A walkway at the University of Windsor is now named in honour of an individual who was a major influence at the school.
The walkway running from College Avenue to the Toldo Lancer Centre is now known as Moriarty Way in honour of late athletics director Dr. Richard Moriarty.
Moriarty served as the university's athletics director from 1956 to 1985, and during that time, the number of varsity teams grew from three men's to 12 and from two women's to 10.
He also spent over 40 years teaching courses in business, English, and kinesiology.
He retired from teaching in 1998 and died in June 2021.
Along with his work at the university, Moriatry and his wife co-founded the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association (BANA) in 1983 following the death of his daughter Erin in 1982. The organization works to establish eating disorder awareness, prevention, and treatment research in Canada.
His son, Sean Moriarty, says his dad was given an honorary degree from the university in 2005 and thinks the words his Dad used in his speech at that time were appropriate to describe today.
"Don't feel sorry for yourself because you've suffered a pain you can't forget; remember the happy memories will live on, so do the best you can to care for others. How do you get through tragedies in life? Hug each other tighter, pray a little harder, and depend on the support of your family and friends. This is exactly what this day is about for my dad," he says.
Moriarty says this is such an honour for the entire family.
"We love to see that his name will go on and be remembered. Hopefully it's the values he displayed that will be represented. That's truly what the Moriarty Way is," he says.
Executive Director of the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association (BANA) in Windsor, Luciana Rosu-Sieza, calls it a perfect tribute because the Moriarty Way is about taking a journey.
She says it's been amazing to watch BANA grow and help keep the momentum going around what he valued.
"Prevention, which was expansion of services. Reducing stigma in our community, and I think we've accomplished that in developing a full continuum of care. Prevention was really at his heart, and we're really fortunate to be part of a provincial prevention program as well," she says.
Moriarty was also a member of the initial class inaugurated into the University of Windsor Alumni Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Windsor-Essex Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Each year, the athletics department confers an award named for him to the Lancer team whose members earn the highest academic average.