At spring convocation this week, Concordia's president Alan Shepard joined honorands and valedictorians in offering his best wishes to the class of 2016.
“A university degree is a major achievement. In our 21st-century knowledge-based society it’s a vital one. So much the better if your degree comes from a school with a strong reputation like ours,” he said to the university’s 5,700 newest graduates.
“When I’m out and about, talking to our alumni, the recurring themes that come up are pride, respect and the doors they were able to open with Concordia’s help. Keep in touch with each other and stay in touch with us. Bonne chance.”
Ten valedictorians provided sage advice. In her Arts and Science address on Monday afternoon, Meaghan Johnson, who graduated from the Liberal Arts College with a BA in Western Society and Culture, encouraged students to give back to their communities.
“Our education was supported by so many strangers — those who built and maintained our school buildings, those who fed and caffeinated us at the local café, those who plowed the snowy streets in the winter so we could get to classes,” said Johnson. “With this web of support in mind, I suggest that when we put our education to use … we think not only of ourselves, but how we may benefit the community at large.”
Valedictorian Tovah Marie DiMeglio Cowan, who graduated with a BSc in Psychology (honours), reminded graduates to “explore widely, soar freely.”
“But if you need a refuge — a place to roost or get inspiration — those here today are people you can come back to. I hope the feeling of having a safe base will allow you to push yourself. I hope you will make brave choices. Bold choices. Do things that scare you and make you proud.”
Valedictorian Michael Vasili Richardson reminded audience members that the John Molson School of Business “dominated” this year, in 24 case competitions across four continents, reaching the podium 57 times.
“At JMSB, we really mean business,” said the BComm graduate in Accountancy and Finance.
"My message is this: never stay satisfied with your understanding of the world. Never become complacent. Always stay hungry and always strive to be the best you can be. Treat every mistake and every failure as a lesson, not an obstacle. And never be afraid to take risks. We need to remember what JMSB really stands for — journey, meaning, success and bravery, the true JMSB. Stop at nothing in your quest to do great things.”
Highlights from the honorary doctorates
Concordia also awarded honorary doctorates to nine distinguished individuals.
Gender historian Joan Wallach Scott, founding director of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University, suggested that students shouldn’t expect a linear path in life. They can expect change, but how and why change happens is a puzzle that cannot be solved in advance.
“Careers today, more than my generation, are improvisation, balancing the need to make money with a desire to find jobs that fulfill some passion or deep interest — something you really want to do. You might not ever know what that is until you stumble upon it,” said Wallach Scott.
“The future is open and unpredictable. That ought to be a welcome, rather than a terrifying thought. You don’t follow a road to some fixed end point. In fact, the proven paths don't always take you where you want or need to go.”
Social scientist Sherry Turkle encouraged students to use their phones more mindfully. Turkle — the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology and director of the Initiative on Technology and Self in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society — sees technology as threatening our capacity for solitude and self-reflection.
“Technology promises that we never have to be alone,” said Turkle, author of the best-seller Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. “We’ve allowed technology to become implicated in an assault on empathy. Face-to-face conversation is the most human and humanizing thing that we know how to do … So look up, look at each other and begin the conversation.”
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, told a compelling parable about setting priorities in life, then posed this question:
“How are you going to use your knowledge, skills and experiences, and the bedrock values on which they rest, to create a smarter, more caring country, to create a Canada of the keenest minds and kindest hearts?” asked Johnston, former principal of McGill University, former president of the University of Waterloo and the author or co-author of more than 25 books.
“You might be thinking, ‘Why is he asking me? I’m just getting started in my career.’ To those questions, I say: Yes, and you have the mix of energy, ambition and ideas that our country needs. And yes, you’re just starting out, but your country needs you to begin using your talents today.”
Researcher Nora Volkow told a family story that explained her personal devotion to studying drug addiction. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, and associate director for Life Sciences at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, also voiced her frustration with how the healthcare system stigmatizes addiction.
“I learned that knowledge in itself is insufficient to change the culture unless you change the understanding and feelings around an issue,” said Volkow.
“History has shown us that ignorance and stigma can have catastrophic consequences. I hope we learn that it is knowledge and not ignorance, commitment and not indifference, compassion and not stigma that will allow us to conquer opioid addiction as well as other challenges ahead.”
Author and entrepreneur Arlene Dickenson stressed the importance of time as a commodity and recommended that students value what’s ahead.
“Time is important, but it's not the most important thing you have at your disposal,” said Dickenson, CEO of Venture Communications and YouInc.com, and long-time venture capitalist on CBC Television’s Dragons’ Den and The Big Decision.
“The most important thing you have in your power is the power of you, your voice, your values, your courage, your resilience, your confidence, your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed in life … When we tell ourselves we will fail, when we look at others and think they're better than we are, we end up harming our own opportunity. When you take the importance of time and you multiply it by courage and perseverance of the human spirit, your own spirit, you'll find you're capable of doing anything.”
Respected Charles Darwin enthusiast Garrett Herman recommended that graduates establish a code of personal conduct — and stick to it.
“Winning at any cost isn't really winning,” said Herman, chair and CEO of Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon Ltd. and chair and founder of the Galapagos Conservancy Canada, formerly the Charles Darwin Foundation Canada.
“You've taken courses on corporate governance, social responsibility, stakeholder management and related topics. The challenge ahead is to transform that theoretic knowledge into practice — or, how you manage yourself and your business. Set standards.”
Mining engineer and philanthropist Pierre Lassonde, co-founder of Franco-Nevada Corporation, stressed that life is not a dress rehearsal, and that family and community will have more impact on the graduates’ happiness than money or fame.
“The biggest decision that you will ever make — it’s not buying a car, it’s not buying a house, it’s not taking a trip. It really is ‘who are you going to choose as your life partner?’ Good luck with that one,” said Lassonde, chair of the board of the Canada Council for the Arts, chair of the board of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and former chair of the World Gold Council.
He also promoted travel: “See for yourself that the world is round. Experience other cultures and other people. It’s the best way for anyone to slay their prejudices.”
Entrepreneur Aaron Fish advised the chess players in the audience to apply strategy to their careers.
“Be it an issue with customers or employees, chess makes you look all around the problem, instead of looking at just one side of it,” said Fish, creator of the first electrically supervised mechanical push-button lock, and founder, former chair and CEO of Unican Security Systems Ltd.
“It makes you consider many possibilities before you move and that's good training.”
Fish also got a laugh with a quote: “Last but not least, from professor Einstein, ‘If I’d only known, I would have been a locksmith.’”
James Shavick, CEO of Shavick Entertainment and OUTtv, pointed out that careers are marathons, not a sprint.
“If you don’t succeed in the first few years, if you stay long enough, you’re a success. It just happens that way,” said Shavick, former director of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia.
He also reminded graduates, “It’s how you leave the world, not what you get out of it.”
See photo highlights of Concordia’s Spring 2016 convocation.
