Years of hard work and determination will culminate in a milestone moment for nearly 1,000 Brock graduands who will receive their university degree on Friday, Oct. 18.

The soon-to-be newest members of Brock’s alumni family will celebrate their accomplishments during the University’s 116th Convocation. Graduands will cross the stage at a historic time for the institution, which is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Convocation will commence with a ceremony at 10 a.m., followed by a second at 2:30 p.m., both inside Brock’s Ian D. Beddis Gymnasium.

The morning ceremony will include students from the Faculties of Applied Health Sciences and Social Sciences, while the afternoon ceremony will focus on students from the Faculties of Education, Humanities, Mathematics and Science and the Goodman School of Business.

Among the awards that will be part of Friday’s ceremonies are the Governor General’s Silver Medals, presented to the two undergraduate students with the highest academic average of the Class of 2024. Presented during the morning ceremony, this year’s recipients are Ilhaam Al-Harazi (BSc ’24) and Raneem Kalbouna (BSc ’24), who each graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Medical Sciences in June.

During the afternoon ceremony, Alexandra Leone, who will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, and Brielle Kaminsky (BA ’21), who will graduate with a Master of Education, will be honoured with the Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock medal. The recognition is presented to students who best exemplify the spirit of the University’s namesake, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock, by demonstrating qualities of leadership, courage, innovation, inspiration and community involvement.

Leone is passionate about making STEM education more accessible and inclusive to underrepresented and equity-deserving groups, such as women and girls, and Indigenous and remote communities. As Co-ordinator of Brock Let’s Talk Science, she has grown the University’s STEM outreach by developing new programs that engage equity-deserving groups and expand the communities and schools in which the free workshops are delivered.

Leone is also the founder and president of STEMpower Women, a program that aims to empower girls by connecting them with STEM students and professionals.

Kaminsky has also made a significant impact on the experience of future students, serving in many Chair and Vice-Chair roles on student advocacy committees.

Through her work at the Ontario Undergraduate Students’ Alliance General Assemblies, she has helped to create policy statements on student issues that were shared with the provincial government. As student representative on the Master of Education Graduate Program Committee, Kaminsky made valuable contributions to issues of importance to graduate students, including funding and accessibility.

As well as Kaminsky’s achievements, the Faculty of Education will also be celebrating the success of many Indigenous graduates across a number of programs offered through Brock’s Indigenous Educational Studies programs, including the Indigenous Adult Education, Gidayaamin Indigenous Certificate and Oshki-Wenjack’s University Partner programs.

Tickets will not be required to attend Fall Convocation, but there is a two-guest limit per graduand and all guests will be required to check in prior to entering the ceremony. Guests are encouraged to have the name and student identification number of the graduand they’re celebrating present at check-in. All graduates and guests are asked to enter through the main doors of the Walker Complex.

Both ceremonies will also be livestreamed at brocku.ca/livestream

Complimentary parking will be available for Fall Convocation. Please follow the directional signage to Lot B and Lot D. If these lots are full, overflow parking will be available in Lots 1 and 3. Accessible parking is also available in Lot P.

For more information about Brock’s Fall Convocation, visit brocku.ca/convocation