York awards 11 honorary degrees for achievement and excellence

Vanessa Del Carpio
Contributor
Roderick A. Macdonald graduated from York over 40 years ago and went on to become a legal scholar and professor.
Forty years later, he is returning to his alma mater to receive an honorary degree.
“I felt the same spirit of adventure, of creativity, and of enthusiasm for learning as was present in 1966,” he wrote to Excalibur via email.
Including Macdonald, York will award 11 men and women with honorary degrees during the June 2011 convocation, a symbol of recognition given to those who have made significant contributions to the public good.
The honourees for this year will be receiving honorary doctorates of law (LLD). Their ranks include five Order of Canada recipients, the founder and executive director of War Child of Canada, and the director and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
But not just anyone can be on the receiving end of these degrees. The Senate first selects recipients from a pool of nominees, and the Sub-Committee on Honorary Degrees and Ceremonials must approve the final selection.
One of the degrees will be going to the Honourable Jean Augustine, notable for being the first African-Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons, has consistently advocated for multiculturalism, the status of women, and for the recognition of professional foreign credentials.
“I did what I thought was important to assist in making society equitable and I pushed at many barriers to have a voice,” she says. “These are called trailblazing experiences [and] were just efforts at inclusion.”
According to Senate guidelines, candidates must have made a significant contribution to the public good and should meet at least one of the following criteria: eminence in his/her field; service to humankind, Canada, Ontario, York, or a particular community; significant benefaction to the university, and/or public contributions to society worthy of emulation.
The other recipients are G.M. Rao, businessman and philanthropist; Piers Handling, champion of the arts in Canada and TIFF CEO; John Warkentin, scholar; Michael Stevenson, president emeritus of Simon Fraser University and scholar; Landon Pearson, public servant and social activist; Bengt Saltin, scientist; Samantha Nutt, physician, social activist and founder of War Child; Jacques Ménard, businessman and public affairs leader; and Peter Mansbridge, broadcaster and chief CBC correspondent.