_________________________________________

Mr. Chancellor. 

Graduands. 

Family. 

Friends. 

Faculty and staff. 

Distinguished guests.

I have a marvellous story to tell you, today.

It’s about how people — like today’s graduands; and places — like your University; grow, and change, and influence others. 

This story starts with the little Technical Institute that could, and how it grew and changed to become the comprehensive, two-campus, TOP 10 Canadian University that did. 

Decades ago, long before Fort William and Port Arthur would come together as the Great City of Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Technical Institute was bustling with students training for promising professional careers.

The little Institute would eventually grow and change into a College of Arts and Science. 

As the graduates of that college went out into the world and fulfilled their dreams, so, too, did the people of Northwestern Ontario dream of a university of their very own 

Fifty years ago, on Canada Day 1965, their exceptional dream came true.

What I am going to show you, now, is a look back at our 1965 Convocation, including the installation of Lakehead’s very first Chancellor, Senator Norman M. Paterson, and present is our very first President, Dr. William Tamblyn. 

{1965 Convocation video plays}

If you liked that, have I got a treat for you.

Many of the young faces you just saw are not unlike the faces of our graduands on stage, today.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming back to our Convocation ceremonies some of those graduates from the class of 1965.

{Spotlight on 1965 Convocation graduates in loge}

We are honoured to have you back.

You are our treasured alumni.

Our University, however, has certainly grown and changed.

When you were here, our growing campus looked very different than it does today. Prettie Hall was our only residence for students; the Chancellor Paterson Library was only two floors high; and classes were either in the Braun Building or the University Centre – which at that point was only a lecture theatre with a couple of classrooms.

Since 1965, Lakehead University has, in many ways, grown, changed, and influenced the world.

Just before our university was born, this institution had fewer than 500 students, with 42 professors teaching in just two faculties.

In 1966, our student population almost doubled, and we experienced an unprecedented construction boom.

As this University was growing and changing, so, too, was our world.

In 1965, the space race saw humanity grow beyond the limits of the Earth and rocket to the heavens to take our first steps among the stars.

On the ground, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world when he led thousands of civil rights advocates in a 54 mile march — from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery — to decry racial inequality.

And here, at home, our country chose its own flag:  the iconic and influential red maple leaf — one of the most recognized national symbols in the world.

Since 1965, women and men of all ages have come from around the world to Lakehead University to grow and to change themselves.

Through every hallway and across every acre of our two campuses, students remind us of their potential to grow, to change, and to influence the world:

• You feel it when you walk down the hallway from my office past the paintings and sculptures created by our visual arts students;

• You feel it when marveling at the genius behind the buildings, bridges, and automobiles designed by our engineering students;

• You feel it when learning of the cutting-edge research projects OF our sciences and natural resources students;

• You feel it when listening to the virtuoso performances of our music students.

Each of our graduands embodies our motto:  Ad Augusta per Angusta — Achievement through Effort. 

From the graduates of yesterday to the graduates of today, we have grown Lakehead into a comprehensive university with two campuses, ten faculties, and a proud reputation for exceptional teaching and research.

Together, we have changed this University’s vision, mission, and belief.

Together, this University has influenced communities and people across Canada and around the world.

Over the next 50 years, your University will continue to grow, continue to change, and continue to influence the world:

• By bridging academic excellence with accessibility to education;

• By continuing to embrace and foster diversity, by expanding our role as a leader in providing post-secondary education opportunities for Aboriginal Peoples: and 

• By reaching out — with the help of our over 55,000 alumni around the world — to students of all ages, everywhere, to come to Northwestern Ontario, to live in Thunder Bay, and to learn at Lakehead.

The Little Institute that could has grown and changed to influence the course of our world with each graduating class across many generations.

Graduands, when we celebrate our Centennial Anniversary 50 years from now, know that we succeeded as an institution because you made us your University!

Today, we see you off on the start of your life’s journey.

It is your turn to grow.

It is your turn to change.

It is your turn to influence our world.

Be exceptional. Be unconventional.

Then, come back here, to our 100th Anniversary Convocation, sit before us in the balcony, and show us what you, our treasured alumni, have become.

I know that we will be very proud of you.

Congratulations Class of 2015!