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Fall Convocation: Leaders bring messages of inspiration to Class of 2018

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Guest speaker, Bonnie Rose, addresses a sea of Niagara College graduates and their family and friends at morning convocation ceremony.

Today’s college graduates have the power to make a difference.

That was the message that Niagara leaders passed on to Niagara College’s Class of 2018 on October 26 when about 1,100 new graduates were celebrated at Fall Convocation ceremonies.

The morning ceremony was a ‘homecoming’ for sociologist/ educator Bonnie Rose, PhD, who was formerly NC’s vice president Academic and served two terms on the College’s Board of Governors. The Niagara Falls resident received an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Studies at the ceremony where she addressed graduates from NC’s Academic and Liberal Studies; Business, Hospitality and Environmental; the Canadian Food and Wine Institute; and Media, Trades and Technology Studies divisions.

Rose advised the new graduates to find their passion and purpose, to be adventuresome and resilient, to be generous and helpful, and to be grateful each day. She emphasized the need for this generation to succeed where hers has failed.

“The very future of humanity depends on our ability to collaborate together as human beings from all walks of life and all parts of the world, ” she said. “Collectively, you have the power to make a difference.”

At the afternoon ceremony, graduates from NC’s Community and Health Studies division heard from healthcare leader Donna Cripps, chief executive officer of the Hamilton Niagara Brant Local Health Integration Network.

“You are some of the chosen few who have the privilege in your career to put your hands on someone and make a real difference for them, and I need you to help me build a better health system,” said Cripps, who received an honorary diploma in Health Studies at the ceremony.

“In our effort to be evidence-based, to be focused on doing the right thing, somehow we have lost our humanity. We have lost how to love, how to care, to be kind. Now the people we serve are telling us we need to find kindness again.”

She encouraged them to “be the change we need to see in healthcare.”

“Start it new today – we’re counting on you.”

NC president Dan Patterson, PhD, capped off the ceremonies with his own speech to the graduates. He pointed out that in every major sector of the economy, college graduates are succeeding and leading.

“It is you who will help drive our economy and future prosperity, because it is college graduates who make communities work, whether it’s here in Niagara, across Canada, or around the world,” he said.

Patterson spoke about how NC’s community-based applied learning projects, International Field Studies and experiential learning opportunities provide important lessons in service and leadership. “So, get involved – volunteer – help others succeed – and create a society in which we all can grow and prosper,” he said. “When we extend ourselves, we enrich the lives of those around us.”

The new graduates will join NC’s Class of 2018, which includes an additional 3,700 former students who graduated from the College in June, and an alumni community that is more than 84,000 strong.

 

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