MEDIA RELEASE: 2 June 2022 – R0063
For more than half a century, the name Bob Davis has been intrinsically linked with Brock University athletics.
Initially hired in 1968 as Assistant Professor in Brock’s budding Physical Education Department, Davis, who would go on to become Athletics Director, spent more than three decades building one of the strongest varsity programs in the country, growing athletics from a handful of teams to 32 and spearheading the transformation of Brock’s moniker from the Generals to Badgers in the early 1970s.
His impact on Brock’s athletic landscape has continued well beyond his 2001 retirement — one year before the University renamed Bob Davis Gymnasium in his honour.
Davis will be recognized for his dedication and service to the University during Brock’s 111th Convocation, when he will be among three honorary doctorate recipients. He will receive his degree during the ceremony held Wednesday, June 15 at 2:30 p.m.
With nine ceremonies taking place from June 13 to 17, Spring Convocation will also see honorary degrees bestowed upon Deena Ladd and David Lepofsky, who’ve spent their careers championing for workers’ and disability rights, respectively.
For the past 29 years, Ladd, of Toronto, has strived to improve wages and working conditions in sectors dominated with low pay, violations of rights, and precarious and temporary work.
She has worked to support and develop grassroots training, education and organizing with groups such as the Fight for $15 and Fairness Campaign, Decent Work and Health Network as well as the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
Ladd, who will receive her honorary doctorate during the 10 a.m. ceremony Tuesday, June 14, is one of the founders and Executive Director of the Toronto Workers’ Action Centre, which aims to improve wages and working conditions for low-waged workers, women and racialized and immigrant workers in precarious jobs that face discrimination, violations of rights and no benefits in the workplace.
A visiting Professor of Disability Rights and Legal Education at the Osgoode Hall Law School and past adjunct member of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Lepofsky led the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee for 10 years, fighting for the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005. In 2009, he became Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance.
He is a member and past chair of the Toronto District School Board’s Special Education Advisory Committee and a member of the Kindergarten-Grade 12 Education Standards Development Committee appointed by the Ontario Government to recommend reforms to tear down barriers impeding students with disabilities.
Lepofsky, who will receive his honorary degree Tuesday, June 14 at 2:30 p.m., practised law in Toronto with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General until 2015, including more than a decade as General Counsel.
He was named to the Order of Canada (1995), the Order of Ontario (2007) and the Terry Fox Hall of Fame (2003), and has received many awards for his work in law and fighting for disability rights.
About 3,500 graduands from seven Faculties will cross the stage during Brock’s first in-person Convocation in two years.
For a full schedule and more information, visit brocku.ca/convocation
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