Spring Convocation June 6 & 7
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S PRING C ONVO C ATION 2019 JUNE 6 & 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Graduation Journey 2 Lists of Spring 2019 Graduating Students Dear Graduand, Graduation Traditions 4 Thursday, June 6, 2019 Chancellor’s Welcome 6 11:00 a.m. 21 Your graduation began long before this day. President’s Welcome 8 1:30 p.m. 24 Syilx Welcome 10 4:00 p.m. 27 Okanagan Song 11 Friday, June 7, 2019 It began when you made the choice to study that extra 8:30 a.m. 30 2019 Honorary Degree Recipients 12 11:00 a.m. 33 hour, dedicate yourself more deeply, and strive to reach 1:30 p.m. 36 Significant Accomplishments and 15 for the degree you had chosen to fully commit your life Contributions Acknowledgements 42 O Canada 42 to pursuing. The Board of Governors 16 Alumni Welcome 43 UBC Okanagan Senate 17 A General Reception will follow each Many of the people that helped you arrive here today Heads of Graduating Class 18 Ceremony in the Courtyard. are seated beside you—friends, family, classmates—while Schedule of Spring 2019 Ceremonies 19 others are thinking of you from afar. We are honoured to have given you a place to discover, inspire others and be challenged beyond what you thought was possible. We hope you know, we will always be that place for you. Yours, UBC 1 SPRING CONVOCATION 2019 THE GRADUATION JOURNEY The UBC graduation journey has been forged by the spirit of the university’s motto, Tuum Est, (meaning ‘it is yours’) since 1915. Today, you, the graduating class of 2019, now shape UBC’s history by making it your own. 1916 1920s 1940s 1960s 1980s 2000s One of the first graduating classes was The student-led Great Trek to UBC’s Point The forties were an era of tremendous Student numbers continued to escalate With over 34,000 students registered at The demand for increased access to the Arts Class of 1916 pictured here at a Grey established the university’s first change at the university as both students alongside the scholarly activities the beginning of the eighties, UBC began post-secondary education led to the party at the home of Mary Wilons. In campus. The Alma Mater Society (AMS) and faculty embraced the war effort. that began to define UBC as a leader in attracting scholars from all over the world. official opening of UBC’s Okanagan UBC’s first year, there were only three incorporated as a non-profit society and In 1943, new President Norman research. The campus was alive with Engineering students were in the news campus in 2005. Student learning faculties: Arts, Applied Science and the university began awarding its first MacKenzie began in earnest to expand the sixties counterculture and a sixth frequently for their pranks, which included opportunities multiplied as UBC expanded Agriculture with 379 registered students graduate degrees to students. In the university and new departments were president of UBC was elected by the the famous Ladner Clock Tower stunt in to include two major campuses—the and 34 faculty members. Ubyssey, published in September 23, 1925, formed along with new buildings to house name of Dr. Walter Gage. New student which students pulled off hoisting a white Vancouver Campus and the Okanagan students described the new campus with a them including Brock Hall and the first residences were created to respond Volkswagen Bug onto the top of the tower. Campus. sense of wonder: “We are dazed with the student union building. By the 1950s, UBC to the expanding student body as well as Dr. Martha Piper was elected President in appearance of architectural cleanliness had established itself as a comprehensive a new student union building. Students 1997 and ushered in an era of international and bewildered by our lineal freedom.” university and top choice for students in gained influence at the university and engagement that saw UBC step onto 2019 BC and beyond. were elected to the University Board of the world stage as an educator and global More than 13,500 students will become Governors for the first time. centre for research excellence. the Class of 2019. They will go on to join over 350,000 alumni who have successfully graduated from UBC and continue their journey as treasured members of the UBC community. 2 SPRING CONVOCATION 2019 3 SPRING CONVOCATION 2019 GRADUATION TRADITIONS The University Mace is a symbol of the authority of the Chancellor. It is displayed on ceremonial occasions, most notably during the Convocation ceremonies but also during the installation of a President or Chancellor. THE UNIVERSITY MACE The Mace also features a number of REGALIA COLOURS university symbols, including the UBC The Mace is carried by the ‘Macebearer’ The hoods, gowns and hats worn Okanagan logo, the University coat of arms who leads the Platform Party, which by graduates are lined with colours to and the UBC motto Tuum Est – It’s Yours. In includes the Chancellor, the President and indicate the degree to be conferred, a addition, the back of the Mace displays the other dignitaries, onto the stage for the tradition dating back to the Middle Ages word Suknaqinx, which is of the Nsyilxcen Convocation ceremonies. when the first universities were founded. language, spoken by the Okanagan’s original people. Roughly translated, it Created by First Nations artist Sheldon THE CHANCELLOR’S OKANAGAN means “the ones who stand on the hill and Louis of the Okanagan Indian Band, the CHAIR are seen and heard from far away.” University Mace is carved from a single The University Mace, which was carved in In 2007, UBC’s Okanagan campus piece of alder wood, and combines the shape of a paddle, representing the commissioned the creation of a new Okanagan Nation traditions with importance of Okanagan Lake to the Chancellor’s chair for use in Okanagan university customs. The main artwork on region’s people, is also inlaid with silver, Convocation ceremonies. Handcrafted by the Mace features three symbolic spirit applied by First Nations silversmith artist master furniture maker Dennis Weidman icons—a mother bear with her two cubs, Justin Terbasket of the Lower Similkameen of Lake Country, BC, the chair was the image of the mountains, and water— Indian Band. The Mace was used for the first fashioned from cherry wood, a species given to UBC Okanagan in 2005 by the time at the 2009 Convocation ceremonies. selected for its significance in the Okanagan Nation elders. The spirit icon Okanagan’s long history as a fruit–growing gifts were selected by a group of First THE PROCESSION region. Nation elders, led by Andrew McGinnis, an Okanagan Traditional Medicine Keeper President Santa Ono shakes the hand of The chair’s front panel features UBC’s from the Penticton Indian Band, and Victor every student that crosses the stage— motto, Tuum Est, the UBC logo laser Antoine, an elder of the Okanagan Indian that’s over 10,000 students each year. engraved in the headrest panel, and UBC’s Band. Each spirit icon was chosen carefully This handshake signifies the transition coat of arms on each side panel. for its special significance to the region, from student to graduate. reflecting local Okanagan Nation tradition, culture and knowledge. 4 SPRING CONVOCATION 2019 5 SPRING CONVOCATION 2019 CHANCELLOR’S WELCOME On behalf of all UBC alumni, it is my pleasure to welcome graduates and your families and friends on what we hope is a joyful occasion. No doubt you have been asked: “What But some choices should never be altered, will you do after university?” Some of you irrespective of what fate has in store for have made clear choices about what us. Chief among these are the principles comes next. Others may be less certain, by which we choose to live. Indeed, but as graduates of UBC, you are ours is a world rich in information and justifiably optimistic that compelling opportunity, but it is also a world that has opportunities are just around the corner. grown increasingly complex, and one whose destiny will be shaped by important There appears to be consensus among choices on the part of all of us. writers and philosophers—and parents— that it is choice rather than fate which As alumni of UBC, I hope we are all determines where the human journey uniformly proud of our university’s leads. Perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson said reputation for adhering to principles of it most succinctly: “The only person mutual respect, equity and sustainability, you are destined to become is the person and that these remain our own chosen you decide to be.” principles at every juncture on the road ahead. Let us never lose sight of how But as you embark on the next leg of our actions affect the natural world, nor your journey, I encourage you to be aware of the necessity of respectful and mutually that the learning process is still young. beneficial engagement with people Throughout our lives we make discoveries of all cultures, including the Indigenous that stimulate new interests and new peoples of Canada. ambitions. Such is the wonderment of fate—it is often a welcome stimulus that As graduates of one of the world’s finest opens our eyes to previously unforeseen universities, it is incumbent upon all of us opportunities for success and fulfillment, to be unwavering in our choices to be even on the part of those who are contributors to a just, compassionate and confident in the choices they have already sustainable world. As for fate, have no made about the future. fear. The journey has only just begun, and there is every chance that the unforeseen will be extraordinary! Warmest congratulations to all.