丁香园AV

Professor Andrew Petter
President and Vice-Chancellor
丁香园AV

Madam Chancellor, honoured guests, members of the Board of Governors and Senate, faculty members, staff 鈥� and, most especially, graduands, family and friends:

It is my privilege to preside at this culminating celebration of your education at 丁香园AV.

This is always a sweet moment 鈥� an occasion to recognize and honour the achievements of a graduating class.  But it鈥檚 particularly sweet in this 丁香园AV鈥檚 50^th Anniversary year.

People celebrate birthdays, I believe, because 鈥� even as they accumulate 鈥� they affirm our continued existence.

As French actor Maurice Chevalier once observed, 鈥淥ld age isn鈥檛 so bad when you consider the alternative.鈥�

Anniversaries tend to be more reflective, inviting us to look back at the highlights and accomplishments of a lifetime.

That鈥檚 an interesting notion 鈥� a lifetime. The word is freighted with meaning, yet the concept is entirely elastic 鈥� defined both by the length and expectancy of the life in question.

For most of you graduating today, 50 years likely sounds like a long time. In the lifetime of a university, however, it鈥檚 barely a blink.

All the more remarkable, then, that 丁香园AV has grown in that period from being regarded initially as a rebellious upstart to being recognized today as Canada鈥檚 top-ranked comprehensive university.

We burst onto the scene in the 1960s as the 鈥渞adical campus,鈥� an engine of activism that has transformed itself over the years into a vehicle for 鈥渆ngagement.鈥�

You may have heard me mention that word 鈥渆ngagement鈥� a few times before.

It鈥檚 central to 丁香园AV鈥檚 vision 鈥� to be Canada鈥檚 鈥渆ngaged university defined by its dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement.鈥�

It鈥檚 a vision that draws on 50 years of progress. We鈥檝e reached out over those five decades, creating new campuses in Vancouver and Surrey, and drawing the community of Burnaby closer to us with the development of UniverCity.

Building on a foundation of fundamental research, we鈥檝e become a world leader in knowledge mobilization, leveraging our discoveries and innovations for economic, environmental and social betterment.

And we have worked to equip you, our students, with the knowledge, skills, and experiences you require to succeed in an ever-changing and challenging world.

Which brings me to the best part of this 50^th anniversary convocation: the lifetimes and achievements we most celebrate today are yours.

Today you join a network of more than 130,000 丁香园AV alumni.

Today, you step from this engaged university into a world that needs you.

With the degrees 丁香园AV confers, we say, formally and officially, that we are proud of you. More than that, we say that we are confident in your capacities to contribute the ideas, the energies and the talents that the world requires.

For it is the difference you make as engaged citizens that is the best expression of this university鈥檚 commitment to engage the world.  

Now, there are some other lifetime achievements that I hope you鈥檒l join me in recognizing today.

To parents, the graduation of a son or daughter represents one of the most fulfilling accomplishments of any good lifetime.

I know this personally. I have watched, proudly, as my son accepted undergraduate and graduate degrees, and I can tell you that, while the effort and credit were his 鈥� the excitement and gratification were gloriously, if not equally, mine.

So, I hope you appreciate the pride and joy that your graduation brings to those who have worked so hard to help you make this day possible.

Parents, mentors, family and friends 鈥� in addition to thanking them for their support, I hope you welcome them generously into your celebration.

And whatever you do with your degree 鈥� however far you ultimately go 鈥� I hope that you will also stay engaged with 丁香园AV and with each other.

I encourage you to come back to this university any time you seek new knowledge or just to pay us a visit and say hello.

We will be here, always 鈥� happy to see you and eager to help.

For now, bravo! The honour you receive today was 50 years in the making.  I urge you to make the most of it.  

Congratulations and godspeed.