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Royal Military College holds live-streamed graduation ceremony
Alan S. Hale
May 21, 2020 • May 21, 2020 • 4 minute read
The stage inside the Royal Military College's Currey Hall was used for a unprecedented live-streamed graduation ceremony on May 21, 2020. Photo by Supplied Photo
Posted by RMC Canada CMR on Thursday, May 21, 2020
Royal Military College holds live-streamed graduation ceremony Back to video
The graduation ceremony at Royal Military College is usually one of Kingston's best annual spectacles.
Graduating cadets march in dress uniform through the Memorial Arch with swords raised and head up to the field house, where more than a thousand members of their friends and family wait to see them be given the degrees and commissions as officers in the Canadian Armed Forces.
But there wasn't any of that this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures it requires made it necessary to forgo the usual pomp and circumstance. Instead, a group of five college professors and administrators presented more than 300 degrees in absentia inside Currie Hall. This is the first time this has happened in the entire history of RMC.
"The fact this year's graduating class must forgo our normal graduation ceremonies speaks to the gravity of the COVID-19 crisis, but we are committed to recognizing our graduates in this special way," Brig.-Gen. Sebastien Bouchard, the commandant of RMC, said in a statement.
Instead of being able to walk up and receive their degrees in person, graduates and their families watched the ceremony as it was live-streamed over RMC's Facebook page. As each name was called, a picture of the graduate was displayed on the feed.
The live video attracted thousands of views as soon as it began, with around 1,500 people watching at any given time.
The fact that the ceremony was so unusual and a pale imitation of the one graduates had imagined for themselves weighed heavily on the speakers.
"Our ceremony in Currie Hall is not the way any of us would have ever imagined you graduating from RMC. When you look back at your experiences as an undergraduate or graduate at RMC, please do not lament what could have been. Look back at all your years of education and what they have given you. You have been tested in so many ways, and not just academically," Harry Kowal, RMC principal, said.
"This year has been like no other, but in the midst of it all, it has been inspiring to see the people of RMC come together … we have seen people learning from a distance, taking exams from a distance, and even defending theses from a distance. Extraordinary people for extraordinary times. It wasn't perfect, but we found our way, working together."
The recent deaths of several members of the Armed Forces in aircraft accidents, some of whom were RMC graduates, hung like a cloud on the ceremony as well.
"This celebration is tempered by the profound grief that the entire Canadian Armed Forces is feeling after last month's loss of six brave members in the Ionian Sea. Like you, they dedicated their lives to the service of their fellow Canadians and, like you, many of them walked the halls and sat in the classes at RMC," Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan said in a pre-recorded video.
"This tragedy causes everyone in the Canadian Armed Forces to reflect on the importance of careers in the military. Becoming a military leader is an honour that cannot be taken lightly. Only a special few do it; only a special few can do it.
"Each of you has put in hundreds of hours of hard work to get to this day. Despite these challenging circumstances that Canada and the world faces, you are here standing ready to serve Canadians."
During a news conference on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also sent his congratulations to graduates and thanked them for their decision to serve.
"You have chosen to step up and serve your country, and we could not be more proud of you. Thank you for your example, thank you for your dedication, thank you for your love for this extraordinary country and, lastly, thank you for everything you will do for us in the coming years," Trudeau said.
"Congratulations to the class of 2020."
Several former cadets, such as Romeo Dallaire and Rear Admiral Luc Cassivi, also sent in video messages for graduates. So did astronaut Chris Hadfield, who shared the story of how his own RMC graduation in 1982 had been diminished by sickness. Apparently, some spoiled pork caused many of the graduates to come down with food poisoning the night before.
"People were dropping like flies," Hadfield recalled. "It wasn't the graduation I had imagined; it wasn't the reaching the peak of Mount Everest. But it was just the start of my military career.
"You are just at the threshold of your career. Despite the disruption of COVID-19, this is just one door you are walking through on the way to everything else."
At the end of the ceremony, Bouchard asked all of the cadets watching at home to rise, and he promoted them all to officer ranks. They will get their commission scrolls when they join their new units.
ahale@postmedia.com
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