Celebrating 20 Years of Diversity

Welcome to our 2021 Crowdfunding Campaign! Our campaign's theme is Celebrating 20 years of Diversity. This year marks Student Open Circles' (SOC) 20th year of supporting McMaster University students' personal growth through diversity. By creating a community that appreciates others' perspectives and gifts, we better understand ourselves and how we can work together to give back to the community. The charity has made a lasting impact on students throughout the years; many return after graduation to give back and support the charity.

This year, the first $1000 will be matched, doubling the impact of your donation! Our goal is to raise a total of $6,000 to support the various programs and resources provided for students who give back to the community.

Student Open Circles creates a supportive community for a diversity of students to reflect personally and spiritually. Students grow into compassionate leaders who care for others. Facilitators Jeff and Marybeth meet with students one-on-one, in small groups, in workshops and retreats. With the help of an Administrative Assistant, they take on the enormous task of organizing 400 students volunteering in weekly groups, giving 17,800 hours of service at community organizations. SOC has adapted to the students’ and the community’s needs throughout the past 20 years. SOC continues to grow and adapt even with the challenges of the pandemic. It has provided a needed space for students to connect and reflect while supporting our community through different forms of online volunteering. Check out the student crowdfunding teams to see how students give back to the community!

Your support really matters: while Student Open Circles is well-known on campus, we are not funded by the university. Every donation makes a difference. Thank you for supporting our campaign!

“I was privileged to be involved with Open Circle at the time that the organization was founded. The students I met through Open Circle in the early 2000s included people raised in Muslim, Jain, Christian and non-religious households. Between the diversity of cultural and religious backgrounds, to the ever-present diversity of personalities, the common thread was always support and inclusion. Everyone was welcome, whether at discussion groups, potlucks or retreats. For me, Open Circle activities were a refuge from the stressors of academics, financial worries and the pressures to choose a career path. Now twenty years onward, with three young children, a mortgage, a demanding career as a high school teacher, and the challenges of a cross-cultural marriage, I can say with certainty that my involvement in Open Circle helped to shape my values and to discover my strengths. I was privileged to be involved with an organization that explicitly prioritized inclusion and diversity well before the broader societal shift towards these values. It was deeply valuable for me to be in intentional spaces where each of us was encouraged to listen to our hearts and to pause and reflect; this helped me have the courage to make decisions according to my own values. It also influenced my work as an educator. For all these reasons and more, I feel blessed to have been part of Open Circle.” – Eleanor Alexander, Student Open Circles alumni