It was a red carpet event. Thousands of alumni and friends of McGill walked through a temporary McGill Village on lower campus at a historic Homecoming Celebration Weekend, touring an interactive exposition showcasing innovative research happening at the University before arriving at a giant, tech-outfitted tent where Principal Suzanne Fortier announced the launch of Made by McGill: the Campaign for Our Third Century.
Events over the Homecoming Weekend of September 26 to 29, 2019, included a workshop with some of McGill’s volunteer leaders, the annual Beatty Lecture with internationally renowned conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, the annual Sports Hall of Fame Luncheon, and a Golden Jubilee dinner for graduates of 1969 who were celebrating more than 50 years of affiliation with the University.
All these festivities – along with the McGill volunteers, students, researchers and others in attendance – helped set the tone as McGill gets ready to rally the international community for its third century campaign.
All ready for visitors in the McGill Village during Homecoming 2019.
Learning about research in the McGill Village.
Visitors to the McGill Village.
McGill volunteers at a Leaders Alliance workshop.
McGill researcher Mark Lefsrud at a Leaders Alliance workshop.
McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier on stage for the official campaign launch with volunteers and students.
Students part of Homecoming and the campaign launch.
The campaign
“This campaign is about McGill being connected to the world,” Principal Fortier told the crowd at the launch. “It’s about McGill working together, all of us in our community, to make the world a good place – a home for everyone.”
Made by McGill: the Campaign for Our Third Century aims to boost resources for financial aid and scholarships, equipping students with the skills they need to become “future-ready” global leaders, and to support research and innovation in some of the most pressing societal challenges.
The campaign comes as the University prepares to mark its 200th anniversary in 2021, and enter its third century.
A key role for volunteers
The Campaign Co-Chairs are Marcia Moffat, Managing Director and Country Head of Canada, BlackRock; G. Garvin Brown IV, Chairman of Brown-Forman Corporation; and Claude Généreux, Executive Vice-President of Power Corporation of Canada and Power Financial Corporation. Together, they are at the helm of an impressive Campaign Cabinet that includes an executive committee, members at large, and the Chairs of the Campaign Corporate Committee, Faculty and Regional Boards, and the McGill Alumni Association Board of Directors.
The Honorary Campaign Chair is John McCall MacBain, Founder of the McCall MacBain Foundation and former President and CEO of Trader Classified Media. Earlier this year, John and Marcy McCall MacBain launched the McCall MacBain Scholarship program at McGill.
An important part of the campaign launch was a luncheon and workshop preparing volunteers for their key role in the campaign.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity to help shape McGill – and the world,” Principal Fortier told volunteers who gathered for a productive afternoon to acquire the tools they’ll need to be compelling campaign ambassadors, ready to share McGill’s academic and global missions with fellow alumni and friends.
Volunteers: Made by McGill
As part of the workshop, volunteers crafted and shared their “Made by McGill” stories – how their experience at McGill shaped them and helped prepare them for today’s world.
For astronaut Dave Williams, BSc’76, MDCM’83, MSc’83, DSc’07, McGill “pushed me to my limits where I sometimes succeeded and sometimes didn’t. Failure was always more instructive than success, and through persistence, resilience and belief in myself, McGill made me into a scientist, doctor and astronaut.”
Nathalie Zinger, BScAgr’81, Dip’83, Director of Regional Operations for the Nature Conservancy of Canada and a member of the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Faculty Advisory Board recalled: “It all started as a teenager when I witnessed the decline of a pelican colony in the Caribbean. One application to McGill and a whole world of opportunities opened. Even before the terms existed, I was involved in experiential learning and biodiversity conservation.”
Students: Made by McGill
Students were an essential part of Homecoming and the Campaign launch. In the exposition part of the McGill Village, they took turns sharing research endeavours and formative McGill experiences, from the story of how Jamie Lee, BSc(NutrSc)’19, and Isabelle Lam, BSc(NutrSc)’19, launched a chocolate company as undergraduates, to the importance of continuing education for Jack Kas-Barsoum, GrCert’19, as a newcomer to Canada.
Other exceptional students joined Principal Fortier on stage for the official campaign launch to share their pride in McGill and how the University has helped shape them.
Medical resident Sheila Wang explained that she developed a smartphone app that takes images of wounds to track progression and healing, which is now used in more than 1,000 facilities across Canada and the U.S. “I am proud to support innovation that drives progress for the benefit of society,” she told the crowd.
Law student Lina Bensaidane is the first recipient of the Centre culturel islamique de Québec Memorial Award, which recognizes students who show a commitment to fostering the inclusion of Muslims within the larger Québécois and Canadian societies. “I’m proud to support opportunities that open doors for talented students from all backgrounds to come study at McGill,” she said.
“I am proud to support research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge and changes lives,” said Jay Olson, MSc’15, a PhD student in the Department of Psychiatry, whose research aims to help children with neurological disorders.
Christine Ha, BSc(NutrSc)’18, a PhD student in nutritional science, has been a consultant for the Cree Nation Government in Whapmagoostui on the James Bay coast and an intern at Ouranos, an NGO working on climate change. “Every opportunity has made me better able to define my career and find my true path,” she said, representing the kind of future-ready McGill student who is able to make a meaningful impact on the world around us.
Funds raised during the Campaign will be directed to bursaries and scholarships, hands-on learning experiences for students, research and innovation, as well as new or expanded facilities.