Dawson News

Convocation celebrates graduates from Summer & Fall 2011, and Winter 2012

This year's ceremony will be held in Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts (175 Ste-Catherine Street West) on Thursday, June 21, 2012.

Remzi Cej, Chair of the Newfoundland & Labrador Human Rights Commission to deliver Convocation address

Earlier this year, Mr. Cej (pronounced "say"), aged 28, was named Chair of the Newfoundland & Labrador Human Rights Commission and is a Policy and Program Development Specialist for the government in that province.

A Rhodes Scholar and Terry Fox Scholar, Remzi completed the MPhil in International Relations at Oxford University. He has served on the boards of War Child Canada, Amnesty International Canada and the Community Youth Network, and has contributed to CBC radio as a freelance reporter.

In 2003, Remzi was the youngest person to receive the YM/YWCA Peace Medal for human rights education. In addition to English and French, Remzi speaks Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Spanish, and German.

As a boy, he and his family fled the war in Kosovo, on foot, to find safety. He says: “My parents and I came here as refugees late in 2000, hoping for an alternative to the violence we had experienced during the war in 1998 and 1999. And peace we found – along with 21-feet of snow – in our first winter in St. John’s.”

He attended Memorial University where he completed a joint honours degree in French and German, and taught English in Montreal, both at UQàM and at École secondaire Cavelier-de-Lasalle in LaSalle, one of Dawson’s feeder schools.

Ticket pick-up information

Students who filled out a card saying they would attend the graduation ceremony at Place des Arts on June 21 must pick up tickets this Thursday, June 14 between noon and 6 p.m.

Students who do not follow the instructions below and do not pick up tickets will have no guarantee they will be allowed to attend.

Ticket distribution goes like this:

Come to Conrods on Thursday, June 14 between noon and 6 p.m. where you will present your ID -- if you cannot come, give your ID or a letter giving that person permission to pick up your tickets.

Your name will be checked against a list that indicates whether you have passed all your courses and fulfilled the requirements for a DEC.

You will receive one ticket for yourself and two tickets for guests.

After we make sure everyone who will attend has at least one ticket for themselves and 2 for guests, we have a second round of distribution on Friday, June 15 in Room 4A.1 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

If you need more than the two guest tickets you received, you can pick up extras, up to a maximum of three in the second round, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

If there are any tickets left after the first two rounds of distribution, we will post that information on the homepage and on My Dawson College Facebook page. If you still need extra tickets at this point, you can only pick them up the day before the ceremony (June 20).

Once there are no more tickets, that information will be posted on the homepage and on Facebook. No more tickets can be distributed. Place des Arts will not let us hand out more tickets than there are seats, and they will not let you enter without a ticket.

Helpful tips for students attending the Convocation ceremony

The ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m., but you must arrive at Place des Arts by 6 p.m. to be processed and gowned.

• Enter via the main entrance and proceed to Théâtre Maisonneuve; there will be signs and staff to help you find the area where graduates assemble.
  
• Once you have checked in, been given your marshalling card and your gown, you will proceed to the line-up for the ceremony.
  
• If you arrive late, there is no guarantee you will be processed, gowned or lined up in time, and we cannot disrupt the ceremony for everyone else to accommodate latecomers.
  
• For your own comfort, wear clothes that are fairly light under the gown. The gown is quite heavy and there is some waiting while you are being processed and lining up.
  
• The doors to Place des Arts will open at 6:45 p.m. for guests.
  
• EVERY graduate and guest needs a ticket to enter Place des Arts. Strict fire regulations do not allow entry without a ticket. Guest tickets are numbered, but there is no assigned seating. Guests can sit anywhere they like behind the rows that are reserved for graduates.

Traffic and parking around Place des Arts

• Please factor in extra time to get to Place des Arts. Traffic and parking are always problematic; other disruptions may also occur around that area. Count on at least 20 to 30 minutes extra to arrive at your destination if you are travelling by car. We recommend using public transportation to Métro Place des Arts.

Students who wrote the English Exit Test in May

We don’t expect to receive the results of your exit test until later this summer. At the Convocation ceremony you will be given a letter confirming that you have completed all other diploma requirements, but your English Exit grade is still unknown.

You may retrieve your diploma in August in Room 4A.1.

Useful information for members of the Platform Party

You will enter Place des Arts by the Artists’ Entrance at 1400 St-Urbain Street, near the corner of Ste-Catherine. We ask you to please arrive between 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Please factor in travel time and parking, and some extra time if there should be any disruption.  

At the Artists’ Entrance, you will be met by staff who will sign you in and hand you off to be escorted to the dressing rooms to be fitted with the academic gown and hood you will wear during the ceremony.

Your guests may enter with you, but while you are being gowned, they will be led to their seats.

Once gowned, you will be escorted to a reception on the Mezzanine level with other members of the platform party. 

At approximately 7:20 p.m., you will be asked to line up for the processional onto the stage, where you will sit among your peers.

Once the ceremony is over, please leave your gown and hood with one of several attendants who circulate during the vin d’honneur after the ceremony.