Award-winning student leader championed mental health and inclusion

Luca Bernardini’s best day as a McMaster student happened on a Friday night at Carmen’s Banquet Hall in March 2022.

The hall was packed with undergraduate science students dressed up to the nines for Formaldehyde – it’s an annual dinner and dance and the largest event put on by the McMaster Science Society. The formal sells out within hours of tickets going on sale – the 2022 edition was no different.

“It was a magical night,” says Luca, who was the society’s newly minted president-elect. He remembers great food, great music by OVO rapper Roy Woods and above all, great company. He had a blast hanging out with friends and the society’s executive team.

And Luca had another reason to celebrate. It was the society’s largest in-person post-pandemic event. Formaldehyde 2020 had been held just weeks before the world locked down. The 2021 event was reformatted as five days of online challenges and prizes, with celebration bags being mailed to students’ homes.

Like many students, Luca had struggled with mental health issues during the pandemic – starting in his final year of high school and continuing into his fully remote first year at McMaster.

It’s why Luca got involved with Jack.org – it’s billed as Canada’s only charity training and empowering young leaders to revolutionize mental health. The charity’s message of ‘it’s okay not be okay’ resonated with Luca and inspired him to give back to the non-profit. Luca served as VP Finance for the McMaster chapter and began speaking at high schools. “Mental health is just as important as our physical health. The only way to continue to normalize this conversation in our everyday lives is by advocating.”

Heading into his second year, Luca took on the role of VP Finance with McMaster Science Society. A friend recommended he get involved in the society that’s run by students for students. The society runs year-round events along with programs and services to enhance the university experience for the 8,300 undergrads in the Faculty of Science.

Luca was elected President in his third year and served a second term in his final year of undergrad while juggling a full course load as a Life Sciences student. He spent his presidency focused on making the voice of science students a better listener and a champion of diversity and inclusion. The society rolled out bi-yearly censuses, bolstered regular communications and adopted more equitable and accessible hiring, training, and event planning policies.

That work in driving up student engagement, participation and support stood out for Maggie Cockburn – she’s the project coordinator in the Dean’s Office who works closely with the McMaster Science Society. “Coming out of the pandemic, Luca and the MSS not only restored a sense of community for undergraduate students, they elevated it to a whole new level.” Maggie was among the Faculty of Science staff, faculty and leaders who supported Luca’s successful nomination for the President’s Award of Excellence in Student Leadership.

Maggie in turn makes Luca’s shortlist for the faculty and staff who had the greatest impact on his time on the MSS and as a Life Sciences student. “Maggie’s willingness to constantly involve the MSS whenever an opportunity arose went above and beyond any Faculty-student government relationship my team and I had ever experienced – her dedication to leveraging student voices in Faculty projects truly made McMaster Science a better place.

“Dr. Maureen MacDonald never failed to make every person in the McMaster Science community feel like they belonged at every turn of their university career,” says Luca. “And while Dr. Katie Moisse was an incredible professor in all of the courses I took with her, it was her unwavering support for myself and other students throughout our fourth-year thesis projects and beyond that made such an extremely significant impact on each of us.”

Luca will be back at McMaster in September for a fifth year, this time as a graduate student in the Mary Heersink Program in Global Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences. “Learning how to translate my love for leadership into the field of global healthcare is a journey I can’t wait to start taking this fall.”