Media releases

• Brock grads encouraged to ‘fight for change’

  Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 5 June 2018 – R00119

  Ideas have great power, but they’re useless without people willing to fight for them.

  That was the message Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff delivered to Faculty of Social Sciences graduates Tuesday, June 5 as he gave the Convocation address at Brock University.

  After being awarded an honorary doctorate from Brock Chancellor Shirley Cheechoo, the former union leader and longtime workers’ rights advocate gave a powerful talk about being engaged in democracy.

  “Progress happens when you get engaged and we fight for change together,” said Yussuff, who was the first-ever Human Rights Director for the Canadian Auto workers and has served as President of the CLC since 2014.

  After emigrating from Guyana at 16 years old, Yussuff got a job as a mechanic, joined the union and then became a union leader at 18.

  “You are the new generation of Canadian leaders,” he told the large group of graduands Tuesday. “Brock has given you the tools to engage and reshape our democracy and your country needs you. So pick up an issue, show up, join with others and persevere.”

  He left the graduating class with three key points: That ideas have power; That those ideas are powerless without boots on the ground to take action; And to never quit.

  “Nothing worth fighting for comes easy,” said Yussuff. “It’s always a struggle. But a great leader never quits. They push on and keep building because they know that progress is always possible.”

  Brock University’s Spring Convocation continues Wednesday with 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ceremonies for the Faculty of Education. Thursday will see graduates from the Goodman School of Business cross the stage at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

  On Friday at 10 a.m., the final ceremony in Brock’s 103rd Convocation will include students from both the Faculties of Humanities, and Math and Science.

  Giving the Convocation address will be St. Catharines native and world-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky, who will receive an honorary degree.

  A major milestone will also be celebrated when Brock’s 100,000th graduate will 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.

  All of the Convocation ceremonies are free to attend and no tickets are required. Parking is free for guests throughout the week. For those who can’t make it to the Brock Campus for Spring Convocation, the ceremonies will be streamed at brocku.ca/livestream

  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

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock Spring Convocation kicks off with inspiring words from global health researcher

  Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 4 June 2018 – R00118

  In a three-decades-long career that has taken him to countries plagued with war, famine and disease, Dr. James Orbinski has learned that caring about the things that matter in life is an opportunity we all have.

  We have one planet, Orbinski told the Brock University graduating class of 2018 Monday during the first ceremony of Spring Convocation, and we’re not taking care of it.

  “I believe we not only have an ability to respond to the things that matter, but a responsibility to do so,” said Orbinski, the Director of York University’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research who received an honorary degree from Brock Monday morning.

  During his convocation address in front of graduands from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Orbinski said weather disasters, global health crises and increasingly complicated geopolitical tensions are among the concerns we need to take seriously.

  “Human pressures on the planet are at risk of triggering abrupt and irreversible changes with potentially catastrophic outcomes for human societies,” he said. “Good planets, even slightly damaged ones, are tough to come by. This is our only home, and yet we’re changing our planet so that it is unliveable for many, and especially those who are the poorest and already the most marginalized.”

  Orbinski’s remarkable career has taken him to some of the world’s most impoverished and war-torn regions.

  He served as Chief of Mission to Rwanda with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders during the 1994 genocide, for which he was given the Meritorious Service Cross, Canada’s highest civilian award, as well as the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. He also accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Doctors without Borders in 1999 while serving as the organization’s president.

  In 2004, Orbinski co-founded Dignitas International, which researches health systems and clinical practices and now supports more than 300,000 people with full treatment for HIV and AIDS in Malawi.

  He challenged the Brock students to “focus your mind, your time and your talent on the things that matter.”

  “Courage begets courage. May you never be silent on the things that matter, never be afraid to listen and always step up,” he said, encouraging the graduating classed to be engaged citizens.

  “That means fundamentally caring about the things that matter. It means being unafraid to explore and lead on the things that matter to our world. And it means stepping up and stepping out. Silence in the face of what matters, is the greatest of human failures.”

  Brock University’s Spring Convocation resumes Tuesday with 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ceremonies for the Faculty of Social Sciences.

  Receiving an honorary doctorate and delivering the Convocation address in the morning will be Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Yussuff became a union member soon after immigrating from Guyana in the 1970s and was elected union chair at the age of 19. He climbed the ranks of the Canadian Auto Workers, eventually becoming the organization’s first Human Rights Director.

  All of the Convocation ceremonies are free to attend and no tickets are required. Parking is free for guests throughout the week. For those who can’t make it to the Brock Campus for Spring Convocation, the ceremonies will be streamed at brocku.ca/livestream

  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

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases