Social Sciences convocation

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/university-hall.jpg” caption=”Students in the Faculty of Social Sciences graduate today at Hamilton Place in downtown Hamilton. Photo by Laura McGhie.”]The Faculty of Social Sciences will graduate 988 students today at Hamilton Place's Great Hall in downtown Hamilton. Ceremonies are taking place at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., where graduates will be sent off with the words of valedictorians Lucy Draper-Chislett and Chryslyn Pais.

“McMaster is an incredibly diverse institution and life here has taught me more, both inside and outside of the classroom, than I could have ever anticipated four years ago,” said afternoon speaker Draper-Chislett. “I am confident that my experiences at McMaster allow me to enter into the next stage of my life well prepared and well rounded.”

“My advice to future students would be to challenge yourself in the classroom while getting involved in activities out of the classroom,” added the morning valedictorian, Pais. “Find something you are interested in and then run with it in every direction.”

The morning ceremony will confer honorary Doctor of Laws degrees on two individuals: Philip Awashish, Cree political leader and advisor to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and James Bartleman, former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. Bartleman will address the students.

The afternoon ceremony features the Honorable R. Roy McMurtry, former Chief Justice of Ontario, High Commissioner to Great Britain and Attorney General for Ontario and Robert Fitzhenry, director of the Woodbridge Foam Corporation. Both men will also receive Doctor of Laws degrees, with McMurtry addressing the afternoon graduands.

Receptions will occur immediately following each ceremony at the Hamilton Convention Centre's Wentworth Rooms B and C.