Raphaël Leclaire recovered from two bouts with cancer and became inspired to raise funds for several cancer-related initiatives for the Montreal University Health Centre (MUHC). In the course of his efforts, he has been featured on the CTV National News as well as on Hockey Night in Canada in a story relating to his work with the Saku Koivu Foundation. Find out all about this amazing individual. Click for more.

Vytautos Bucionis was featured on a story reported by CFCF News on June 6th. It talked both about the remarkable way in which he deals with his visual impairment as well as the special relationship that he has developed with drumming teacher Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr. It shows how Vytautos records bird songs and then creates compositions based on their melodies. Click for more.

Fatima Daher has won the 2008-2009 Doug Miller Social Justice Award in recognition of her tireless efforts to promote social justice causes throughout Vanier. Fatima was a fixture at information booths run by the Vanier College Social Justice Committee throughout the year and was also editor and chief writer of the committee's newsletter. As well, Fatima served as a tutor, helping students both in the Learning Centre and the Social Science Resource Room. Click for more.

Vanier's very own Rami Sayar "Touchless Computer" presentation won a Silver Medal plus almost $10000 in various prizes and scholarships at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, held May 9 to 17 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He also recently won a Gold Medal and three other awards at the 2009 Montreal Regional Science and Technology Fair. Previously, he had won a Gold Medal in the Senior category at last year's Bell Science Fair Provincial Finals and then went on to take a Bronze Medal at the Nationals held in Ottawa in May 2008. This year he won Silver! Click for more.

Congratulations to Honours Health Science graduating student TingJia Lorigiano who was the Quebec representative at the 2009 Miss Universe Canada pageant. TingJia had previously won the title of Miss Chinese Montreal and went on to be a finalist in the Miss Chinese International competition held last year in Hong Kong. TingJia won the People's Choice Prize at the May 14 preliminary session, meaning she garnered the most online votes and was automatically in the top 20 finalists. Find out more.

Architectural Technology students went on a class trip to New Mexico in May and June of 2008. During their stay, they succeeded in combining academic enrichment with humanitarian work. Their moving story was recently featured in an article from the Saint-Laurent News that was published in September 28, 2008. Find out more.

Congratulations to Elodie Santos (at the right side in the photo at left) and DeCarla Clarke (at the far left side) who each won a scholarship from the West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA) at the group’s 26th anniversary banquet. The award acknowledges their academic success as well as their community involvement through volunteering. The awards ceremony was covered in an article published in the West Island Chronicle. Read the article in its entirety.