Mark Rauhaus is regarded by his coaches and peers as a well-rounded and impactful student-athlete willing to learn at every opportunity. He is diligent, considerate, extremely dedicated to his sport, studies, and community service.

In addition to the heavy training demands the sport of football requires, Rauhaus has selflessly dedicated his time to helping others off the field, and has devoted himself to becoming a better leader. In spring of 2023, Rauhaus was selected to the President Student Leadership Program, a prestigious program with a cohort of just 22 students selected annually from across Manitoba. Through this program, he had the opportunity to travel across the province to network and learn from a variety of influential leaders.

As part of the leadership program, Mark spearheaded an initiative to help New Directions, a social work organization. He piloted a project that integrates independent skills workshops into the supported independent living program, supporting people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Throughout the summer, Mark worked closely with participants and identified financial skills as an area of need and interest. In conjunction with SEED Winnipeg, he was able to formulate a financial skills curriculum. In addition to his summer research position and extensive summer training, Mark devoted 3-4 hours/week to this initiative. This project was quite personal to Mark, as his brother has autism.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, Mark was also elected by his peers to be on the UMAC executive as the Director of Bisons Against Bullying. This program brings Bisons student-athletes into schools to share stories and lessons about bullying, and to encourage bystanders to speak up and step in to put an end to bullying. 

Mark is also a scholarship athlete at the University of Manitoba and a recipient of respected awards that directly relate to leadership and teamwork criteria. 

He is a two-time recipient of the Nick Laping memorial award, which is given to a player with high academic standing who has demonstrated exceptional athletic ability in football, team leadership and integrity who also volunteers their time in community outreach programs. In 2021 Mark was selected by a committee to receive the First and Ten award, this is given to a player who demonstrated team leadership, integrity, and exceptional athletic ability in football, while also maintaining high academic standing. 

He has spent two summers working in academic research labs that studied Biophysics of proteins, Covid viral protein studies, and developed a streamlined method that detects white blood cell activity in mice with the goal of learning about HIV infection routes. Currently he is interviewing with Medical Microbiology, Cytophage and Health Canada for his next Co-op Term this Winter. 

More specific to his research, in 2023, Mark developed an  ELISA technique to detect Netosis in mouse vaginal swab samples Independently researched and planned out this research project. Also also developed a reliable, non-invasive, quick technique to detect NETosis, which saved time, animals and money.

From the coach: "Mark carries himself with the utmost integrity and is a role model to the young players in our program. His influence on those around him is all encompassing, he helps bring out the best athlete and person in those around him, often serving as a moral compass. Mark was seven games into his best season as a Bison before he tore his MCL, He is selfless and identifies his personal success with the whole team, his reaction to set-back and failure has always been to reset and find another way to move forward." -Brian Dobie, Manitoba Bisons head coach

Team: Manitoba Bisons

Position: Offensive Lineman

Year: Third

Hometown: Winnipeg, Man.

Program: Biochemistry