Convocation Program
The Class of 2024
Indigenous graduates will receive a unique stole with symbolic meaning. One side of the stole depicts the Dish with One Spoon Treaty Wampum Belt between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolizes the agreement to share, protect our resources and not to engage in conflict.
On the other side of the stole is the Office of Indigenous Initiatives logo. Based on the Haudenosaunee creation story, our logo reminds us of how the first seeds of life on Earth were planted on the back of a turtle. The inner segments of the dome represent the Anishnaabe (Ojibway) Seven Grandfather Teachings: love, respect, wisdom, bravery, truth, honesty and humility. The golden rays of the sun symbolize enlightenment, learning and new beginnings. The Métis beaded purple flower represents the gifts of plant life from the Skyworld, which encourage and sustain life. The entire design rests on the waters of life.
The mace of Wilfrid Laurier University was officially presented by the Euler family at the 1963 fall convocation in memory of The Honourable W.D. Euler, former senator of Canada and the first chancellor of the university. It weighs 16 pounds and was manufactured by the firm of Henry Birks Limited, Montreal.
The ferrule near the base of the shaft contains ivory from a walrus tusk obtained from Coral Harbour, Northwest Territories. The ten-sided shaft, representing the ten provinces, merges into the head of the mace which bears the ten provincial crests. The wood used at the point where the shaft meets the head of the mace is elm taken from the bannister post of Conrad Hall, the original seminary building. Above this are four crests relating to the history of the institution: a crest of Waterloo County, the Luther Coat of Arms, the crest of the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and the coat of arms of the University of Western Ontario.
The head of the mace is made of maple and bears the Federal Coat of Arms, above which is the monogram of Queen Elizabeth II, during whose reign the university's charter was granted. On the reverse side is the crest of Wilfrid Laurier University and the monogram of King George V, during whose reign the original charter was granted. The top of the mace is a crown, mounted with jewels, symbolizing the authority of the State.
Dr. Fred Binding, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology for 32 years retired in July 2003. He had served as the university marshal for ten years. Sadly, Dr. Binding died in August 2003. In memory of his contribution to convocation ceremonies, artist Rex Lingwood was commissioned to create a marshal's baton.
In the baton, the artist incorporates a range of visual references that relate to the graduation ceremony, both directly and symbolically. In keeping with the nature of the ceremony, some of the forms are traditionally associated with ceremonial staffs, and the baton's design echoes the elaborate theatricality of the event and the flair brought to the occasion by Dr. Fred Binding. The ends may be read as abstracted figure forms wrapped in the academic gown and hood, with details symbolizing the life stage of the graduates. The Greek alphabet is inset into the internal side surface in the shaft of the baton. This is a reference to the interests of Dr. Fred Binding. It also acknowledges that language is at the core of university education and that the Greek language has particular importance in western culture.
The commission of the baton was made possible with the generous support of the Department of Psychology and Wilfrid Laurier's Univerisity Retirees' Association.
The academic degree is a title conferred on an individual by a university as recognition of the completion of a course of study or for a certain attainment. In Canada, the three stages in higher education are represented by the degrees of bachelor, master, and doctor. Wilfrid Laurier University is given the authority to grant degrees by the Wilfrid Laurier University Act.
The bachelor’s degree is awarded at the honours, without honours or general specified, or the general level. An honours degree program emphasizes the acquisition of a broad and deep knowledge of the student’s chosen honours subject. The four-year bachelor's without honours or general is awarded to students who have met all honours course requirements and includes their specialization. A general degree program emphasizes a balance between an in-depth understanding of the student’s major subject and a knowledge and appreciation of other fields.
The master’s degree is the second degree in higher education. Students complete concentrated and specialized work at a more advanced level in an academic discipline or professional area. Most course work is within the field of specialization and a research project or thesis is normally required. Some master’s degrees provide professional qualifications.
The doctoral degree is the highest academic degree granted by a university. Candidates for the degree spend several years in the advanced study of a specialized field of knowledge. The capstone of the degree is the doctoral dissertation, an extended work based upon independent research. The dissertation demonstrates the candidate’s command of both the subject matter and the exacting methods of scholarship, and makes an original contribution to knowledge.
Installed on Oct. 17, 9:30 a.m.
Accomplished corporate director, former diplomat, and alumnus (BA' 93) Nadir Patel is Laurier's new chancellor, and is the tenth person to occupy the role since the university became a public institution in 1973.
Patel is the former Canadian High Commissioner to India, a post he served in from 2014 to 2021, overseeing Canada’s largest embassy abroad while concurrently serving as ambassador to Nepal and Bhutan. He has also served as senior assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and as Canada’s consul general in Shanghai, China.
Patel began his career with the federal government while a student at Laurier, as a tax auditor in the Kitchener-Waterloo offices of Revenue Canada. He moved into positions of increasing importance, including in the Privy Council Office, where he served as chief of staff to the prime minister’s national security advisor, associate secretary to the cabinet, and deputy minister to the deputy prime minister. Other positions included senior policy adviser to the Privy Council clerk and cabinet secretary, as well as serving as Canada's "chief air negotiator," a position in which Patel negotiated 43 international aerospace agreements.
He currently serves as senior strategic advisor at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and is a managing director at Fairfax Financial Holdings. He has extensive governance expertise, including positions on numerous private, Crown corporations, and not-for-profit boards. He is a member of the board of directors for Canadian Tire Corporation, where he chairs the audit committee, is chair of the board for Jumpstart Charities, and is a board member for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
Patel graduated from Laurier with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and holds a joint MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC (Paris) School of Management. In 2011, he was named one of Laurier’s 100 Alumni of Achievement.
Honorary Doctor of Music | Presented on Oct. 18, 9:30 a.m.
John Estacio is a five-time Juno-nominated composer. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2021 and is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Award for Arts. One of Canada’s most frequently performed composers, Estacio is known for creating symphonic and operatic works with an assured command of lyricism and dynamism. Estacio has served as composer in residence for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Edmonton Symphony. His orchestral music has been performed in Singapore, China, the U.S., U.K. and other parts of Europe. His first of five operas, Filumena, was filmed for television and was commemorated on a stamp issued by Canada Post.
University Research Professor Award | Presented on Oct. 18 at 1 p.m.
William Quinton, the Laurier Research Chair in Cold Regions Hydrology, is dedicated to developing new knowledge, predictive tools and adaptation strategies for decision-makers and First Nations confronting the effects of climate change in the Northwest Territories. Quinton has been studying hydrological and land-cover changes at the Scotty Creek Research Station since he founded it in the 1990s. At Scotty Creek, Quinton closely collaborates with the Łíídlįį Kúú First Nation, which has taken over leadership. It is now the first Indigenous-led research station in Canada. During his time at Laurier, Quinton has served as director of the Cold Regions Research Centre, a member of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment Team, and both Canadian national delegate and chief international delegate for UNESCO’s Northern River Basins Working Group.
Honorary Doctor of Letters | Presented on Oct. 29, 2 p.m.
Dr. Jillian Horton is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at Manitoba’s Health Sciences Centre and the University of Manitoba whose writing about medicine and medical culture appears regularly in the L.A. Times, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Maclean’s. In 2021, her first full-length book, We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing, was a national bestseller. It won Laurier’s prestigious Edna Staebler award for creative non-fiction and is currently being adapted as a television series. Named a “leading medical educator” by the U.S.-based Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Horton was awarded the Gold Humanism award by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada in 2020 for her national contributions to compassion in clinical care and her leadership in the field of humanities in medical education.
Graduates listed in this program have been certified as completing all degree requirements as of Oct. 3, 2024.
Morgan O’Reilly Skinner
Faculty of Science
Morgan O’Reilly Skinner
Faculty of Science
Ivonne Vanessa Aguirre
Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work
Maia Coates
Faculty of Music
Chelsey Alexandra Kane Fedchenko
Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work
Tatyana Feiner
Faculty of Science
Jennifer Mary Ferfolja
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Catherine Elizabeth Free
Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work
Janet Elaine Goodfellow
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Taylor Ann Holloway
Faculty of Science
Tian Ip
Faculty of Music
Kara Madison McDowell
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Shou Reid Nakano
Faculty of Science
Owen Kyle Petter
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Iliana Vittoria Portelli
Faculty of Science
Jane Phillips
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Jacob Siamro
Faculty of Science
Nicholas Stephen Lorne Merritt
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
Jason Nima Amri
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Kyle Wing-Kai Chang
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Maxwell Kieran Dann
Faculty of Science
Emily Marie Loberto
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Linnea Ingrid Delitzsch MacCallum
Faculty of Music
John Alexander Mansilla
Faculty of Arts
Sarah Nicole Riopelle
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Kassandra Nicole Roul
Faculty of Science
Wen Hui Zhang
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
Andrew Robert Dennie
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
Haein Kim
Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work
Simon Charles Spencer
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Emma Christine Glenn
Faculty of Science
Kendall Teresa Cummings
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
Congratulations on your graduation – you made it! Today, we welcome you to the Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni Association (WLUAA).
You are now a member of a community of more than 120,000 proud graduates of Wilfrid Laurier University and its predecessors.
WLUAA represents all Laurier alumni, including you. We support Laurier with revenue from alumni services, such as group home, auto and life insurance, and an alumni affinity credit card.
WLUAA revenues help to fund alumni programs and events, university initiatives, student groups, and student scholarships.
The association’s mission is to engage and represent a community that supports and enriches our alumni, students, and the university. We share a vision for an inspiring community of engaged alumni.
You are alumni for life — your relationship with Laurier doesn’t end today. Stay connected as a proud grad and learn more at LaurierAlumni.ca.
