Royal Roads University will honour Arctic advocate, business leader and local hero at fall convocation
For immediate release – November 7, 2008
Victoria, B.C. – Three notable individuals will be honoured under the signature white marquee temporarily set up alongside Esquimalt Lagoon for fall convocation at Royal Roads University today.
Arctic advocate Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Iqaluit, who has served as both Canadian President and International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, will be presented with an honorary degree at the morning convocation ceremony which begins at 9:30. As a respected leader in an organization which represents more than 155,000 Inuit living in Canada, the United States, Greenland and Russia, Watt-Cloutier helped negotiate a breakthrough global treaty which bans organic pollutants that were contaminating the Arctic food chain and she helped launch the world’s first international legal action on climate change.
Distinguished business and community leader Bob Skene will receive an honorary degree in the afternoon ceremony which begins at 2:00. He has served as a member of the Board of Governors at Royal Roads as well as Chancellor and Chair of the Board and a member of the university’s Foundation Board. Skene also volunteered his extraordinary talent to serve as Acting President for 11 months in 2006 and now co-chairs the university’s Legacy Campaign, its first-ever major fundraising initiative.
Also in the afternoon, Langford fire chief Bob Beckett will be presented with the 18th Chancellor’s Community Recognition award. This accolade recognizes not only Beckett’s volunteer work in the local community – for example, helping to establish Langford’s much-anticipated Santa Claus parade – but also his role in the success of Can S.A.F.E., a humanitarian effort that has donated and shipped firefighting equipment to Kabul and Kandahar since 2004.
Over 500 of 886 students graduating from Royal Roads University today are expected to attend either the morning or afternoon convocation ceremony.
Of the total number of students graduating, 574 will receive degrees or certificates from graduate level programs and 312 from under-graduate level programs. Just over half are women; 11 are from First Nations communities; and 243 are from countries other than Canada including Argentina, Bangladesh, China, Israel, Mozambique, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to have been a part of the journey that has transformed our exceptional graduates,” said university president Dr. Allan Cahoon. “By helping them find the skills and confidence they need to address challenges that shape our world, I am confident they are well-equipped now to take their place alongside role models such as the three remarkable individuals we honour at today’s convocation.”
For the first time, graduate certificates will also be awarded to students in two inaugural programs: Destination Development in the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management; and Environmental Practice in the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences.
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For media queries, contact:
Community Relations Director, Stephanie Slater
stephanie.slater@royalroads.ca 250-391-2712, cel 250-361-5020
Go to Fall Convocation for more information.
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