More than 3,300 people will take the next step in their educational journey on Friday, June 18 when they move from Brock University students to alumni.

Brock’s 109th Convocation ceremony will launch as a virtual Convocation portal on Friday as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact how post-secondary graduation ceremonies are delivered.

Spring Convocation is traditionally held as nine ceremonies over five days each June with thousands of graduands crossing the stage inside Ian Beddis Gymnasium at Brock.

Similar to both Spring and Fall 2020 Convocations, the University’s Class of 2021 will have their degrees conferred and will officially join more than 111,000 Brock alumni when the Convocation portal goes live early Friday morning.

When Spring Convocation goes live, each graduand will get their own personalized online experience with keynote addresses from Brock President Gervan Fearon and Chancellor Hilary Pearson, as well as video messages from student leaders and others. In addition, a number of Brock Faculties and departments are planning their own complementary online events to celebrate graduating students after they convocate.

In all, more than 2,800 undergraduates and 520 graduate students representing all seven Brock Faculties will convocate. Among that group are approximately 60 Brock Badgers student-athletes.

In early July, all graduates will be mailed Convocation in a Box packages containing their degree parchment, a Convocation program, an alumni pin, a copy of Surgite magazine, other information from the Brock University Alumni Association and a bag of Class of 2021 confetti.

After going live Friday morning, the Virtual Convocation portal will remain online and available to students and the wider Brock community so they can enjoy the experience with friends and family when it’s convenient for them. For faculty, staff and others who want to see what Brock’s Virtual Spring Convocation is all about, an invitation will go out on Monday, June 21 inviting them to the Convocation portal.

New this year, graduands, family, friends, faculty, staff and the wider community can use a new Celebration Wall to post messages and photos of congratulations to the Class of 2021. The Celebration Wall will be accessible to all at brocku.ca/convocation/celebration-wall/submit

Also new this year was the option for students to order souvenir graduation gowns and hoods — the colourful sashes that are placed around their necks during a traditional Convocation ceremony. It’s the first time Brock has offered the graduation gowns for sale, and they’ve been incredibly popular with hundreds of students from the Class of 2021 purchasing them. The sets are still for sale through the Brock Campus Store online and are part of a new line of Convocation items for students launched this year, which also includes degree frames, lawn signs and commemorative items.

In the leadup to the Convocation portal going live, a full slate of Convocation stories starts today in The Brock News and continues through the next two weeks including dedicated days of coverage to each Faculty the week of June 21 to 25.