At Red & White Day on Sept. 29, dozens of students, faculty, staff and alumni participated in a photo contest celebrating spirit and impact in the York University community.
Participants were asked to share their photos using the #YUSpirit and #YorkUImpact hashtags. Since this Red & White Day ushered in the on-campus launch of Impact: The Campaign for York University, participants were encouraged to submit photos that not only demonstrated their school spirit (i.e. by wearing their red-and-white or York gear), but also showcased the impact that York has made on them or the impact they have made at York. A winner was selected from each of the student, faculty/staff and alumni categories.
With nearly 200 entries, the competition was fierce and the judges certainly had their work cut out for them.
The winner of the student category was Amanda Tanner, a current student at Glendon College in the French Studies and BEd programs. Tanner also serves as a Glendon eAmbassador, sharing her personal experiences with prospective students through her online blog, on topics such as classes, meal plans, residence, commuting and much more. “To me, the photo represents the community – I had only just met one of the girls in the photo, so it just goes to show the cool and lovely people you get to meet every day at York,” said Tanner.
The winner of the faculty/staff category was the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Science, with a photo submitted by Executive Assistant Dimitra Markatas. The image shows the team looking out from the peak of the York Observatory. “The Observatory has supported student research and community outreach since 1969 and inspires the community to learn about astronomy by offering free public viewing and tours every Wednesday,” said Markatas. “Since one of the themes of our York Science Impact Campaign focuses on ‘Building Stronger Communities,’ we thought the Observatory was the perfect place to demonstrate our #YUSpirit and #YorkUImpact.”
The winner of the alumni category was Mary Harrison (MA ’08, PhD ’14), an alumna of the Faculty of Education’s Graduate Program in Language, Culture & Teaching. Harrison shared a photo of herself and her daughter from her 2014 Convocation ceremony, which she felt was a pivotal moment of #YorkUImpact for her life and her career. “Among other things, my dissertation examined mother-daughter relationships, so I was intensely proud to take a photo with my own incredible daughter while wearing my doctoral robes,” said Harrison. “Shortly after convocation, I was offered a job at Fanshawe College in London, where my family now lives and continues to grow.”
More Red & White Day photo contest submissions can be found on Facebook and across various social media channels under the hashtags #YUSpirit or #YorkUImpact.
For more on Red & White Day, see YFile, Oct. 3.
Below are the photos that were selected as honorable mentions for each category:
