 2015-16, Behold the Beauty of the Lord (Psalm 27:4), CMU President Cheryl Pauls spoke of the ways in which beauty and inquiry work together.
Meditating on the popular phrase, “Leave it better than you found it,” Pauls talked about how that mentality has captured people’s imaginations as they work amidst the complex, strained matters of today, such as economic disparity, climate change, food security, human sexuality, and reconciliation with First Nation, Métis, and Inuit peoples.
“I’ve little doubt that the call ‘Better than we found it’ nurtures our commitments to these and many more hurting peoples and places,” Pauls said.
“I’ve also little doubt that the mission entrusted to this university requires action and reflection—action and reflection that’s animated by bending towards beauty. That is, through postures of prayer in the courage and humility of inquiry and awe, ever seeking of God clear, compelling ways forward with matters and relationships that confound and trouble us. And also, perhaps more importantly, by ever releasing and offering to God the very best of our persuasions and of all we think we now grasp.”
The opening program included the presentation of the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Awards, which annually recognize alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU’s values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.
Pauls presented the awards to Larry Plenert, an Olympian-turned-lawyer who has worked for the past eight years as an adjudicator of claims of serious abuse by former students of Indian Residential Schools; Cheryl Woelk, an educator and peace worker; Gerry Dyck, a businessman who has made significant contributions in the field of international development; and Arno and Lena Fast, a couple who have spent the past 46 years ministering at a church in Winnipeg’s North End.
Winnipeg artists Richard Finney (right) and Ray Dirks (left) with their art piece, which acknowledges those who donated to the construction of Marpeck Commons
Later in the program, Pauls noted that $12 million of the $14.4 million needed to pay for Marpeck Commons has been raised so far.
She unveiled a donor recognition wall, which features an art piece commemorating people who contribute money to the project.
Created by Winnipeg artists Richard Finney and Ray Dirks, the piece is made up of brushed metal and glass.
The glass features an etching of a tree made up of phrases from CMU’s mission statement.
The lower portions of the piece feature a laser cutting of the names of donors who contributed to the project, with room to add the names of future donors.
“It’s a field of names,” Pauls explained. “Each individual is a kernel, a kernel that matters and is vital to the actual, ongoing life of this place. As a collective, this field of names draws out the best of what is made possible through the learning, the conversation, the sharing together in this place.”
Vice President External Terry Schellenberg noted that Fall Festival is an important community builder for CMU.
“Once again, Fall Festival opened CMU to alumni, friends, and the broader community,” Schellenberg said.
“We were moved by a significant Face2Face conversation; inspired by stories of ministry, restorative justice, business, and peacemaking from five alumni award recipients; gratified by the generosity of CMU’s support community as we unveiled a beautiful donor wall in Marpeck Commons; and celebrated and blessed the start of a new academic year.”
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is pleased to host and facilitate the first Peguis First Nation Post-secondary Indigenous Transition Program.
Designed by the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC), the 10-month program aims to assist students in the transition from high school to postsecondary education, from the reserve to an urban setting.
With the support of the Peguis First Nation School Board, 19 students from Peguis First Nation are participating in the transition program, which began in August 2015. It is the first transition program in Manitoba to occur in Winnipeg, allowing students to fully experience city life. Eighteen of the students are living on CMU’s campus.
Students from the Peguis First Nation Post-secondary Indigenous Transition Program
“It’s an honour for CMU to work in partnership with Peguis First Nation to make this program possible,” says CMU President Cheryl Pauls. “There is significant evidence that quality of academic and life learning can be correlated directly to quality of relationships students have with instructors and peers. The cohort model of this Transition Program builds on and strengthens the relational commitments of the CMU learning community.”
The transition program includes a combination of life skills training, an Indigenous cultural awareness component, as well as university courses accredited through CMU.
“Everything they learn in this program is going to be the skills they use in the future,” says Clairissa Kelly, Program Coordinator and Student Counsellor. “It’s about setting them up for success in the future.
Drawing on the medicine wheel, the transition program offers supports in four key areas, explains Kelly: physical—focusing on housing, transportation, and physical health; social —focusing on relationship building, peer-to-peer learning, recreation, and volunteering; mental—including setting education and employment goals and meeting mental health needs; and spiritual—including cultural components and learning such as smudging and participating in a traditional sweat.
“I see this program as a way of reconciliation—an example of how reconciliation can be achieved between First Nations people and Canadian society,” says Kelly.
Through the life skills training, students will learn about their history, culture, and heritage. Guest speakers and elders will share about traditional knowledge, teachings, and ceremonies, with opportunities given for students to participate in ceremonies.
The transition program includes 15 credit hours of university courses: Introduction to Computers, Introduction to University, Academic Writing, and a two-part course on Indigenous Knowledge.
Each course has been developed from an Indigenous perspective and will be taught by instructors associated with the transition program. The courses are accredited by CMU and will operate according to CMU policies. Students will emerge with CMU credits that are transferrable to other universities or to additional CMU programs.
“My goal at the end of the program is for students to have employment—part time or summer employment—or that they are attending post-secondary education,” says Kelly.
The idea for the program grew out of observations and experience that the transition from high school to university can be challenging for students, says Wayne Mason, who helped develop the transition program while working at MFNERC.
Moving away from their supportive home community, family, and friends, adjusting to life in Winnipeg, and differences between high school and university atmospheres can sometimes hinder students’ success, explains Mason.
“We need to make changes that will help our young people to succeed and overcome a lot of those negative aspects that may hold them back,” says Mason. “The transition program is needed and hopefully we can work ourselves out of transition programs when all students can go directly from high school to university or college.”
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Oil industry consultant, economist, and filmmaker featured on panel
Oil dependency is the focus of Canadian Mennonite University’s (CMU) first Face2Face discussion of 2015-16.
Titled “When Oil Dependency is Not Black and White: Contradictions and Possibilities,” the event happens Friday, September 25 at 7:00 PM in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.
Face2Face is a series of conversations with CMU faculty, designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.
From cell phones to clothing, and from wind turbines to automobiles, we are embedded in an oil dependent world. The September 25 discussion will explore questions such as: How do we respond to the complex realities of oil dependency in our lives? What choices lie before governments, industry, and before each of us as individuals? What kind of ethical framework can guide and assist us?
Moderated by David Balzer, Assistant Professor of Communications and Media, the event will feature three panelists:
Marlene Janzen – Engineer, owner of Eclipse Geomatics and Engineering LTD; focused on conceptual development studies, front end engineering, and preliminary estimates for remote onshore and arctic offshore oil and gas opportunities.
James Magnus-Johnston – CMU Instructor of Political Studies and Economics; research interests in ecological resilience, principally through the application of “steady-state” economic policies and carbon reduction strategies.
Michael Tyas – Managing editor of One River News; graduated from the University of Manitoba with an honours degree in environmental studies; a professional videographer and video trainer; produced the feature length documentary One River, Many Relations in Fort Chipewyan, AB to tell the stories of people living downstream from oil sands resource extraction.
Balzer says the goal is to have a conversation that draws out some of the complexities surrounding the topic of oil.
“To have someone who’s an oil industry consultant with a deep concern for creation, together with an economist and a documentary filmmaker, feels like it will create a very interesting conversation with some expertise people don’t always have available to them when they’re discussing these issues,” he says.
Magnus-Johnston says he wanted to be a part of the event because he believes everyone is personally responsible when it comes to fossil fuel use.
“Often we want someone to take responsibility for climate change, so we vilify fossil fuel companies or those working in the fossil fuel industry, but when you dig a little deeper, we all are, in fact, contributing to the problem,” Magnus-Johnston says. “So, solutions are not so simple.”
Balzer points out that rather than just being a presentation by the three panelists, the event is meant to be a conversation that includes audience members.
With any luck, the conversation will produce new insights.
“We’re hoping we don’t end up getting caught in a positional debate, but rather that we listen to the panelists, hear what they’re saying, and perhaps look for the creative way forward that may not be present to any of us right now,” Balzer says.
The discussion will be followed at 8:30 PM by an informal reception.
The evening marks the start of CMU’s Fall Festival, a high energy weekend that features opportunities to connect, learn, play, and celebrate with the CMU Community. For more information about Fall Festival, visit www.cmu.ca/fallfest.
“When Oil Dependency is Not Black and White: Contradictions and Possibilities” is the first of four Face2Face events CMU will host during the 2015-16 school year. For details, visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
