‘This is what makes this place special — the people’  

Mascot Mac the Marauder kneels and gives a thumbs up, with five student athletes and Susan Tighe standing behind him, all smiling, at a gathering indoors.

Campus celebrity Mac the Marauder joined student athletes at an informal meet-and-greet event to mark the beginning of Susan Tighe’s term as president and vice-chancellor. (All photos by Georgia Kirkos, McMaster University)

July 3, 2025

If you ask President Susan Tighe about her favourite moment in her time at McMaster, the answer is immediate: MC-ing the 2024 solar eclipse.  

Standing on the football field, surrounded by more than 5,500 students and community members at a full-day celebration of science, Tighe was in her element.  

Community and connection are always top of mind for Tighe, who marked the start of her term as president and vice-chancellor with an informal gathering for faculty and staff on campus this week.

Here are some scenes from the event:

Susan Tighe and McMaster staff members smile and chat at a gathering indoors.

three smiling people stand together for a photo

Chancellor Santee Smith smiles and claps as she stands at a microphone.
Chancellor Santee Smith’s brief welcome remarks touched on some of Tighe’s accomplishments as McMaster’s provost.

Seen from above, several dozen people sit, stand and chat on the patio of the Buttery.

Seen from above, several dozen people sit, stand and chat on the patio of the Buttery.

Susan Tighe speaks into a microphone to a room full of people with doors that lead to a patio in the background.

“This is amazing,” Tighe said, looking around at the room packed with well-wishers.

“This is what makes this place special — the people.”

Susan Tighe and McMaster staff and faculty members smile and chat at a gathering.
Susan Tighe and Jacquie Hampshire from Student Services.
staff and faculty members chat at a gathering indoors.
Rokhsana Jamal chats with a colleague at the strawberry social event.

“I look forward to talking to all of you and really being a champion for this institution, because we have a lot to be proud of, and I will be happy to carry that flag,” Tighe said. 

Four students and Susan Tighe stand together, smiling for a photo on the patio of Alumni Memorial Hall.
MSU executive and President Susan Tighe.

Student leaders and athletes joined the strawberry social event, a celebration of summer and new beginnings.  

Susan Tighe laughs, holding a putter and standing at an indoor mini golf course in Alumni Memorial Hall as Mac the Marauder mascot holds up their arms behind her.

Susan Tighe holding a pair of new sneakers at the mini golf course set up in Alumni Memorial Hall, standing beside a staff member and Mac the Marauder mascot, with a golf bag beside her.

Facility Services, Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs, Media Production Services (MPS) and Athletics and Recreation partnered to create a themed mini golf course.  

Using turf from Athletics and Recreation, construction by staff in Trades, design and layout by MPS, the course highlights not only landmarks on McMaster’s campus, but also Tighe’s career path to Mac, her work as an engineer on the concrete of Highway 407 and — of course — her beloved dog, Coconut. 

Mac the Marauder holds a putter at the mini golf course set up in Alumni Memorial Hall.
Mac the Marauder tries his hand — talon? — at mini golf.

Campus celebrity Mac the Marauder joined the event, and even swung a putter!