CUE President Congratulates Class of 2025
The following address was delivered by President Loreman at the 2025 CUE Convocation ceremony:
Graduands, Chancellor Huehn, Board Chair Jim Gendron, Members of the Board of Governors, Elders, our Honorary Doctorate Recipients Mary Jane James and Nathan Fillion, distinguished guests, proud families, faculty, managers and administrators, staff, and volunteers. Welcome, everyone, and thank all of you for being here today.
I say this every year, but today is a day that you, our graduates, will always remember. And I hope you remember it fondly as an important day that you were able to share with family, friends, and your fellow graduates. Please accept my congratulations once again for all your hard work and perseverance. Convocation is a right of passage; a moment to be celebrated.
I want to talk today about the times in which we live and how I hope that you will come through them experiencing success and happiness. There is no question that we are living through a tumultuous period in the history of the world. We are certainly not alone amongst the international community in having to adapt to changing circumstances that are both abrupt and profound. These circumstances cover a variety of areas, including the political domain, but also solving global problems such as war, climate change, meeting growing energy needs, and preserving the sovereignty of many nations, including Canada. Certainly in my lifetime I have never seen our global community in such a precarious position. In my view this is why you, our new degree recipients, are so important.
You are going to be essential in helping us to move forward. To do it, you need to remain optimistic; you need to continue to be active in your defence of science, expertise, and facts, and; you need to intelligently evaluate information presented to you.
Maintaining optimism is critical. It is all too easy, and I should add to some degree intellectually lazy, to become a negative person, holding grudges and operating in the shadows. Negativity is easy. Remaining positive requires fortitude, integrity, courage, and character. That’s the sort of person you want to be. Positivity is the only thing that works because very few people want to engage in negative change. People want to engage in projects and with people who are positive and hopeful. If you are going to help us move forward, you need to stay positive despite the many reasons not to.
You also need to be steadfast in your defence of the scientific process, which, while not perfect, is the best approach we have in addressing some of the real problems we are faced with. Expertise matters. All too often these days claims are made that have no basis in reality. We should either dismiss these claims entirely, or, if they are of potential relevance and interest, engage in a proper and robust process to investigate their truth or otherwise. I can’t believe I have to say this in 2025, but facts exist and facts matter, and as those who hold a degree it is incumbent upon you to defend that position, otherwise, what is your degree really worth?
Finally, we talk a lot at university about developing critical thinking. It’s a bit of a cliche and I’m not sure it’s always entirely true. All around me I see examples of people at universities, some students and even some faculty, accepting information at face value, and not subjecting it to proper scrutiny. Your degree has certainly provided you with the ability to employ a critical outlook to information, but you must choose to use that talent. Thanks to algorithms we are often fed news and information that tends to confirm our pre-existing biases. This feels comfortable, but we need to both recognize that this happens and then challenge ourselves to consider the source of the information and the various agendas that may be at play. People will mislead you if they can find an advantage in it.
By remaining optimistic, defending truth, and subjecting what you are told to scrutiny you can help the world to move ahead and address the many challenges we currently face. My generation is relying on your generation to do that.
Congratulations again on your success at Concordia University of Edmonton. Stay connected through our Alumni Association, and I wish you all the very best for the future.