MEDIA RELEASE: 31 May 2018 – R00116

There will be pomp and circumstance and period costumes, but as thousands of students cross the stage to graduate from Brock University next week, more than anything they will be encouraged to have fun and savour the moments of a day they will always remember.

More than 3,100 undergraduate students and 400 grad students will receive their degrees during Spring Convocation taking place from Monday, June 4 to Friday, June 8.

Nine ceremonies covering six Faculties will be held in Brock’s Ian Beddis Gymnasium with ceremonies taking place at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. each day, with the exception of Friday, when only a morning ceremony will be held.

Brock University’s 103rd Convocation will be highlighted by an historic milestone: The University’s 100,000th graduate will cross the stage to receive their degree during the final Convocation ceremony Friday morning. The specific student won’t find out they’re the milestone grad until they’re on the stage.

It’s one of many interesting storylines taking place this year.

Three honorary doctorates will be presented over the course of the week to Dr. James Orbinski, former President of Doctors Without Borders and a respected global health researcher; Hassan Yussuff, the first-ever Human Rights Director of the Canadian Auto Workers union and now President of the Canadian Labour Congress; and Edward Burtynsky, a St. Catharines native whose industrial landscape photography has appeared in more than 60 museums around the world.

Among the more than 3,500 graduands are 110 student-athletes in nearly 40 different programs who have balanced their time between studying and representing the Brock Badgers on 35 varsity or club sports teams.

All of the Convocation ceremonies are free to attend and no tickets are required. Parking is free for guests throughout the week. Free Wi-Fi is also being provided to guests throughout Convocation week. The BrockEvents Wi-fi network can be accessed using the username: BROCKGRAD and password: welcome2brock!

Below is a schedule of this year’s Convocation ceremonies along with some of the highlight stories:

Monday, June 4, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

• James Orbinski, Director, Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University to receive honorary doctorate and give the Convocation address.

Monday, June 4, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

• Philip Wilson, Professor of Kinesiology and recipient of the FAHS Research Award to give the Convocation address.
• Jessica Lewis will graduate with a Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies. Known as the golden girl of Bermuda sports, she represented Bermuda at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. She was selected as the Most Fascinating Person of Bermuda for 2015.
• Anthony Romero will also graduate with a Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies. The Welland native is an up-and-coming professional MMA fighter who has yet to lose a fight.

Tuesday, June 5, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Social Sciences

• Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress to receive honorary doctorate and give the Convocation address.

Tuesday, June 5, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Social Sciences

• Wrestler Jessica Brouillette, the 2017-18 Brock Badgers Female Athlete of the Year, will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She became the first Brock female wrestler to capture five-consecutive team national championships in a career and just the third to capture four individual national titles.

Wednesday, June 6, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Education

• Darcy Belanger will graduate with a Bachelor of Education in Aboriginal Adult Education. Removed from his Indigenous family at two years old and placed in a non-Indigenous home, Belanger has overcome mental health issues, addiction and homelessness. He is now a respected volunteer and community member, serving as Vice-President of the Niagara Regional Native Centre, a Council member of the Three Fires Community Justice Program, and a member of the Niagara Regional Pow Wow committee.  In 2017, he received the Aboriginal Achievement Award at Brock.

Wednesday, June 6, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Education

• Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, Hilary Brown, will deliver the Convocation address. Brown, who was the first Canadian woman to finish the Ironman Triathlon in 1982 and raced in the first-ever Women’s Tour de France in 1984, was the 2017-18 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient.
• Nicole Chirichella is graduating from the Concurrent Teacher Education program. Although she was diagnosed with cancer at the end of her first year, that’s not what defines her experience here. She describes her time at Brock as transformative, telling people she’s almost unrecognizable from the person she was six years ago.

Thursday, June 7, 10 a.m. — Goodman School of Business

• Professor of Accounting Pascale Lapointe-Antunes, the Faculty’s Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, will deliver the Convocation address. Lapointe-Antunes was recently given the title of Fellow and FCPA designation by the Council of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, the highest honour in the accounting profession.

Thursday, June 7, 2:30 p.m. — Goodman School of Business

• Delivering the Convocation address will be Bill Haines, a high-profile Goodman School of Business alumnus who recently retired as Managing Director and Global Head of Rates Trading at RBC Capital Markets after a lengthy career in the financial industry.

Friday, June 8, 10 a.m. — Faculties of Humanities and Mathematics and Science

• Brock University’s 100,000th graduate to receive their degree. Exactly who will be the milestone graduate will remain a secret until they cross the stage. The watershed moment comes 51 years after John Auld became the first-ever Brock graduate at a ceremony held on May 26, 1967.
• Edward Burtynsky, a St. Catharines native and world-renowned photographer will receive an honorary degree and deliver the Convocation address.
• Michelle Przedborski will receive the Governor General’s Gold Medal Award, which is given to the Graduate student with the highest academic average of anyone in the 2017-18 year. Przedborski graduated with a PhD in the Fall with a 97.25 per cent average.
• Mexico’s Luis Molina Gonzales will graduate from the Department of Music. A classically trained pianist who has competed internationally, Gonzales previously earned a Bachelor of Computer Science and spent two decades working for a software company, but decided to pursue his music education more formally.

Media are welcome to attend Brock’s Spring Convocation. Interviews can be arranged in advance with any of the graduands, honorary degree recipients or faculty members. Photographers shooting from directly in front of the stage are asked to wear a Convocation gown, which can be arranged though Media Relations Officer Dan Dakin.

For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

* Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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