Waves of graduates
The University of Alberta President, David Turpin, stood on stage at convocation ceremonies and asked the graduates seated before him to look back. "Your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, your spouses, your children, your friends, let's turn around and say thank you," Turpin said. Under Turpin's baton, a couple hundred gowned students rose in a wave from their floor seats in the Jubilee Auditorium, their mortarboards bobbing, their academic hoods, red for Law, white for Arts, shining. They cheered and clapped and received back hoots and hollers and hellos from the balconies. It was something to behold from our seats in row C of the first balcony. It is something again to behold from the stage. For a couple of years I sat on Alumni Council. Among the thanks for the early morning meetings on campus was the chance to represent alumni on stage during convocation. It wasn't much of a chance, actually. It was a privilege to sit gowned up with th...