A degree is a life changer, say alumni
Graduating from university could well take its pride of place on a list of life-changing events if Concordia alumni are anything to go by.
Just ask John Millons, S BA 59, whose classmates included immigrants and World War II survivors.
“Without the foresight of Sir George Williams and his strong interest in encouraging learning, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for me and hundreds of others to earn a university degree while working full-time,” he says.
Millons was one of scores of graduates attending the President’s Reunion Brunch on Sunday, October 3, at Concordia’s Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex, part of Homecoming 2010 festivities. He left the U.K. in 1953 to settle in Montreal. He found work with Canadian Pacific Railways before considering higher education.
“I was referred by my employer to Sir George Williams University which, at the time, was the only university in Canada to offer degree programs in both day and evening divisions,” Millons recalls.
Giussepa Di Sano, BA 90, tells a different tale but with a similar ending. A self-proclaimed black sheep of her family, Di Sano once found herself at odds with her father’s views on higher education. Yet his declaration that “university was for the rich” only strengthened her resolve to study.
“I always wanted to have a university degree, so at 21, as a mature student, I saved my money and entered Concordia University as a part-time student in the evenings,” she says.
Di Sano now divides her time by working at a language school in Italy and for McGill University.
For graduates somewhat longer in the tooth, nostalgia for the once smaller, cosier university settings—Sir George Williams and Loyola College of yore—is still evident today. Yet many agree Concordia has come a long way from its founding institutions.
Don Hathaway, BSc 65, certainly does. He’s astonished by Concordia’s transformation, but recalls nostalgically how, once upon a time, “the deans taught first-year courses.”
No longer. So Concordia, bustling with 44,000 students, is emerging as never before.
It’s on a mission to become one of Canada’s top comprehensive universities, Concordia’s President and Vice-Chancellor Judith Woodsworth told the reunion attendees.
“We want to offer high-quality academic programs, an outstanding student experience and strengthen our community outreach,” she said. “While our infrastructure has dramatically changed, rest assured that our core values remain the same.”
Related link:
• Concordia Alumni Relations