MEDIA RELEASE: June 4, 2024 – R0071
The walk may be short, but the journey is long — and marked with hard work and accomplishments.
Years of assignments, discussions and experiential opportunities will culminate in strides across the Convocation stage next week, with about 3,200 students set to receive their degrees from Brock University.
Graduands will have their degrees conferred during nine ceremonies held from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14 in Brock’s Ian D. Beddis Gymnasium. Ceremonies will take 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.
As part of Brock’s 115th Convocation celebrations, the University will present three honorary doctorates throughout the week to National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins, Canadian author and water activist Maude Barlow, and workplace accessibility leader Tricia Pokorny (BA ’95).
Barlow and Pokorny will receive their honorary degrees Tuesday, June 11 at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively, during the Faculty of Social Sciences ceremonies. Jenkins will have his degree presented during a Faculty of Applied Health Sciences ceremony Wednesday, June 12 at 2:30 p.m.
Each honorary degree recipient will deliver a Convocation address to the graduating class.
For those unable to attend Convocation, all ceremonies will be livestreamed online at brocku.ca/livestream
Tickets will not be required to attend, 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.
Complimentary parking will be available throughout Convocation week. Please follow the directional signage to Lot D, P or B. If these lots are full, overflow parking will be available in Lots 1 and 2.
For more information, visit brocku.ca/convocation
Below is a schedule of this year’s Convocation ceremonies, along with some of the many highlights:
Monday, June 10, 10 a.m. — Goodman School of Business
- Shuai Yuan, Associate Professor in Brock’s Department of Finance, Operations and Information Systems and the 2024 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient, will deliver the Convocation address.
Monday, June 10, 2:30 p.m. — Goodman School of Business
- Jason Ineh, co-founder and former President of Brock’s Black Students’ Association, will graduate with his Bachelor of Business Administration. The association was created to inspire and enable Black students, and students of all ethnicities, to use their voices to make a difference in society.
- Among Brock’s Bachelor of Business Administration International Double Degree Co-op graduates will be Garima Marwah, who now works as the Multicultural Customer Development Manager at PepsiCo Foods Canada/Frito Lay, and Mattia Fosco, who works in Milan, Italy, as a Human Resources Projects Specialist at luxury fragrance company Acqua di Parma after completing an international co-op with its parent company, luxury brand LVMH, in Paris.
- Professor of Marketing and Product Innovation Narongsak “Tek” Thongpapanl will deliver the Convocation address.
Tuesday, June 11, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Social Sciences
- Maude Barlow will be presented with her honorary doctorate and deliver the Convocation address. She chairs the board of Food and Water Watch, which advocates for safe food, clean water and a livable climate for all. She is also the founder of the Blue Planet Project, a leading water justice organization.
Tuesday, June 11, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Social Sciences
- Brock graduate and accessibility leader Tricia Pokorny (BA ’95) will receive her honorary doctorate and deliver the Convocation address. She is the program lead for the Come to Work program at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Victoria, B.C., where she assists participants with sight loss in developing workplace readiness skills.
- Rexella Dwomoh, who will graduate with her Master of Applied Disability Studies, wants to move the needle on supporting resource access for families with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, an area to which she has devoted herself both professionally and as a student intern at the Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network during her program.
- Cecily Zeppetella will graduate from Brock’s Media and Communications program after a busy year that included work with Upcycle for Change, the award-winning non-profit she founded to combat furniture poverty, and successfully pitching her family’s business, Zeppsgear, on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.
Wednesday, June 12, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
- Shannon Kerwin, Associate Professor in Brock’s Department of Sport Management and the 2024 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research recipient, will deliver the Convocation address.
Wednesday, June 12, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
- Iconic former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins will receive his honorary doctorate and deliver the Convocation address. In addition to a career spanning nearly two decades in the MLB, Jenkins, from Chatham, Ont., founded the Fergie Jenkins Foundation, which has supported hundreds of charities across North America.
Thursday, June 13, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Education
- With support from the Métis Nation of Ontario, Master of Education graduate Sarah Vander Meer completed her studies while working as a registered nurse on the front line during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. She now works as a nurse educator, impacting the next generation of health-care professionals.
- Challenged by a learning disability, Holly Scime found her rhythm in Brock’s Bachelor of Early Childhood Education program, not only excelling in her studies but becoming a leader amongst her peers.
- Instructor Sunaina Sharma will deliver the Convocation address.
Thursday, June 13, 2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Education
- Instructor Sandra Mirabelli will deliver the Convocation address.
Friday, June 14, 10 a.m. — Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Mathematics and Science
- Ethan Gibbons will receive the Governor General’s Gold Medal Award, which is presented to the graduate student with the highest academic average of the graduating class. He will graduate with a Master of Science in Computer Science — though he began his studies as a Music major — finishing with a 98 per cent average.
- Andréanne Hébert-Haché secured a full-time position with Mirabel Agri-Food Research Centre in Quebec and became a new mother while completing her PhD in Biological Sciences with Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute. She will graduate with a specialization in plant science, viticulture and oenology.
- Rachel Rensink-Hoff, Associate Professor in the Department of Music and the 2024 Humanities Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient, will deliver the Convocation address.
Media are welcome to attend Brock’s Spring Convocation ceremonies. Photographers shooting from directly in front of the stage are asked to wear a Convocation gown, which can be arranged through Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications.
For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
* Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256
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