The Harrison Festival of the Arts has been part of the Fraser Valley’s cultural landscape for thirty-six years, and the University of the Fraser Valley has been involved from the beginning. The popular annual summer festival is back this year from July 12 to 20, and UFV is contributing several productions from its highly successful…

A different kind of beer buzz just hit UFV graduate Brennan Gleason. Well ahead of graduating with UFV’s first Graphic and Digital Design class earlier this month, Gleason sent out a very unique résumé: his own home-brewed beer beautifully packaged as Résum-Ale. Holding four handsome bottles of 6.9-percent-alcohol beer, the packaging reads: “Visually pleasing, smooth…

The best ideas are often the simple ones. In the case of middle school vice-principal Jasbir Singh, a great idea was simply to ask his daughter Jaslyen Singh how to help his basketball-crazy students focus on getting their homework done. Jaslyen had some ideas of her own, and, as a member of the UFV Cascades…

The University of the Fraser Valley’s Theatre department will once again challenge and engage audiences as it presents its 2014/15 Season of Theatre. Three exceptional plays have been chosen to inspire and entertain local audiences. All productions will be held in the performance theatre on the Chilliwack North campus, at the corner of Yale and…

Convocation refers to a gathering together, and thousands did so on June 12 and 13 as the University of the Fraser Valley celebrated its graduates at three ceremonies at the Abbotsford Centre. Watch a video of our Convocation ceremonies here. More than 2,100 individuals graduated with more than 2,700 credentials this year, over the two…

It’s Kusum Soni’s inclusive embrace that earned her this year’s Betty Urquhart community service award from the University of the Fraser Valley. In 1995, UFV renamed its community service award in honour of Betty Urquhart, who passed away that year. One of UFV’s first employees, Urquhart was commitment to building a strong relationship between UFV…

2014 UFV Research Excellence award winner Healthy bodies make for healthy minds and healthy communities. There are many opportunities in Fraser Valley communities to do scientific research focused on keeping the population healthy, raising healthier kids, and helping the elderly stay healthy longer through well-planned physical activity. That’s what Dr. Michael Gaetz of Chilliwack has…

For a teacher committed to studying seniors, psychology instructor Dr. Andrea Hughes sure has a way with today’s youth. As the 2014 recipient of the Teaching Excellence award at the University of the Fraser Valley, Hughes’ success is a product of her interminable fascination with studying memory, especially in older generations. “I think students feed…

Like most students enrolled in master’s level programming at the University of the Fraser Valley, Shannon Torhjelm had to balance the demands of a professional career with the busy life of a graduate student. By day, Torhjelm is social work practice leader for Abbotsford and Mission hospitals, supervising the clinical practice of social workers in…

When the colours of traditional ajrakh cloth, the legendary blockprint of the desert, were once again true, Charllotte Kwon knew she’d made a difference. Her Maiwa Foundation had finally secured land in India’s Kutch region, obtaining a pure water source vital to naturally dyeing ajrak. Without this, Ismail the craftsman, his family, and the extended…

Nicole Wierks may be the most well-known student graduating from the University of the Fraser Valley this year. She earned that fame as a leader of the UFV Cascades women’s basketball team that stormed its way to a third-place finish at the national championships in March 2014. But did you know Wierks is also an…

Whether lit by flickering oil lamps in bucolic Mexican farmsteads or glowing computer screens tied wirelessly across the world, quests for education and connection remain the same in the eyes of University of the Fraser Valley 2014 honorary degree recipient George Siemens. Siemens will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at UFV’s morning Convocation…