On April 17, 2011 Canadian Mennonite University held its annual Convocation, celebrating the accomplishments and earned degrees of 78 graduates. CMU President Gerald Gerbrandt, faculty, staff, and guests joined in celebrating their successes. Guest speaker for the Graduation Service was distinguished Canadian author and CMU alumnus Rudy Wiebe (MBBC ’61).
At the morning’s Baccaluareate Service, graduates David Attema and Jill Siemens shared reflections with fellow students, and retiring professor, Dr. Titus Guenther, used the theme Living in Bold Humility, based on 1st Timothy 1:7, the text chosen by the graduating class. CMU’s Worship Band, Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, and Jazz Band contributed to the celebration.
At the Graduation service President Gerald Gerbrandt addressed an audience of CMU students, families and friends. “We offer our congratulations to the graduates, in the hope that their journey at CMU has helped prepare them for exciting futures. Graduation is the harvest, one might say, to the academic year. It is a day of joyous celebration, a day of fellowship, a day of praise to God for what God has done. Graduation is an important milestone and a significant occasion in the life of this year’s graduates.”
Of particular note was the presentation of the inaugural President’s Gold Medal to Rebecca Reesor (BA Music, with concentrations in Performance and Music Ministry) and Erin Weaver (BA 4-Yr. in International Development Studies) in recognition of their scholarship, leadership, and service. Other Graduation Service highlights included the Valedictorian Address by graduate Michael Harms, performances by the CMU Combined Choirs and the Graduation Address, “Working in Hope,” by Dr. Rudy Wiebe.
Gerbrandt remarked on the significance of having Dr. Rudy Wiebe as this year’s Graduation speaker as it is 50 years since Wiebe graduated from Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC, a founding college of CMU). “It is a privilege and honour to welcome Rudy Wiebe to CMU as our guest speaker,” he said. “I suspect he is one of a very few who graduated from MBBC already having earned a Masters degree from the University of Alberta.”
Gerbrandt also noted Wiebe’s significant professional accomplishments. Following his first novel Peace Shall Destroy Many, published while Wiebe was editor of the Mennonite Brethren Herald, and two subsequent novels : First and Vital Candle; and The Blue Mountains of China, in 1973 Wiebe was awarded his first Governor General’s Award for fiction for The Temptations of Big Bear. In 1994, he won a second Governor General’s Award for A Discovery of Strangers and in 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. After teaching four years at Goshen College, in 1967 Wiebe moved to the University of Alberta to teach English and creative writing. He was made Professor emeritus there in 1992.
Wiebe congratulated the Class of 2011, commenting on their chosen theme, “Living in Bold Humility.” He stated: “We celebrate you on this memorable day for who you are and for what you have achieved. After years of hard work, you are graduating from a school of venerable tradition, of excellent learning, of serious questioning of the status quo, of living and working in the world with an Anabaptist Christian commitment. You face the future not in the spirit of timidity, but in a spirit of power, love, and of self-discipline. That is a truly courageous commitment to make in this year 2011.”
Wiebe shared with the graduates how his university experiences helped shape his career direction. It was while studying at the University of Alberta that he was challenged by a professor to write a novel about his people, the Russian Mennonites in Canada. Out of this grew his first published work, “the book that began my writing life,” says Wiebe. And looking back to his graduation with a Bachelor in Theology from MBBC, Wiebe noted: “It is impossible to imagine my life of writing without MBBC.”
Commencement, he said, is both an ending and a beginning, and in keeping with the challenge he received many years ago, he issued his own challenge to the Class of 2011.
“Is there something specific that you feel within yourself that you are called to do?” he asked. “Find that, face that, dare to explore that gift, that intimation of calling, that God has given specifically to you. Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you. You and you alone can develop that gift into its most blazing expression.”
Wiebe concluded by reading a verse of poetry from Emily Dickinson, then paraphrased in closing: “This is my wish and prayer for you – hope, singing its continuous and wordless song in our souls, as we steadily work our way forward, each one of us, into our unique God-gifted future.
Wiebe and his wife Tena, whom he met at MBBC, have one daughter and one son, also alumni of MBBC.
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU offers undergraduate degrees as well as two graduate degree programs. CMU has over 1,700 students, including MSC and Outtatown students, and is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). CMU operates a number of schools and institutes, including The School of Writing at CMU and the Canadian School of Peacebuilding.
For information, contact:
Nadine Kampen CMU Communications & Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2