More than 3,700 students will cross the platform and enter the next phase of their life at Niagara College’s Spring Convocation Ceremonies, to be held at the Welland Campus June 19-22.
Graduates and their guests will hear from a variety of distinguished business and community leaders who will deliver convocation addresses and receive special honours from the College.
Vicki Heyman
Ceremonies will begin on Tuesday, June 19 at 10 a.m. with the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Sport, as well as the School of Food and Wine Sciences. The convocation speaker for the morning will be Vicki Heyman, co- founder of Uncharted, LLC, a values-driven family office that convenes and connects a diverse group of Americans and Canadians. Heyman will receive an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Studies.
At the 3 p.m. ceremony, students from the School of Nursing and Personal Support Worker Studies will hear a convocation address from Daljit Singh Gujral. A first-gene
Daljit Singh Gujral
ration entrepreneur from India, Gujral is president of INSCOL, which operates a nursing institute in Toronto that trains internationally educated nurses who move to Canada. He will receive an Honorary Diploma in Health Studies.
Coletta McGrath
Wednesday, June 20 will begin with a ceremony celebrating graduates from the School of Community Services. Coletta McGrath, executive director of Quest Community Health Centre in St. Catharines, will deliver the convocation address and will receive an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Studies. McGrath is also a founding board member of the St. Catharines Life Lease Corporation, which built two of the first not-for-profit life lease buildings for older adults in Niagara.
Chief Bryan MacCulloch
In the afternoon, Bryan MacCulloch, chief of the Niagara Regional Police Service, will address graduates from the School of Justice and Fitness Studies, the School of Allied Health Studies, and the School of Nursing and Support Worker Studies. Chief MacCulloch will receive an Honorary Diploma in Police Foundations.
Anthony Spiteri
Ceremonies will continue on the morning of Thursday, June 21 with Anthony J. Spiteri, who will deliver the convocation address to the School of Business and Management Studies and will receive a Distinguished Alumni Award. Spiteri, who grew up in Niagara, graduated from Niagara College’s Business Administration program with honours in 1989 before becoming a leader in the consumer packaged goods industry. He is currently the vice president of marketing, research and development with Pinty’s Delicious Foods Inc., executive chairman of Erie Treat Motorsports, and chairman of Eataly Food Incorporated.
Thursday morning’s ceremonies will also honour the recipient of the 2018 Governor General’s Academic Medal, presented to Business Administration – Accounting graduate Jesse Reynders, who graduates with a 98.23% grade-point average.
Niagara morning show host Tim Denis will address graduates from the School of Academic and Liberal Studies, the School of English Language Studies, and the School of Media Studies at the afternoon ceremony. Denis, who recently celebrated 40 years in radio, has been a host at Newstalk 610 CKTB for more than 23 years, and has made waves in Niagara and beyond with his work as a singer, actor, director and songwriter. He will receive an Honorary Diploma in Broadcasting: Radio, Television and Film.
Spring Convocation Ceremonies will conclude on Friday, June 22. Graduates from the School of Environmental and Horticultural Studies, the School of Technology Studies, and the School of Trades will hear from Sarah Watts-Rynard, executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. An advocate of the skilled trades, Watts-Rynard works to encourage a better understanding of the high-level of competency and skill required by these careers. She will receive an Honorary Diploma in Skilled Trades.
Friday will also mark a milestone for the School of Environmental and Horticultural Studies, with its first cohort of graduates from the College’s Commercial Beekeeping program. The graduate certificate program, the first of its kind in Eastern Canada, was launched in 2017 to meet a significant demand for qualified, professional beekeepers across the country.
SCHEDULE OF PROCEEDINGS
Tuesday, June 19
10 a.m.
Hospitality, Tourism and Sport; Food and Wine Sciences
Speaker: Vicki Heyman
3 p.m.
Nursing and Personal Support Worker Studies
Speaker: Daljit Singh Gujral
Wednesday, June 20
10 a.m.
Community Services
Speaker: Coletta McGrath
3 p.m.
Justice and Fitness Studies; Allied Health Studies; Nursing and Support Worker Studies
Speaker: Bryan MacCulloch
Thursday, June 21
10 a.m.
Business and Management Studies
Speaker: Anthony J. Spiteri
3 p.m.
Academic and Liberal Studies; English Language Studies; Media Studies
Speaker: Tim Denis
Friday, June 22
10 a.m.
Environmental and Horticultural Studies; Technology Studies; Trades
Speaker: Sarah Watts-Rynard
