Wilfrid Laurier University report celebrates 25 years of impact in Brantford-Brant

Feb. 26, 2025
For Immediate Release

BRANTFORD — A new report from Wilfrid Laurier University highlights the impact its Brantford campus has made on the local community since opening in 1999. 

Inspired Community, Real Impact celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Laurier Brantford campus by showcasing exceptional alumni, groundbreaking research and investments in infrastructure that have fostered a thriving environment for residents, businesses and organizations. 

“Laurier’s Brantford campus has gone far beyond its original mandate of making undergraduate university programs more accessible in Brantford and surrounding areas,” said Laurier President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah MacLatchy. “It is an anchor institution that supports a thriving community for all – not just students and faculty – by creating opportunities for everyone to access resources, spaces, careers and programming that would otherwise not exist.” 

At today’s Inspired Community, Real Impact launch event, hosted in the Stedman Lobby of the Brantford campus Research and Academic Centre, MacLatchy shared highlights from the report, which include: 

• Brantford campus research that’s driven by society’s most pressing issues, including Associate Professor Jennifer Lavoie’s development of a virtual reality training program helping Ontario police officers respond to mental health crises. 
• Programs that evolve to meet community needs, including the expansion of the Bachelor of Education program to address the region’s shortage of qualified teachers. More than 85% of Laurier Education alumni who graduated between 2021 and 2023 work in schools within 100 kilometres of Laurier’s Brantford and Waterloo campuses. 
• Initiatives in support of local businesses, including StartUp Lab, the campus’s free entrepreneurship incubator. StartUp Lab has supported the launch of many social enterprises, including Shredding Barriers, a confidential shredding service that provides meaningful work for 25 individuals living with developmental disabilities. 

“Inspired Community, Real Impact puts human faces on the stories of the Brantford campus and celebrates those who have helped to make it a success for more than 25 years,” said MacLatchy. “We are proud to be partners in Brantford in strategic ways that provide students access to meaningful learning opportunities and positive career outcomes, while retaining a community-integrated approach that’s unique among Canadian universities.” 

Read the Inspired Community, Real Impact report online. 

The report’s launch event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication for “Forever Golden,” a mural commemorating the campus’s 25th anniversary. The collaborative art installation was painted by 186 volunteers from the campus and community, continuing Laurier’s longstanding tradition of community art projects. 

Artist Stephanie Scott’s design for the mural was inspired by input from students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the university. It features campus landmarks including the historic Carnegie Building, the flora and fauna of the campus’s Indigenous medicine garden, and purple, gold and white stripes that evoke the hoods worn by graduates at convocation.  

The “Forever Golden” mural was made possible thanks to generous support from the Students’ Union, WLU Alumni Association and Samuel W. Stedman Foundation.