How a cat captured the hearts of Huskies
By Dennis Mills BComm'12 CertHRM'12
Photo by Musa Al Katib Moinak
For generations, the Saint Mary's community has forged a bond of unity and pride, embracing the collective identity of "Huskies". Whether it was high-fiving the Husky mascot at sports games or wearing iconic Huskies-branded clothing, alumni, students, staff and faculty were quite secure in their canine-affiliated identity.
But everything changed in 2016, when, without fanfare, a cat named Carlton ironically became the university's unofficial brand ambassador and, most importantly, a furry friend to all.
Adopted by his loving human family in 2013, Carlton "enrolled" at Saint Mary's three years later when his family moved across the street from campus. As a roaming kitty from a young age, his family wondered where he would disappear to all day until they saw him featured on the social media accounts of Saint Mary's students.
Knowing he was safe and nearby, Carlton's family generously shared him. As he became more familiar with the campus and everyone on it, many who knew him would come to realize that the campus was Carlton's and everyone else was only studying, living or working there.
His sense of ownership, curiosity and sometimes a seeming lack of self-awareness led him to wander through graduation ceremonies, classes, open houses, exams and ultimately, any office or desktop he wanted to explore.
Those who have never met Carlton may wonder what could a little cat do to make such a big impact on so many people? And the answer is simple yet profound. In recent years, when it felt like no one agreed about anything, he helped an entire university community agree on two things: they liked Carlton and he made them feel happy.
Most days, Carlton would make his campus rounds. Everyone from university security to students and even President Summerby-Murray kept an eye out for Carlton. Letting him into buildings when he patiently waited outside doors, ensuring he went home at night, filling water bowls around the hallways and feeding him treats. He routinely visited many offices, including the Service Centre, where he had no financial matters to attend to but was there only to enjoy treats and lap naps with staff, even as they met with students.
Amidst all of the due dates, assignments and exams, Carlton had a natural way of easing tension. He always seemed to find the right person when they needed a soft reminder that everything would be okay. His demeanor may have suggested a laissez-faire attitude, but he was compassionate and reassuring when people needed him the most.
Each school year, new students were eager to meet Carlton and returning students were glad to see the familiar feline patrolling the hallways.
This fall, the hallways of Saint Mary's feel empty. With great sadness, on Instagram (yes, he had his own Instagram account) on October 31, his family shared that Carlton passed away from feline cancer.
The heartbreak of Carlton's passing was felt deeply and broadly. Immediately, comments of condolence and memorable Carlton stories began to fill the comments section.
Of the over 700 comments, people shared the joy he brought to campus and the countless times he sparked a smile. One commenter shared a story of Carlton walking through the aisles of a classroom during an exam. He greeted the nervous exam takers and helped many that day take a deep breath and smile before returning to their exam books.
The university also honoured Carlton in a social media post, receiving condolences from Dalhousie University and Mount Saint Vincent University. This outpouring of love for Carlton was a testament to his ability and legacy of uniting a university community, the academic community, alumni, friends and neighbours.
Over the 221-year history of Saint Mary's, many people have tales about school pride, mysteries, sometimes mischief and life-long bonds made on the Saint Mary's campus. It's these unique memories which brought each class closer together.
For the recent generation of alumni, students, faculty and staff, the Saint Mary's tale they will tell will be of what nature has typically deemed unnatural... a cat making friends with a pack of Huskies
Celebrating 40 years of Computing Science
From analog to data analytics: how far computing science has come at Saint Mary's.
By Renée Hartleib
Over the last four decades, computing science at Saint Mary’s has grown from a small offshoot of the Mathematics department into an internationally acclaimed program attended by students worldwide.
Dr. Porter Scobey has been with Saint Mary’s for 55 years and the Computing Science program since its inception in 1983. He remembers that in the early days, it was challenging to find computing science specialists who were able and willing to bring their expertise into the classroom.
It’s why, in the mid-80s, he volunteered to attend a new and innovative program offered in the US at Kent State University and Clarkson University. The Institute for Retraining in Computer Science (IFRCS) was designed to take people who were already mathematicians, which Scobey was, and to give them enough training that they could return to their institutions and teach undergraduate computer science.
An instructor talks to students in one of Saint Mary's first computer labs. (1984)
Other long-time faculty members include Dr. Paul Muir, Dr. Pawan Lingras, and Dr. Stavros Konstantinidis. All have gone on to teach, research, and publish extensively.
Over the years, the program has steadily grown. In the mid-90s, a computing science major was offered. By the year 2000, the program was robust enough to start sending students to programming competitions sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Over 12 years, the Saint Mary’s team won the regional competition eight times in a field that included MIT and Harvard. They also became the first Atlantic Canadian team to reach the World Programming Championship.
Graduates of the program have gone on to work at IBM, Google, and Facebook, and today, international students can study with Saint Mary’s from wherever they are in the world. One of the latest feathers in their cap is a new graduate-level, 16-month professional program— Master of Science in Computing & Data Analytics (MCDA)—that prepares students for rewarding careers in software design, analytics, and business intelligence.
What began as a program that couldn’t recruit experts in the field is now, 40 years later, playing a vital role in computing science research and offering undergraduate and graduate students an education that will prepare them for a world of exponential digital change.
Moving the court onto the computer ESports at Saint Mary’s is the newest addition to the roster of university sports.
By Renée Hartleib
Students competing in e-sports
Have you ever heard of the term “e-sports”? As in “electronic sports,” a.k.a. competitive video gaming? Wait a minute, you might say. Isn’t that term an oxymoron?
Not according to Greg Knight, Saint Mary’s Assistant Athletic Director. For him and the whole Athletics and Recreation department, there is a connection to the traditional sports that the university is known for. “Even though our players aren’t running up and down a football field or a basketball court in a full sprint, there are many similarities to other sports,” he says, listing off teamwork, dedication, practice, coordination, training, and connecting with friends, all essential aspects of sports at Saint Mary’s.
It’s for all these reasons that e-sports have become part of the university’s athletics and recreation offerings. Collaborating with the Enterprise Information Technology department, the e-sports offering aims to help raise enrolment and offer a fun and positive alternative to varsity teams and club sports.
So far, so good. SMU Huskies ESports launched in the fall of 2022 and has grown leaps and bounds in its first year. “In a very short period of time, our exciting new program has attracted a lot of attention from media and potential SMU students,” says Knight.
It certainly helps that e-sports are often in the news and have quickly become a billion-dollar global industry. E-sports are considered one of the fastest-growing sports on Earth, with a level of organization and viewership that rivals traditional sports like football, basketball and soccer.
Across the country, over 23 million Canadians play video games, and Canada’s video game industry is one of the largest and most successful in the world. With more than 900 active video game studios, the industry adds $4.5 billion annually to Canada’s GDP.
Saint Mary’s is one of 25 Canadian universities to add an e-sports program. In the United States, the number of participating post-secondary institutions is even higher, with 170 schools and over 5,000 student-athletes participating in varsity e-sports programs.
Saint Mary’s is taking a two-pronged approach, offering e-sports at both competitive and recreational levels. Players in the competitive stream have to try out for spots on one of three teams—Rocket League, Valorant, and League of Legends. Each team has two sub-teams, inspired by the university’s colours (Maroon is top tier and White is developmental), who compete against other colleges and universities. On the Varsity Rocket League roster, there are three players on each team, with one alternate. And on the Varsity Valorant and League of Legends rosters, there are five players and one alternate.
Knight oversees the e-sports programming and the day-to-day management of the teams, along with a host of volunteer coaches and managers. He is also working hard to ensure that the Huskies ESports teams have many opportunities to consistently play in competitions that will challenge the individual team members. And he has high hopes for the competitive teams chosen for the 2023/2024 season.
“We’re seeing some really promising results so far this year,” he says. Knight is particularly excited about the Rocket League Maroon team, which has incredible talent, including a player ranked at the highest skill level worldwide. The player whose “In Game Name” (IGN) is Hazy is in the “Supersonic Legend” category. This category distinction means that with a competitive player base of 3.75 million people worldwide, Hazy is ranked in the top 200-300 players.
“Over in the recreational stream, players are offered drop-in play sessions, tournaments, and special programming for neurodivergent individuals, in addition to females and non-binary individuals. Gaming has a reputation for being loud and exclusively male-centric, so we are aiming to create as welcoming an atmosphere as possible for all to play,” says Knight.
Both streams practice at the heart of campus in the McNally East basement in what has been dubbed the “ESports Arena.” There are seven state-of-the-art gaming PC stations, with 16 “open” spaces for people to bring and set up their own equipment. There is also a large screen display at the front of the room that can be linked to any personal computers players use.
“Saint Mary’s Athletics and Recreation is proud to be offering an exciting new opportunity for students,” says Knight. “We can already see that it is really bringing people together and positively affecting the campus culture.”
For more information, check out SMU Huskies ESports on Instagram or the SMU Huskies webpage.
Alumni shed light on African Nova Scotian history
The Loyalists Connections podcast is helping African Nova Scotian history reach new audiences.
By Renée Hartleib
Left to right: Dr. Kirrily Freeman, Dr. Patricia Matsumoto; alumni Laurice Downey BComm'06, Shawn Smith BComm'05 and Graham Nickerson BSc'98; and students Itai Kuwodza and Matthew Downie.
Growing up, Shawn Smith BComm'05 and Laurice Downey BComm'06, both spent time with family in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. But they didn't forge a bond until they got to know each other at Saint Mary's. It turns out they had a lot in common. Both were student-athletes (Shawn basketball and Laurice football), both were taking business courses, and both enjoyed the occasional Thursday night at the Gorsebrook Lounge.
After they graduated, their career paths diverged. Laurice chose to work in human resources in the oil and gas fields of Alberta. At the same time, Shawn progressed through marketing and recruitment positions. Returning to Saint Mary's in 2011 for a human resources certificate, Shawn now holds the role of Senior Advisor for Black Nova Scotian Initiatives at the Nova Scotia Community College.
Throughout all this time, the two stayed in touch and talked for years about potential business ventures. Fast forward to 2020, when George Floyd was killed. "It was the push we needed," says Shawn. "We chose to do something that we actually had control over, which would positively impact our community."
That something was the creation of The Loyalists Connections Podcast, available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Podbean. The podcast is a deep dive into historic African Nova Scotian settlements and the long-neglected story of anti-black racism in Canada.
Through personal storytelling and interviews with guests, the duo, with help from local Black History scholar and researcher Graham Nickerson BSc'98, are shedding light on some of the 52 Black communities in Nova Scotia. They are also making plain the historic and modern systemic racism these communities, including Beechville, Yarmouth, Whitney Pier, and North Preston, have faced.
"If we look at traditional mediums and how our history has been portrayed, or not portrayed, there is a lot of missing or inaccurate information," says Shawn. "The podcast allows us to document the African Nova Scotian lived experience by capturing voices and stories in a way that is authentic and impactful. And then it also allows us to share our rich 400-year-old history with the general public so it's no longer hidden."
This dual purpose is resonating with podcast listeners worldwide. People from diverse backgrounds are tuning in from not only Canada but also the United States, West Africa, Germany and France.
Laurice and Shawn themselves are also feeling the impact. "We are absolutely learning as we go," says Laurice. "Our history has often not been included in mainstream accounts, so there's a lot of information we've never heard before. I pick up something new in every single conversation we have on the show."
The other thing they are learning about is technology. It's been important for both men to be hands-on and to understand all aspects of the production process. Podcast self-production has meant a bit of a learning curve, eased with help from Dr. Kirrily Freeman, a History Professor and the Director of Outreach and Experiential Learning in the Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's. Three of her students have been helping to accelerate the production process, with season two nearly mastered and ready to release.
"We are continuing to find our voices and perfect our craft, all the while enjoying being creative and feeling like we've accomplished something," says Laurice. "We're applying the skills we learned through our education, just in a different way. It's really rewarding."
When they reflect on their education at Saint Mary's, both vividly remember a labour relations class where the students had to do a collective bargaining exercise. "I've never forgotten that course. It taught me a lot about how I wanted to conduct myself out in the world," says Shawn. "Having grace in difficult situations and expressing compassion and understanding when dealing with others is so important."
Both also have unforgettable memories of being student-athletes. The Huskies football team won the Vanier Cup in Laurice's first year, and Shawn went to the nationals in basketball three years running. "Having those experiences at Saint Mary's shaped who we are and where we are today," says Laurice.
Where they are today is following their hearts in preserving the African Nova Scotian and Black experience for the generations to come. They also passionately advocate for a change in how these communities are perceived.
To that end, the pair have created the Loyalists Connections Creative Society with the aim to build self-esteem and identity within Black communities. They do this by offering space and helping to give voice to those who have been historically overlooked.
They are also pushing forward a different story—one that flies in the face of racist narratives. "Our ancestors were historically resourceful and entrepreneurial," says Shawn. "That's the spirit we want to re-ignite in present-day members of these communities."
