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U of A alumnus reflects on convocation speech change

With the recent change to make the convocation speech more secular, the University of Alberta student who fought to make a similar change back in 2009 said he’s thankful to see the issue come to an end.

Last month, the wording of the speech was changed so that students are urged to use their degrees to “serve your community for the public good.” Since 2009, the wording of the speech said “for all who believe, to serve your god” and current Chancellor Doug Stollery took issue with how that excluded non-religious students from the call to service.

But that wasn’t the first time the speech was changed. In 2008, engineering student Ian Bushfield fought to change the wording, which at the time included a plea for students to use their degrees “for the glory of God and the honour of your country.” He said it didn’t reflect the diversity of belief among students.

“This is not an issue of being anti-religious, this is an issue of being recognized and included in an institution I want to call my own,” he wrote in a 2008 blog post.

Bushfield’s efforts were partially successful. After a six-month campaign, the speech was changed in 2009 from its original, more religious wording to “for all who believe, to serve your god,” a change Bushfield wasn’t entirely satisfied with. But with the 2017 alteration to the speech, he is happy to see that the change he fought for is finally here.

“I really like the idea that they’ve moved forward to something fully inclusive, I wholly support that,” Bushfield said. “I thought it was inevitable after we’d gotten one change through so I’m glad to see that it finally made it.”

Bushfield’s push to change the convocation speech began with a letter to then President of the U of A Indira Samarasekera. Following months of media coverage, the speech was changed in January 2009 when it was brought to General Faculties Council, the highest body for academic governance at the U of A. He was also able to push the issue from the inside after he was elected to GFC as an undergraduate student member.

“It wasn’t an all-encompassing obsession, I think that’s an easy way to mischaracterize it,” Bushfield said. “I sent the letter with the group and followed up on it and made sure that we saw it through to completion. I had a lot other things on the go at the time. I was in my final year of engineering physics and so I had senior projects and lots of other classes to pay attention to.”

Despite getting changes through in 2009, Bushfield saw it as a minor victory. He said that then-Provost Carl Amrhein had settled on that version of the speech over other more secular options that bore a greater resemblance to the most recent change, and that Amrhein and Samarasekera “tag-teamed to crush debate on the issue.”

“I, in the end, voted for the compromise since it was a change that was a nice step forward although it wasn’t what I was hoping for,” Bushfield said. “And I think what that also helped do is open the door to future changes since it showed we can continue to evolve the convocation charge, we can revisit these things, I think that the start of what got us through today.”

When asked if he had anything to say to Chancellor Stollery, Bushfield said, “Thank you.”

Convocation speeches over the years

Before 1999: I charge you to use (your degrees) for the glory of God and the honour of your country.

Since 2009: I charge you to use (your degrees) for the uplifting of the whole people; to inspire the human spirit; for all who believe, to serve your God; and to pursue more steadfastly whatsoever things are true.

2017: I charge you to use (your degrees) for the uplifting of the whole people, to inspire the human spirit, to serve your community for the public good, and to pursue more steadfastly whatsoever things are true.

Nathan Fung

Nathan Fung is a sixth-year political science student and The Gateway's news editor for the 2018-19 year. He can usually be found in the Gateway office, turning coffee into copy.

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