Story by Laura Rosen Cohen
Photography by Raquel Perez
Carmen D’Souza
Assistant Vice-President’s Office
Carmen D’Souza, originally from India, is a one-woman embodiment of the concept behind Spaces & Experiences. Throughout her professional life, she has supervised the creation of countless incredible spaces throughout the world and has ensured that those around her who have been touched by her work, have positive and impactful experiences.
“Unfortunately, I became a single mother quite suddenly when my son was just a baby in India. I had to support myself and still managed to put myself through university while also raising my son on my own. I completed my post-graduate studies in chemistry and then was selected by the Indian government to further my PhD research in Germany,” she states.
“While I was there, I was offered an opportunity to work in the Middle East, in Kuwait. The Emir of Kuwait decided that education was his top priority, and my job was to establish two new institutes of higher education from the ground up, becoming a founding member of both. One was a new extension to the Faculty of Medicine: Pharmacy & Pharmacology, and the other was a college; The College for Women that would offer programs in Food Science, Environmental Science, Information Technology, and Art & Design,” she says.
Carmen, who speaks Arabic (she also speaks several Indian languages, Aramaic, French, Tagalog and understands Mandarin Chinese), knew that it was a huge breakthrough opportunity, and she was responsible for overseeing a remarkable $11.8 billion budget.
She adds, “I not only met all my deadlines; I actually beat them even though I was working in unknown territory. I was also tasked with going out into the tribal communities and speaking to them about letting their daughters and wives pursue higher education. Many elders were bound by their conservative and cultural ideologies and were apprehensive of women leaving their communities in any way, especially for education.”
Once she had a chance to speak to the tribal leaders at length, and in Arabic, they got on board with the project, trusted her and were very cooperative. She also had great standing in the community as she worked with the national Ministry of Education under the direct supervision of the Emirs and with the GCC: The Gulf Cooperation Council.
Goretti Frias
Cook, Food Services
At the bustling Medical Sciences Food court, the daily menu always changes. But one thing that stays constant day in and day out is the presence of Goretti Frias, a Food Services cook who has been serving up student meals, words of support and kindness on campus for over thirty-five years.
“I started working here at MSB a long time ago, when food services here were run by external companies. And I’m still here now, still doing what I love to do. I’m here because I love serving food and I love the students. My job, which I love, is serving food, but I also am here to listen to them if they have problems and give them whatever support I can,” she says smiling.
Frias, who was born in Portugal, immigrated to Canada when she was just nine years old. Now, she has grown adult children of her own and four grandchildren. Goretti gave the same “thinking positive” advice to her sons when they were growing up, and they followed her lead. One is in the construction industry and works on high rise buildings and the other is a mechanic.
Both love what they do. Her message is consistent, and one she loves sharing with U of T students, faculty, and staff alike.
“Whenever I serve the kids here especially, I tell them the same advice that I tell my own children: think positive. I always tell the students here to think positively about their future. There’s a lot of engineering students here and medical students and I always tell them, if this is your goal, think positively about it. What can I say, I’m just a positive person,” she adds.
“I tell them this because it is very important to enjoy what you are doing. I enjoy serving. That’s the point. If you don’t love what you are doing, then it’s not really worth getting up in the morning. I’m not just saying the words, I’m living it. I mean it,” she adds.
Spaces & Experiences is delighted to have Goretti and her world of positivity with us here at U of T.
Toni Javier
Service Coordinator, Knox Residence
Antoinette (Toni) Javier sits behind her desk at the entrance to the Knox College residence on U of T’s St. George campus. As a Service Coordinator, she is the public face of the residence, and also informally keeps the pulse of the general wellbeing of the students living within the building.
The service desk area of the residence is where students get most of their information about what is happening within the building, and also within U of T in general. It’s also the place where Toni is able to check in with students informally on a day-to-day basis.
“Being at the front desk gives me a chance to communicate with students in person, and a chance to communicate with them individually, in addition to the electronic communication that they get from us on a regular basis. I really see myself as being the front of house for the students both emotionally and mentally,” says Toni.
Originally from California via Virginia, Toni studied Early Childhood Education at Ryerson (now Metropolitan) University. As a student, she worked at the “Home on Jarvis” residence, an overflow residence for students from various downtown Toronto colleges and universities. She joined the Chestnut front desk team in 2021 while still a student, graduated in 2022 in the middle of the pandemic, and then began working at the temporary residence that was set up at for U of T students at the Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.
“Things at the Chelsea Hotel were a lot different than they are here at Knox. A lot of things were more difficult at that time, obviously because of the pandemic, but also because there was no existing sense of community-we had to build it from scratch. It was critical at that time to make those personal connections with and for our students particularly because of all the isolation. As front-line service coordinators, we were really a lifeline to students,” she says.
Student wellness is also an understandably primary concern for parents, and Toni says that her and her staff always make space for parents who also occasionally want to check in on their kids.
“It’s really important that students feel seen and heard. We know how hard it is for them to balance everything, and we try to be as understanding as possible,” says Toni.
The U of T experience includes academics, extracurricular activities, social activities and being a part of a campus community. Spaces & Experiences approaches the university experience holistically. Our front-line staff work directly with students on an individual level to make their years at the University the best they can possibly be and staff members like Toni are a big part of our student success stories.
Erin Pettibone
Community Standards Advisor, University Family Housing
University Family Housing at the St. George campus of U of T is comprised of two thriving, downtown residential communities: two twin high-rise apartments for student families at 30 and 35 Charles Street and the Huron Sussex community of rental houses for U of T faculty and faculty families. Erin Pettibone is a Community Standards Advisor for UFH and we caught up with her at her Charles Street office earlier this month.
Pettibone grew up in across the United States, went to high school in Philadelphia and spent time abroad, primarily in Colombia, due to her parents’ jobs. In 2008, she started her undergraduate degree at U of T specializing in Spanish. After graduating, she worked in the human rights space, spending time at the United Way and with Egale Canada before returning to U of T to do her Master’s & PhD in Hispanic linguistics.
“At the time, there was very little funding available for foreign students, but after becoming a Permanent Resident of Canada, I was then able to go on to my MA and PhD. My research focuses on Hispanic linguistics; specifically, how Spanish-speaking children acquire language.
“Toronto, and specifically, U of T really feels like home to me,” says Erin.
“I’ve spent the longest parts of my life living here in Toronto and I also lived right here within UFH,” she adds.
Erin says that while doing her MA program, she lived downtown in a rental apartment until she heard about UFH from a friend. She didn’t know too much about the community, but what she found out amazed her, especially with respect to the affordability factor for student families like her own.
She immediately applied for an apartment and got one, and then served as an RA (Residence Advisor) while living at UFH throughout her doctoral studies. And while she was doing her PhD, her partner was also able to return to school-something she says was made possible largely due to their affordable housing situation.
“Working here at UFH is really so fulfilling, and I really have a deep appreciation for and understanding of my privilege in being here. It is so important for me, and all of the staff here at UFH to hold space for student experiences and bring care to conversation. We talk a lot about equity and access in education, but this is really where it is happening-in our ability to provide this community housing. It is so fundamental to advancing the goals of the University,” she says.
Community Standards work at UFH, she explains, encompasses many different areas of community life.
“A lot of our work relates to the operations side of things, like making sure recycling is done properly or other day-to-day logistics. But a lot of what we do is inspired by the members of our community, responding to what they need and seeing what is available to them in terms of programming and resources. For example, many of our students’ partners are not students themselves, so services and privileges that apply to students may not apply to them. We are here to support our community with exactly that type of thing,” she explains.
In addition to working with UFH, Erin still teaches linguistics as a sessional instructor at U of T and keeps up to date in her field by reviewing articles. But her heart really belongs to UFH.
“I am so impressed with our community and what our community does. I really believe it in,” she says, smiling.
