Nicholas Donaldson
Thirty-five graduates walked across the Townshend Theatre stage on Monday to receive their diploma or certificate–and celebrate–during convocation ceremonies for Confederation College’s Rainy River District campus.
The celebrations weren’t all for the students, though, as the college also received plenty of recognition for being in its 50th year since its beginning in Thunder Bay.
A video was played for the audience that retold the history of the college and its regional campuses, including the opening of the one here in 1969.
College president Jim Madder also spoke about the milestone anniversary in his address to the students, but made sure to remind them the day still was about them.
“Yes, we are celebrating 50 years overall as an institution, but we are also celebrating you, what you have done, and where you will go,” he noted.
Madder said that over the past 50 years, 48,000 students have graduated from Confederation College–and 90 percent of those graduates stayed to work in Northwestern Ontario.
He explained that technology always has been at the core of what the college has accomplished by connecting students at the regional campuses.
He also mentioned “squawk boxes,” named for the sound quality they produced, which served as the beginning of the regional campuses’ technological connection to the school in Thunder Bay.
The technology has improved since then, and Madder said Confederation College continually has upgraded its technology to benefit students.
“Regardless of location, students can now learn in real time thanks to educational technology,” he remarked.
The graduates also heard from campus manager Sandra Turner, Fort Frances councillor and former student Wendy Brunetta, and alumni rep Tabea Loewen.
During the ceremony, Madder presented the students with their diplomas or certificates.
Academic Awards of Excellence then were presented to:
•Daniel Miller (Computer Programmer);
•Laura Wickstrom (Office Administration);
•Roy Flinders (Pre-Technology);
•Dorothy Bates (Native Child and Family Services);
•Ashley Stevens (Personal Support Worker);
•Rachelle Whalen (Practical Nursing);
•Tyler Big George (Pre-Health Sciences); and
•Carolyn Lepage (Early Childhood Education).
Lepage also received the Campus Award of Excellence for achieving the highest academic standing locally.
Afterwards, Madder spoke with the Times about the further significance of the college’s anniversary and the importance of the regional campuses to its history.
Madder said that in the past, the college realized many people wanted education but could not get it, so they set up the eight regional campuses seen today, beginning with the Fort Frances expansion.
“There was never enough students to teach a full class in one place, so we had to use technology to tie those campuses together and teach,” he explained.
Madder added one teacher from anywhere in Northwestern Ontario could be teaching three or four different places simultaneously.
“It took very talented teachers and some good, solid students who were interested in what they were doing,” he stressed.
“I give people huge credit, especially in the early years, for making those regional campuses work.”
Madder now is looking forward to the 50-year celebrations that will continue in the fall–and the stories that come out of those gatherings.
The reunion here in Fort Frances is slated for Nov. 2.
Madder said he’s excited to see the yearbooks, “squawk boxes,” and all sorts of other memorabilia that alumni will bring along that day.
