By Oliver Wilmot
On Nov. 11, the Remembrance Day ceremony took place in the student centre, honouring and commemorating those who died in the line of duty in the First World War.
Presented by the Spiritual Life Services, the event was open to students, staff and general members of the Sudbury community.
“As Coordinator of Spiritual Life Services, it is very important to me, that we at Laurentian demonstrate, at every possible opportunity, a belief in the inherent worth and value of every human life. Whether, young or old, military or civilian, each person matters, and what we do with the life we are given matters,” said Barbara Hein.
Erik Labrosse resided as Master of ceremonies for the event. Labrosse is the director of Student Life, and was joined in the ceremony by an Elder of Laurentian University, Hilda Nagjiwan.
The ceremony continued on to include speeches by Dominic Giroux, President and Vice-Chancellor of Laurentian University, and David Leeson, Chair of the History Department.
Sarah Shea, a part-time professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Huntington, also recited the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae, which was then followed by a message on Personal Peace Making by Rachel Perry, Assistant Chaplain of Thorneloe University.
Labrosse said he was “really pleased” with the turnout, which he believed “probably triggered some emotion some passion.”
“Some of the messages and we had people from everywhere good representation from across the campus. I think the initial message from the elder Hilda Nagjiwan that set the tone for the rest of the ceremony… I think it’s really important that we do this. I like this space, I like that there’s life here. I think when you’re the Master of ceremonies you kind of just get a sense of the flow and I think it was quite an emotional ceremony.”
Giroux also stated that this year’s ceremony was “probably the most emotional Remembrance celebration at Laurentian for the past few years and there are so many people. It speaks to how important this day is for students, faculty and staff. Remembrance Day is about the end of war remembering peace. We have several faculty members who have family members who recently gave their lives to war or were badly injured or are currently injured. This is not just a historical conversation this hits home for many of our colleagues and students on campus. Beautiful ceremony to have and the end was very poignant. Beautiful ceremony touching, simple but meaningful.”
