Carleton University today conferred a Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, on Shelagh Rogers in recognition of her outstanding contributions to Canadian culture, Indigenous relations and advocacy for support of people struggling with mental health.
Rogers was honoured during Carleton’s Fall Convocation. Nearly 1,000 students received their degrees during the two ceramonies.
“In the book of you, the prologue has been written, the acknowledgements – your family, your friends, your teachers – they’re all being thanked,” said Rogers in her address to graduating students. “You’re in control of the next chapter.”
A veteran broadcast journalist, Rogers is the host and a producer of The Next Chapter, an award-winning CBC Radio program devoted to writing in Canada.
In 2011, Rogers was named an officer of the Order of Canada for promoting Canadian culture and her volunteer work in mental health, adult literacy and reconciliation. She was inducted as an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2011. She committed to creating a national memory of the residential school era so Canada will never forget or deny what happened.
Rogers has co-edited two books, Speaking My Truth: Reflections on Reconciliation and Residential School and Reconciliation and the Way Forward. In October 2016, she received the inaugural Margaret Trudeau Award for Mental Health Advocacy.
She holds honorary doctorates from the Western University, Mount Allison University, Memorial University, Nipissing University and Vancouver Island University. She was the 2014 recipient of the Queen’s University Alumni Humanitarian Award. On Jan. 1, 2015, she became the 11th Chancellor of the University of Victoria.
“To honour a Canadian leader whose practice and art speak to the ethos and purpose of Carleton University with our tag-line of Here for Good, I can think of no other person more worthy of recognition by the university,” said Cat Kelly, Carleton University Students’ Association, vice-president (Internal).
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Saturday, November 18, 2017 in News Releases
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