I write this on the day following the 2026 Queen’s Alumni Association Gala, held at a lively and congenial venue on Queen Street West in Toronto. It was as always a very special occasion, attracting longstanding as well as very recent alumni, and culminating in the presentation of an array of awards recognizing specific contributions in volunteerism, student leadership, global citizenship, equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenization, as well as distinguished achievement more generally.
The event was a reminder – not that such a thing is ever really necessary – of the extraordinary talent that has historically been attracted to Queen’s, of the uncanny social magic by which the experience of studying here binds individuals to each other and into a community unlike any elsewhere, and of the capacity of that community to have a positive impact in society close to home and across the globe.
Also apparent from the remarks of award recipients is that behind that impact lies a rich, exuberant embrace of the many talents manifested not only in gatherings of individuals, but also within individuals themselves. Especially striking was the fact that in ways difficult to explain, outstanding achievement in science and innovation could – and did, in at least one admirable recipient – enjoy a symbiotic relationship with commitment to the performing arts. And in another case, a family’s experience revealed a broadly manifested human need and one individual’s very successful career in business was turned to support social enterprises spreading around the globe.
It was all a lesson in the benefits generated when the focus demanded by any successful career is not assumed to preclude passionate engagement with other dramatically different kinds of experience. To some extent, this runs counter to current wisdom, our culture being dominated at present by an instrumental view of higher education, by the assumption that what is needed is the closest possible alignment between academic studies and the labour market. But the extracurricular environment for which Queen’s has historically been well known presupposes and nurtures something very different: the capacity of individuals to fulfill and simultaneously to transcend what the market and their degree rules demand.
This point was brought home by the Initiative of the Year Award and what its two spokespersons had to say about it. The grassroots Somewhat Reunion event had convened Queen’s alumni from Drama, Musical Theatre, and Players from the early 2000s for a Victoria Day weekend. Attendees included those whose formal studies had been in theatre but also those who had simply performed while at university. And while there were some whose subsequent careers remained squarely in the performing arts, many were very successfully making their way in fields entirely unrelated.
Kate Hodgert-Fennell (Artsci’03) and Tom Robertson (Artsci’02) spoke for the group, drawing attention to this diversity and making the important point that regardless of our life and career choices, we grow as human beings through creativity, performance, and the kind of collaboration required to “just put on a show.” That was a compelling argument for the continuing importance of the arts and humanities, of course, but it was also more broadly a celebration of human talent and energy in all its wonderfully divergent manifestations.
