Spring has sprung! And with it comes Queen’s University’s awards season. Each spring our community celebrates the contributions and achievements of a diverse range of students, staff, and faculty. At the time of writing, I am particularly excited to congratulate the student recipients of the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award, the highest tribute paid to Queen’s students, for distinguished service, leadership, character, and community impact during their time at Queen’s, and to welcome them into the Tricolour Society in a few weeks.
This June, at our annual Alumni Awards Gala, we will also honour exceptional alumni who have demonstrated many of the same qualities as the Tricolour Award recipients, gaining recognition in their communities and in their fields as a result. Having had the pleasure of speaking with some of these award recipients over the years, I note that often they will credit their time at Queen’s as having sparked or nurtured their desire to make meaningful contributions in their careers, volunteer activities, and areas of influence.
This year, the Queen’s University Alumni Association is thrilled to be honouring the career achievements of such distinguished alumni as renowned Canadian singer-songwriter Jill Barber, whose first-ever performance was at the Grad Club, and Queen’s University’s own celebrated women’s soccer head coach Dave McDowell. McDowell’s nominators credit him with playing a critical mentorship role in the lives of hundreds of Queen’s women’s soccer alumni, spanning a time period of more than 30 years.
We will also honour alumni who have had a critical impact in their community, such as Edward Thomas, Associate Director at the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and PhD candidate in Cultural Studies, known for research bringing attention to the ban on Black medical students at Queen’s that began in 1918 (a ban that went enforced until 1965).
In addition to those highlighted here, there are several other recipients who have made incredibly worthy contributions that will be announced and detailed elsewhere in communications from the QUAA, and I encourage you to learn more about them. They are all very inspiring!
Pausing to recognize and celebrate our exceptional students, staff, faculty, and alumni is uplifting in a time of uncertainty. I hope that if you know of exceptional members of our community who are worthy of recognition, you will consider nominating them next year (even if it makes our very difficult job of selection even more difficult).