CBC/Free Press: UM celebrates biggest Indigenous graduating class
The University of Manitoba had a momentous day on Saturday, celebrating the graduation of more than 500 Indigenous students — the largest cohort the university has ever had.
For the second year in a row, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university held a virtual powwow to celebrate its self-declared Indigenous graduates. This year, there are 510.
Kirsten Fleury — a Métis biology student — was among them.
“I’m just so proud of all of us,” she told CBC Manitoba’s Weekend Morning Show before the ceremony took place.
“I think it’s a great example of showing us that, you know, we’re still here and we’re a really resilient group of people and that we’re just going to keep achieving bigger and better things,” she said.
Graduates to take their bows at virtual convocations
As the Winnipeg Free Press reports:
University of Manitoba students will get an immersive experience through an online platform designed to include a reception area, graduation cap photo booth and alumni hall, in which users can access real-time advice from older alumni….
Ceremony aside, students are missing out on end-of-year family parties and annual graduation powwows.
Nicole Luke, who is finishing her master’s degree in architecture, is taking part in a virtual celebration for Indigenous graduates at the U of M this weekend.
“It feels very relieving (to be done), even though it didn’t quite end the way I wanted it to,” said Luke, who is Inuk from Chesterfield Inlet, in Kivalliq Region of Nunavut.
Luke plans to celebrate convocation with an outdoor bonfire with her roommates, and a nice family dinner.