From experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event to reuniting a Mac grad with a long-lost treasure, Marauders came together in beautiful and unexpected ways this year. Here are just five ways the McMaster community came together in 2024.  

Total solar eclipse: A once-in-a-lifetime experience  

Thousands of community members. 610,000 pairs of eclipse glasses distributed throughout the Hamilton area. One incredible shared experience. 

It was a day — and for 96 seconds, a night — to remember when community members gathered on McMaster’s campus to take in the total solar eclipse.  

For months leading up to the big day, researchers and students from the department of Physics and Astronomy educated people of all ages about the rare, celestial event.  

When the moment came, thunderous applause rang out from McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium, marking what was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.   

Mac grad’s reunion with ring lost in ocean 47 years ago sparks joy worldwide 

Laura Escalante knows a lot about reunions — she plans them for a living.   

So, when the McMaster University alumni officer helped reunite a graduate with a ring he had lost in the Atlantic Ocean 47 years earlier, she knew it was special.  

But she admits she’s surprised how far the story has gone, and how it’s made headlines around the world in publications such as The New York Times, CNN and The Washington Post. 

Learn more about the journey of the sunken treasure here.

Made at Mac event celebrates — and inspires — innovators 

McMaster students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members who have benefited from the ecosystem of innovation at McMaster gathered for Made at Mac — a celebration of all things entrepreneurship.  

The event highlighted the long history of McMaster students and researchers translating research into positive change in the world and served as inspiration for future innovators.  

John Valliant, a professor in the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and CEO of Fusion Pharmaceuticals, was on hand to share a message of perseverance for emerging entrepreneurs.  

The event also marked the launch of McMaster’s new entrepreneurship website – a one-stop digital hub with resources, programs, services and supports for community members at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. 

‘We learn from each other’ — Generations connect at Older Adult Open Campus Day 

More than 70 older adults and 50 students connected on campus for the second annual Older Adults Open Campus Day.  

Participants got to tour McMaster spaces like the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, the W. J. McCallion Planetarium and the new Biology Greenhouse. 

It was a day of forging connections across generations and connecting older adults with McMaster’s aging research community, housed within the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging. 

Harvest Dinner fosters community for international students and community members 

In what has become a way of extending hospitality to international students and their families, the annual Harvest Dinner was held during the fall term break. 

McMaster community members served as table hosts at the event, which involved a cultural sharing exchange and celebration of the diversity of our community.  

This event was delivered in partnership with the Spiritual Care and Learning Centre (Student Success Centre, Student Affairs) and the Ecumenical Chaplaincy Centre.