REGINA — The 2026 Spring Convocation is now underway on the campus of the University of Regina.
Graduates of the many programs offered by the university will be accepting their degrees in four separate ceremonies over three days, from June 17 to 19.
This spring, 2,452 graduates are receiving 2,645 degrees, diplomas or certificates over those three days. Four of those will be Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.
The first convocation ceremony on Wednesday saw Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees awarded to Sol and Elsie Sanderson. The university states they are receiving the honours for their “transformational contributions to Indigenous governance, education and community leadership.”
Former MP and federal minister Ralph Goodale will be awarded an honorary degree Thursday morning, while Dr. Bob Steadward will be awarded his honorary degree on Friday.
The University of Regina graduates are among more than 10,000 students estimated to be graduating from the province's universities, colleges, technical institutes and private vocational schools this year, according to the province.
In speaking to reporters prior to the start of the first day of convocation, University of Regina president Dr. Jeff Keshen said his message to graduates this year is “about the importance of the judgment that they'll bring to our society.”
“Right now technology has really changed the world that we're in,” said Keshen. “Cyberspace, artificial intelligence brings vast amounts of information, social media as well, and yet there are more and more people who feel themselves disconnected, where we don't have a sense of what is a common civil society, and we don't even have agreement on what is fact. They bring judgment, they bring, I hope, empathy, compassion, the commitment to learn from each other, and to realize that in a world where people feel often more loneliness and greater interaction with their phones, that human interaction, understanding, and connection is more important today perhaps than it's been in recent times.”
The words “artificial intelligence” have been a particular flashpoint at many convocation ceremonies across North America in recent months. There have been widespread reports in the media of commencement speakers being booed by students for even mentioning the words.
Keshen was asked about some of that unease graduates might be feeling toward AI and the changing technologies that could affect their lives as they graduate.
“So by background, I am a historian. Every time in which students have graduated there has been great uncertainty, there has been great injustice in the world,” said Keshen.
He pointed to an annual report from 1966 from the president of the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. John Spinks, which spoke about the onset of automation, which was just starting at that time in the 1960s. Keshen saw many parallels to the pressures being felt today.
“We have many students that are graduating in science and technology, and all those fields what we consider, many parents consider as practical, if I can use that term, because they would lead to a job. And yet (Spinks) spoke about the need at the same time for the endless importance of the humanities and social science, because you need to bring a perspective of humanity to all issues. And I think that that message then, with AI and the world that we live in where people are so connected to the virtual world, resonates as strongly today as it did back then.
“It is a unique time, but it's also a time I think that many students have faced uncertainty when they've gone out from the university into the wider world. I hope that what we provided them is the importance of learning from each other, of having empathy for each other, of being innovative, of taking risk, and believing in themselves.”
Keshen also pointed to the remarks of a graduate and former Regina Pats hockey player Brad Hornung, who was left quadriplegic after being hit from behind in a WHL game.
Keshen said when Hornung spoke to graduates in 2018, he said “you know, as humans we are remarkably fragile, we are remarkably vulnerable. Yet I think that we also need to remember, and they need to remember, that we're also remarkably resilient, and no matter the setback that we face, and all of us have faced setbacks, I have too, there's always a way back, there's always lessons to learn, and there's always the opportunity to do better the next time.”
“So that's my message to them, and this is a joyous day, this proud day for their parents, that there's a world of opportunity for them to find something they love. If they find something they love, and I'm quoting from the great, late Gordie Howe, you'll love it, you can do it for a long, long time.”
