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On Thursday, Aug. 29, the outgoing Memorial alumni association
executive met for the last time as a board. They came together to select
the winners for the new alumni tribute awards to be held Nov. 14. It was
a long evening with many difficult decisions because of the outstanding
individuals who had been nominated. During the evening the board members
took time to reflect on their time together as a group and shared their
most memorable experiences.
"For
me there were two very different but equally memorable occasions. The
first was the reunion of the Parade Street graduates when I had the opportunity
to meet some of the first graduates of the MUC campus. It was an astonishing
experience to meet with people like Grace Sparkes and Nigel Rusted. The
second most memorable event is an annual one really. And that is standing
on stage at convocation every spring and fall and looking at the smiles
of new graduates when they receive their hood and start to walk offstage.
As president of the alumni association I established the practice of being
there at that moment to welcome the new graduates. I will miss it."
— Dr. Paul Wilson (BA, B.Ed.’74, M.Ed.’76), outgoing president of the alumni association of Memorial University of Newfoundland commenting on the most memorable experience of his time as association president.
"While I really appreciated the opportunity to get to know more about the university and how it works, I would have to say my most memorable event was the visioning exercise we went through when we brought in members of the public and the media. What really struck me about that whole event was how little the community knows about what goes on in the university. I think that is a challenge that all alumni should take up—to be an ambassador for the university. We can be proud of our Memorial education. Let’s talk about it!"
— Genevieve Dawson, (BA’87) outgoing second vice-president, Alumni Association of Memorial University of Newfoundland
"In my six years on the executive, I always tried to bring forward the fact that the secret of success for any university is each student’s experience in the classroom. I served on the teaching awards committee and saw from the testimonials of students how profound the impact of an inspiring and interested teacher can be for students. It affects the way they feel about themselves, their education and their university. That message about how important the classroom experience is cannot be communicated often enough to the deans and members of every faculty. Alumni need to get that information back to them."
— Clyde Flight (B.Sc., B.Ed.’65) outgoing director, Alumni Association of Memorial University of Newfoundland
"My most memorable event was in 1999. That was the year we named the members of Great Big Sea as alumni of the year. I enjoy their music and I think that they work hard as ambassadors for this province. The whole event generated a lot of excitement and I was delighted to be a part of it."
— Calvin Butt (BA (Ed.)’64, BA’67, Grad. Dip.Ed.’71, M.Ed.’74) outgoing past president, Alumni Association of Memorial University of Newfoundland
Do you have any interesting alumni notes and quotes to report? Send them to wkearley@mun.ca
