The Best and the Brightest: SMU Alumni Awards
Written by Holly Morrison
@holly.morrison
Thumbnail and Header Photo by Saint Mary’s University
Forget Hollywood award season; we are now approaching the time for the SMU Alumni Awards! With the nomination deadline fast approaching on August 27th, now is the time to nominate some of SMU’s fantastic alumni for these prestigious awards. The honours range from recognizing different groups from Saint Mary’s making a difference in their communities and around the world, to recognizing those who may not be an alumnus of SMU but have made a huge impact within the university. As such, these awards aim to honour those who truly embody the Santamarian spirit. With six different categories of awards, there is much to be celebrated for SMU alumni.
The first Alumni Award was presented in 1963 to Henry Habib, who won the Associate Alumni of the Year award. This award honours a stand-out volunteer at SMU who is not an alumni of the university. As the longest-standing Alumni Award still currently given, this prize was awarded somewhat sporadically from 1963 until 1984, from which point on it was given out yearly. There have been many changes made to the Alumni Awards since then, with the most recent addition being the One World Alumni Award, which was first presented in 2011. Although 2020 brought many challenges and changes across the world, the SMU Alumni Awards were still held as a virtual ceremony on November 19th, National Philanthropy day, which they took time to recognize as many of these awards are to honour volunteers. which also acted as a time to celebrate National Philanthropy Day. Last year’s ceremony can be watched here.
The One World Alumni Award has been presented yearly since 2011, with the exception of last year, as the impact of the pandemic made it more difficult for SMU societies to function as usual. This award is presented by both TD Insurance and Saint Mary’s University, aiming to recognize groups both within SMU and in the community that show the Santamarian values of “student leadership, social responsibility, and cultural diversity.” In 2019, the award and monetary prize were given to four separate entities, which is the largest number of recipients to date, consisting of two SMU societies and two community organizations. The Saint Mary’s World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and the Nova Scotia Gambia Association received $7,500 each to continue their work, while Enactus Saint Mary’s and Easter Seals Nova Scotia were each awarded $2,000 for their organizations. The WUSC is a national program in multiple universities, one of their main projects is the Student Refugee Program, in which a few students from refugee camps around the world are sponsored to attend university in Canada. The Nova Scotia Gambia Association is a nonprofit that runs the Peer Health Education Program to promote healthy behaviours in developing countries, with an emphasis on The Gambia. Enactus Saint Mary’s is an organization that focuses on social entrepreneurship to improve communities. Easter Seals provides various programs across the province to individuals with disabilities, with their award going specifically to aid their Take Part program, which boosts inclusive sports. The work done by these four groups is incredible. I encourage everyone to read further into the work they do and watch their nomination videos which can be found here, along with a list of the award’s previous recipients.
For those who have graduated from SMU in the past 10 years, the Young Alumni Award is for you. This award looks to recognize young alumni who have participated in and showed growth in various areas of the community, including service to Saint Mary’s University, volunteerism, service to humanity and their profession, among other categories. The Saint Mary's University Alumni Association's Awards and Nomination Committee selects up to three candidates per year for this award, with the criteria being that the alumnus has graduated with a bachelor’s degree from SMU within the past 10 years, or a graduate degree in the last five.
The 2020 awards saw two alumni receive this honour: Ying (Wendy) Wang (BComm’16) and Dave Culligan (BComm’16). Both of these alumni have done amazing work within the community and SMU since graduating. Wendy has served on the SMU Young Alumni Council as external co-chair since 2018, and was a part of many extracurriculars during her time at SMU. Dave currently is the founder of creative agency threesixfive with offices in both Halifax and Toronto, and has had the opportunity to work with many different organizations through pro bono work and consulting. More can be read about these two alumni here.
Paul Lynch (1947-2017) was a SMU alumni who was very active in the alumni community and was the head of the Ottawa chapter of SMU alumni for many years. It is in his name that the Alumni Volunteer of the Year award is given out. This award has been active since 2002, and can be given to one or multiple alumni who have “shown outstanding voluntary service to the Saint Mary's University Alumni Association”. In 2020, the recipients of this award were Sarah Ferguson (BComm’09) and John Bishop (BComm’74 BEd’76). Sarah Ferguson joined the Alumni Council in 2010, where she held multiple roles on the Homecoming committee before joining the Executive, working up from secretary to President of the Council. John Bishop is the current “Voice of the Huskies” as part of his position as the stadium and arena announcer. He has also served two terms as President of the Alumni Association and has represented SMU alumni on the Board of Governors for two terms. Both of these recipients have definitely shown commitment to SMU’s alumni community. More can be read about their work here.
Photo by Saint Mary’s University. Senator Wilfred P. Moore, 2020 recipient of the Distinguished Community Service Award
Since 1984, the Distinguished Community Service Award has been given annually to a SMU alumni who has provided amazing work and dedication to their community. In 2020, it was awarded to Senator Wilfred P. Moore QC (BComm’64 LLD’07), the second senator who has won this award since Senator Richard Donahoe in the first year of the award. Senator Moore has done so many incredible things throughout his career, including founding the Lunenburg School of the Arts in 2013, and introducing Bill S-203 (End the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins) that became law in 2019. You can read more about his many accomplishments here. Apart from his work within the greater community, Senator Moore also served on the Saint Mary’s Board of Governors for 10 years, showing his commitment not only to Nova Scotia, but to SMU specifically.
As mentioned before, the award with the longest history is the Associate Alumni of the Year Award. This award recognizes those who are not SMU alumni, but have given much to SMU and its ventures. Up to three nominees per year can win this prize, with the addition of being given full Alumni Association privileges, which include discounts on many different types of services such as hotels, restaurants, landscaping, and insurance. In 2020, the recipient of this prize was Rakesh Jain FCPA, CPA, who not only taught at SMU for eight years, but also served on the Board of Governors along with serving on multiple committees for five years. He is still continuing in his service to SMU to this day, acting as a strategic advisor to the university.
These amazing award winners barely even scrape the surface of those that the SMU Alumni Awards have given recognition to with prestigious prizes throughout the years. I encourage everyone to take a look through the write ups on each award recipient and know that as a SMU alumni, you will have a place among these incredible people. If you know of a SMU alumni or someone who volunteers with SMU, nominate them! Nominations are open until August 27th - all you need to do is fill out a quick nomination form with your candidate’s info and include a one-page letter about why you think this person should be considered. Give a member of the SMU community the recognition they deserve with a nomination.