More than 1,900 graduates and their families will be on campus to celebrate Western’s 320th Convocation, Oct. 19 to 21 at Alumni Hall.
The ceremonies mark the first on-site Autumn convocation since 2019.
As graduates cross the stage, they join a network of more than 332,000 Western alumni in 160 countries around the world.
During these events, Western will also confer honorary degrees on six distinguished individuals who will address the graduates on the following days:
Dr. Robbie Campbell, MD’67 (Submitted)
Dr. Robbie Campbell, MD’67
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 3 p.m.
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (DSc)
Dr. Robbie Campbell is the founding member and president of the Eating Disorders Foundation of Canada. He has worked with the treatment, recovery/relapse and research of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders for more than 40 years. Throughout his career, he has been a champion of tele-psychiatry services as a mode to better serve patients in remote and rural communities. A member of Western’s Sports Hall of Fame, Campbell played Mustangs football as a medical student, and for the CFL in Edmonton while serving as an intern and resident at the University of Alberta. A professor emeritus at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, he is currently a consultant in psychiatry for the Fowler Kennedy Clinic at Fanshawe College and for the St. Joseph’s Family Medical Centre.
Patrick Lam (Submitted)
Patrick Lam
Thursday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Patrick Lam is executive director and CEO of FSE Holdings Limited. He was instrumental in establishing the Ivey Business School (Asia) in Hong Kong and is the current acting chairman of its advisory board. Lam is also a founding director of the University of Edinburgh Hong Kong Foundation, and a member of the Hong Kong Essex Global Leader Network, University of Essex. A chartered accountant by training, he is a governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Helene Polatajko (U of T Rehabilitation Sciences Dept)
Helene Polatajko
Thursday, Oct. 20, 3 p.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Helene Polatajko is an internationally acclaimed occupational therapy researcher, educator, and practitioner. Her clinical experience is primarily in paediatrics, working with children with learning-based performance problems. Polatajko has received many national and international honors and awards during her career, including being elected to the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s Academy of Research and being named as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2021, she was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada.
Nancy Love (Submitted)
Nancy Love, HBA’76
Friday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Nancy Love is CEO and principal of NLo Strategies, Inc., an investment holding company in Toronto. She is also chair of the Jon and Nancy Love Foundation. Since her son’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2011, Love has been a tireless fundraiser for MS research. She and her husband, Jon, HBA’76, funded the Barlo MS Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and they are also generous donors to the Ivey Business School, supporting both the Richard Ivey Building and an HBA scholarship. For 40 years, Love has been a member and served as president of the Junior League of Toronto, a charitable organization that trains women to be community leaders.
Dan Smoke (Submitted)
Mary Lou Smoke (Submitted)
Dan and Mary Lou Smoke
Friday, Oct. 21, 3 p.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Dan and Mary Lou Smoke are teachers, activists, writers and broadcasters committed to their community and to social justice. Mary Lou is a member of the Ojibway Nation and the Bear Clan, and is originally from Blind River, Ont. Dan is a member of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy and is originally from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. In the early 1990s, they embarked on what would become one of their most significant projects as hosts of Smoke Signals, Canada’s longest-running Indigenous campus radio program, heard on CHRW, Radio Western.
***
Rooted in tradition and history, convocation is a pivotal milestone in the life of a university student and an opportunity to celebrate achievements with peers and loved ones. Here are just some of the highlights:
Banner occasion: The convocation stage is adorned with banners, or gonfalons, designed and stitched by the members of the Canadian Embroiderers’ Guild, London approximately 40 years ago. The project involved 50 of the Guild’s members and took two years to complete. Western President George Pederson (1985 to 1994) initiated the creation of the banners upon his arrival at Western. Designs and symbols for the faculty banners were suggested by the dean of each respective faculty or school, and the hood colours for degrees offered by the unit are incorporated in the banner design. The banners of the affiliated university colleges carry the Coat of Arms of each, and the banner depicting Western’s coat of arms is dedicated to Pedersen.
Indigenous aspects: A student representative will carry the Indigenous gonfalon during the academic procession and bronzed moccasins will sit on stage. The gonfalon honours Indigenous diversity, identity and leadership at Western, and includes elements representing core beliefs that resonate with many Indigenous epistemologies. The moccasins honour those children whose remains continue to be recovered at residential school sites across Turtle Island, children who never had the chance to grow and experience a university education.
-
- Part of the academic procession, the gonfalon represents Indigenous diversity, identity and leadership.
-
- Moccasins commemmorate Indigenous children whose remains were found at residential school sites.
Musical moments: Western’s Convocation Brass, started by professor Ken Bray in 1983 and today led by musical director and Don Wright Faculty of Music lecturer Shawn Spicer, will play pieces selected from an eclectic list that includes ABBA and Pixar medleys, We Don’t Talk About Bruno (Lin Manuel Miranda), Africa (Toto), the 1980 Olympic theme song, and Jesu Joy (Bach).
An alumni welcome: Following each ceremony, graduates and their guests are invited to the Mustang Lounge (University Community Centre) for a Western Alumni reception, where they will receive their class pin and enjoy refreshments. New grads are also encouraged to take advantage of Purple Perks, exclusive to Western alumni.
Livestream: Those unable to join the in-person ceremonies can watch the celebrations livestreamed from Alumni Hall. Visit the Convocation 2022 website to access the recordings, where social media posts, with hashtag #WesternClassof2022, will also be shared.
