When a graduate’s name is called at Convocation, the moment can hold years of work, persistence and support. For graduates and their families, receiving credential is more than a final step in college life. It is the point where everything it took to get there becomes visible.
For those working behind the scenes, it represents something else, too: careful preparation, hundreds of small details, and the chance to be a part of a moment they helped make possible.
This year, Loyalist’s 59th annual Convocation ceremonies take place from June 9–12. Employees from across the college will step into roles spanning wayfinding, gowning, ceremony flow, accessibility, AV, diploma presentation and more, all working together to make the day feel seamless for the people who came to celebrate.
“People see the moment on stage, but they don’t always see the months of work behind it,” says Laura Jarrell, Registrar. “Every detail matters when the goal is for graduates and their families to feel supported from the moment they arrive.”
Months in advance, teams begin scheduling dates, ordering gowns and mapping out each ceremony. As Convocation draws closer, names are checked and rechecked, scripts are prepared and valedictorians are supported as they prepare to speak on behalf of their classmates.
When Convocation begins, all of that preparation moves in real time. As many as 250 graduates receive their credentials at each of the eight ceremonies, and each one needs a gown, a place in their program line and the right order before entering the gym. Throughout the week, more than 200 employees play a part in keeping the experience moving smoothly.
Over her 16 Convocations at Loyalist, Carrie Bulgajewski, Coordinator of Tutoring Services, has become a familiar presence helping organize graduates, calm nerves and adjust gowns and regalia before they cross the stage. “During Convocation, we get to celebrate our students, their hard work and our own,” she says. “It’s a time when we’re truly all in this together.”
On stage, Dawn Price, Coordinator of Financial Assistance, passes diploma folders to the Registrar from the wings and helps prepare medallions for presentation to Indigenous graduates. Through her work in Financial Aid, Dawn often knows parts of a graduate’s story that others never see, from OSAP applications to the costs and pressures that can make continuing difficult.
“Sometimes I have tears during the ceremony or in the diploma room,” she says. “I see students receiving their credential and know that I may have helped and been a small part of their journey.”
For some employees, the connection is personal in another way.
Bex Foreman, Career Advisor, first came to Loyalist as a mature student in the Social Service Worker program. She worked multiple part-time jobs while studying full time and spent most of her time focused on the next deadline, the next hurdle.
“What I remember most about my own Convocation is finally feeling like I could pause,” she says. “It was the first moment when it all felt real.”
In Loyalist’s Career Services, Bex works closely with many students in the months before graduation — through resumes, interviews, career planning, and sometimes just as a steady presence during a hard stretch. “I see the stress, self-doubt, burnout, and financial pressures,” she says. “When I see those same students receive their credentials, it’s incredibly emotional.”
For Carol Coupland, who recently retired as Coordinator of Loyalist’s Business – Accounting program, Convocation carries that same sense of culmination. After seeing students arrive full of hope, then move through the hard parts of college life, the ceremony brings the whole journey into view.
“Without a doubt, it’s when a student — usually a mature student — crosses the stage and their kids are waiting at the bottom of the stairs,” says Carol. “You hear, ‘Yay mom,’ or ‘Yay dad,’ and nothing else matters.”
“We see when things get hard. We see the tears and we see the joy,” she says. “When they finally cross that stage, they’ve made it. It’s the absolute best time of year.”
Across eight ceremonies and thousands of names, Convocation is built from those moments: a graduate pausing at the top of the stage, a family cheering from the crowd, an employee calming nerves or watching quietly from the wings. For the people who help make it happen, the ceremony is more than an event. It is a reminder of why the work matters.
