A friend and champion of Lakehead University received an award recognizing his efforts at Saturday’s graduation ceremony held at the Rotary Place..
“I really don't covet awards, but it's just recognition for the 10 years on the board and the work in establishing the university here,” said Civitas Award recipient Bruce Waite.
“I'm very honoured,” he said. “There have been some wonderful supporters of Lakehead that have received this and I feel it's a representative award on behalf of a lot of people that promote Lakehead in Orillia.”
The Civitas Award is unique to the Orillia campus and is given to an individual in the community who has provided outstanding support and engagement to the Orillia campus and university at large, said Frank Cappadocia, associate vice president administration and community engagement.
“He's always provided a very stable and honest perspective on how we can move forward,” he said, talking about Waite’s contributions to Lakehead. “He's also provided advice and guidance to our partners in Thunder Bay, a perspective of what a start up campus is like and how those unique phases impact the broader university. He's been absolutely instrumental in that.”
The university also conferred an honorary degree on Deborah Martin-Downs and gave out degrees to 400 students during the ceremony.
Waite said when he first came to Orillia 50 years ago, he joined the Simcoe College Foundation, which was working very hard to establish a university in Orillia.
That project never came to pass, but Waite’s passion didn’t wane. Fourty years later when another initiative came about, he jumped at the chance to help out.
For the past nine years, he served as the board for the university, helping out in matters, such as administration, finances and physical plans.
“That's been very rewarding,” said Waite, who is now past member of the board of governors. “There have been some wonderful people on the board and I've learned an awful lot from them about running a public institution.”
Looking around Orillia and at what the presence of the university has done for the city’s economy and arts community, he said, is part of the reward.
The aim of the board of governors and the first dean and principal of the Orillia campus, Kim Fedderson, was to make it a university for all the people and not an ivory tower.
“An indication of that is the Humanities 101 course,” said Waite, whose wife, Susan, continues to be involved with the development of the course. “It's life-changing for a number of people. To me, that's just the perfect story of why we're here.”
Other projects he remembers having given input into include construction of the LEED-certified residence and the cafeteria buildings.
Lakehead’s partnership with Georgian College has also been a tremendous win for the students, said Waite.
“In a number of subjects, they can both a diploma and a degree,” he said. “It's a great benefit for the students in the area.”
As well, Lakehead recognizes the significance of having a progressive relationship with the Indigenous community, said Waite.
“That's very high on the board of governors' agenda,” he said. “I know in Thunder Bay, over 10% of the student population is Indigenous. We have a first full-time Indigenous commissioner on campus. The university has just secured funding for a $30-million Indigenous centre on the Thunder Bay campus.”
And the chances to further develop the university to benefit the community continue to present themselves, said Waite.
Some of the issues that are ongoing challenges are financial support for universities everywhere, he said, and those in turn create mental health challenges for students who are under financial pressure.
Waite said the university and board may not be able to find immediate solutions to these problems, but they work hard toward mitigating the negative effects as much as they can.
He said he looks forward to collaborating with the current principal, Dean Jobin-Bevans, to move the campus forward in the coming years.
“We've had renewed interest in capital expansion,” said Jobin-Bevans. “He (Waite) has been really helpful to focus some of those projects and our thinking around the future in terms of how we would like to see the campus built and what direction we would go in and integration with the community as well.”
