Bishop’s class of 2018 crosses the stage

The Bishop’s University Class of 2018 walked across the stage in the Denver Gymnasium on Saturday, marking the end of another year at the institution, and the end of this step of their academic careers.

The morning ceremony saw students in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Climate Change Graduate Certificate Micro-program alongside honourary doctorate recipients Margaret Macmillan and Alexander Reford. In the Afternoon the university honoured its Business, Education, and Natural Sciences graduates along with Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce (as represented by Aileen O'rafferty) and Abenaki filmmaker and activist Alanis Obomsawin.

“We strive to be a university that instills confidence, courage, curiousity and a sense of responsibility in its students, to be a place that nurtures personal and intellectual freedom and fosters enduring friendships,” said Principal Micheal Goldbloom as a part of his remarks in the afternoon gathering.

Following a model set last year when students Tuan Luu and Clinton Munkittrick unexpectedly died in the course of their studies, the University once again conferred a posthumous degree as a part of the convocation. This time the honour was for fourth-year business student Ben Houtman, who died in an accidental fall earlier this spring while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. Many members of the graduating class wore memorial pins on their gowns to remember their lost classmate.

The two ceremonies were livestreamed online and the resulting recordings are available to watch on the Bishop’s University Youtube Channel.