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It is unusual for a leader of a university to post a statement publicly regarding coverage of the institution in national news. That being said, it is imperative at this point for me to set the record straight. Anyone reading this will likely have seen headlines suggesting Queen’s is losing its position as a top tier institution and may be under threat of financial ruin. I can assure you none of this is true. While the current financial situation for Queen’s poses challenges, the same is true for most postsecondary institutions in Ontario.

Businesses can contribute to the ‘greater good’ and a new mandatory third-year Commerce course is immersing students in community-engaged project-based learning to demonstrate that potential.

In this issue of the Alumni Review, Greg McArthur writes about the  as it celebrates 150 years of student writing, reporting and critique. Founded in 1873, the Journal is amongst the oldest student-run newspapers in North America, and as Greg observes, it has become Queen’s “secret” school of journalism, over the years training countless students in the required skills and professional ethics of the field.

The past year at Queen’s University has been filled with new beginnings, renewal, key accomplishments, and important events. As 2023 draws to a close the Gazette takes a look at the items that made the biggest headlines.

Engineering’s new era
The unveiling of Smith Engineering honours a historic donation of $100 million from financial-services entrepreneur and Queen’s University alumnus Stephen J.R. Smith (Sc’72, LLD'17) to reimagine STEM education through engineering at Queen’s.

Queen’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane received an honorary degree from McMaster University during a fall convocation ceremony in Hamilton on Nov. 23.  

Chris Carlton and Ian Matheson are pre-service teacher educators in the Faculty of Education who have taken on a timely challenge as part of their work at Queen’s – finding a new way to get elementary school children excited about sustainability. Their goal was to create a fun, hands-on, school-wide project that would also show the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in action. And this is where the worms came in.

A transformational change in Queen’s engineering education is on the horizon, thanks to an unparalleled gift from financial-services entrepreneur and Queen’s University alumnus, Stephen J.R. Smith (Sc’72, LLD'17).

In what is now the largest donation of its kind to an engineering faculty in Canada, Mr. Smith’s gift is founded on his commitment to nurturing STEM education, supporting the engineers of tomorrow, and preparing and empowering Queen’s engineering graduates to confront society’s most pressing challenges head-on.

Dear Members of the Queen’s Community,

Community-engaged learning opportunities often bring together students, faculty, staff, and community partners to address and respond to community-identified challenges. Wendy Craig’s first focus in her work as Special Advisor to the Principal on Community Engagement has been on these mutually beneficial learning experiences that effect positive change through collaboration among students and community organizations.