News Stories
VIU Culinary Arts Student Cooking for Gold
January 7, 2021
Ottis Crabbe has earned a spot on Junior Culinary Team Canada, which will be competing at the Culinary Olympics in Germany in 2024. The day his parents opened Abbondanza, a restaurant in Ucluelet, BC, Ottis Crabbe knew he wanted to become a chef. His path toward running his own commercial kitchen began last year when he signed up for Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Culinary Arts program... Read more
VIU Culinary Arts Program Donates Surplus Food to Salvation Army
December 10, 2020
Extra food prepared by students as part of their program is finding its way to the stomachs of people in need through charitable organization in Nanaimo. Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Culinary Arts program is donating the equivalent of about 200 meals every week to the Nanaimo Salvation Army New Hope Centre on Nicol Street. VIU’s hybrid model of education delivery has drastically reduced... Read more
Alumni of the Month: Spenser Smith
December 8, 2020
Through his writing, Spenser Smith (Bachelor of Arts, Major in Creative Writing ’19) is attempting to change the public’s perception of drug users and add another perspective to the conversation about BC’s overdose crisis. In September 2019, he started his Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia (UBC), for which he is writing a book of poetry that explores his... Read more
Three VIU Mariner Alumni Take on New Role as Apprentice Coaches
October 23, 2020
The Mariners Athletics and Recreation department is proud to announce three former female student-athletes are joining the ranks of coaches for the 2020-21 sports season. Three Vancouver Island University (VIU) graduates are back with the sports teams they have devoted so much of their time to over the past five years as apprentice coaches. Andrea Čanković, Emma Platner and Nicole Foglietta... Read more
VIU Student Recognized for Supporting Community
October 20, 2020
Vantaishia Tommy, who recently won a citizenship award for community service and commitment to her studies, is focused on helping animals when she graduates. DUNCAN, BC: Vantaishia (Taish) Tommy knows exactly where she wants to be when she has finished her educational journey – protecting the rights and habitats of animals of all kinds and sizes around the world. The Adult Basic Education... Read more
Alum of the Month: Ron Brash
October 20, 2020
A passion for tinkering with computer programs and designing web pages led Ron Brash to start his first year of VIU’s Information Technology and Applied Systems (ITAS) diploma program while he was still in high school. Through a partnership program between Nanaimo Ladysmith School District and VIU that allows public school students to take university courses in their senior years, Ron took his... Read more
Alum of the Month: Ariana White
September 15, 2020
After graduating from the Culinary Management diploma program at VIU in 2012, Ariana White, who has been cooking her whole life, decided to take her career in a new direction and focus on whole animal butchery. She currently works at Chop ‘N Block, a local shop in Kamloops, BC, where she hopes to continue learning as much as she can about about the trade with the eventual goal of opening her own... Read more
The Power of Persistence: A Story of Success and Resilience
January 13, 2020
Janelle Minoza has overcome a number of obstacles standing in the way of her post-secondary education since becoming a student at Vancouver Island University last year. Janelle Minoza is living proof that hard work and determination can help you achieve your dreams. The third-year Bachelor of Social Work student at Vancouver Island University (VIU), from the Deh Gah Gotie Dene First Nations in... Read more
Rewriting The Story You Are Born Into
July 10, 2019
We don’t get to choose the life we begin with. Some of us are born into privilege while others are not. One opportunity or disadvantage can vastly change our entire life story. “At the orchard I work at, my boss’s son has dyslexia and his mother fought tirelessly for him to ensure he got the proper supports in school,” says Eric Evans. “I wonder sometimes how my life would be different if I had... Read more
VIU Biology Graduate Sets her Sights on Protecting the Environment
May 27, 2019
Inspired by the environmental research she was able to participate in at VIU Kimberley Barrett is excited to enter into the world of research following graduation. Biology graduate Kimberley Barrett isn’t going to medical school like she originally planned five years ago when she first started her degree at Vancouver Island University (VIU). Partway into her journey she discovered helping... Read more