Menno Simons College Graduates Told They Can Change the World

Seventy Conflict Resolution and International Development Studies Majors Celebrated at May 31 Event

“Now the real hard work now begins.”

That’s what David Northcott, long-time anti-poverty activist and Executive Coordinator of Winnipeg Harvest, told Menno Simons College (MSC) graduates at the College’s 16th annual graduation celebration.

The next steps are “the real grunt work,” said Northcott at the celebration, held for the first time at Elim Chapel, across the street from MSC.

Northcott went on to remind the graduates of their good fortune in being Canadians, and of how life in Canada made it possible for them to get an education.

“You have had access to the world’s knowledge anytime you wanted it,” he said. “You are among the few on the planet who have the ability to tell your own story. You have an ability to change the world.”

David Northcott: “Now the real hard work begins.”

He went on to affirm MSC’s emphasis on the spiritual aspects of life. There is a “common hunger and third to take steps to move us closer to God, truth and love,” he said, noting that the most important question facing people who want to help poor people today is: “Can you love one another? All else is secondary. Human rights are based on loving one another.”

Prior to Northcott’s address, University of Winnipeg President Lloyd Axworthy expressed gratitude to Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) for “the way our two institutions meld and work together” to offer conflict resolution and international development studies through MSC.

“I cherish our relationship with CMU,” he said. “It shows we can collaborate and work together for the better good of giving students the excitement of learning . . . I very much honour the continuation of that partnership with CMU.”

Referring to the suffering and conflict that fills the world today, he told the graduates that “we celebrate you who have, through your studies, chosen to speak a word of peace in the world.”

He went on to praise MSC for how it reflects the values of the “Mennonite community” that “make the world a better place.”

The graduates, he said, “bring a supply of commitment and learning that is very much in demand today . . . a demand that exceeds supply. It is God’s work.”

Joel Marion: Through classes at MSC his “education really started to mean something.”

The celebration also featured a reflection by student Joel Marion, who graduated with a degree in Conflict Resolution Studies, as well as an Honours degree in Political Studies.

Seven years ago, he said, he was working as a night cleaner at a hotel when he thought: “I can do more than this.” A week later, was registered at the University of Winnipeg to study politics.

“I knew I wanted to know more about the world we live in, but I wasn’t really sure what the exploration was going to look like,” he said.

That exploration included enrolling at MSC when he realized that “an important element” was missing from his studies—”the human element.”

Through classes at MSC, his “education really started to mean something,” he said. One pivotal experience was a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo as an election observer in 2006; the visit taught him that “change doesn’t happen all at once, and it rarely happens the way you expect it to.”

That realization, he added, also summed up his experience at MSC.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t know where it would take me.” But, he went on to say, his studies have given him, and the other graduates, the “skills and knowledge” they need to move into a career, along with the “willingness to step out of our comfort zones, to question what we think we know, and to open ourselves to new learning experiences wherever we go.”

A total of 70 students graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Conflict Resolution Studies and International Development Studies. Four students—Chris Ewert, Laura Normand, Martine Friesen and Judith Biber—received medals of achievement from the University of Winnipeg.

Founded in 1989, Menno Simons College is CMU’s campus at the University of Winnipeg.

Posted June 3, 2008

For more information contact CMU Communications Director, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3P 2N2, telephone: 204-487-3300 ext. 630, fax: 204-889-1694, (www.cmu.ca)