Dear Massey Colleagues,
On Wednesday, May 2nd we had our annual Book Club Gala. Our guest of honor was our Visitor, the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLaughlin, who took questions on her new book, “Full Disclosure” a fascinating “who done it” already in its third printing! It is a fabulous read! Angela Ferrante, our Book Club chair introduced our guest of honor.
David Smith, Chair of the Quadrangle Society also spoke briefly at the dinner, and I wanted to share his comments (below) with the entire Massey family.
Best Wishes,
Hugh Segal, OC, OOnt
Principal
Thank you, Principal Segal and good evening loyal supporters of the Book Club! I want to begin by sincerely thanking all in the Massey community that have invested the time to share their perspectives during the first few months of my tenure as Chair. This input will go a long way toward improving the effectiveness of the Quadrangle Society and your constructive comments will help me better align our efforts with those of the College as it evolves.
We have made progress in the last several months with new ways to engage those who participate in the Book Club and I am delighted by the work of Angela and her committee thus far culminating in this wonderful event featuring our esteemed Visitor.
This year, due to inclement weather the “Meeting of the Minds” program did not blossom, but I am happy to report that Hannah Chan-Hartley and Alison Garwood-Jones have agreed to help me renew the program and augment the ways that the Quadrangle Society and other participants share perspective on navigating both careers and life beyond the walls of the College. There is more work to be done, but I am happy with the progress.
And now to the ties that bind. This community is held together by the bonds created and nurtured between its contributors. We are all here at the pleasure of the College to serve the mission of the College. Among the core mandates of the Quadrangle Society is supporting the development of the Junior Fellowship as they expand their skills and knowledge while honing their instincts to position themselves as the next generation of leaders in academia and in society at large. We need to encourage excellence and configure ourselves to support this aim; I have found that symbols can be helpful in supporting worthy aspirations.
As such, I would like to propose a new tradition at the College that celebrates the great potential among us. At the entrance of this dining hall is the bust of adventurer Sir Christopher Ondaatje, but alas his neck is unadorned. I would like to remedy that with a gift from the Quadrangle Society to the Junior Fellowship of a bow tie. But let it be known that this is no regular bow tie. This bow tie is handmade by a young female entrepreneur who had the moxie and drive to overcome significant headwinds and gain the attention of then Governor General David Johnston and his wife Sharon who as vice regal consort donated the hems of one of her ballgowns to form this particular tie. No less would do for our friend Christopher.
This bowtie symbolizes the striving for new frontiers of excellence and I would like to invite the Don of Hall to fasten it to Christopher whenever occasion arises that a Junior Fellow wants to celebrate the announcement of a major breakthrough in their research or an award for their efforts, that we, as a community can share in their progress during dinner. The signal is that if Christopher is wearing his tie, something worth celebrating awaits us all!
David Sutton, as the new Don of Hall, if you would kindly accept this offering and intention we would be honoured to support the ongoing success of the Junior Fellowship.
David R. Smith – Chair of the Quadrangle Society
