For Rob Marsh, Com’07, receiving a scholarship to attend Queen’s was life-altering. Now Marsh, together with his Com’07 classmates, wants to provide the same opportunity for current students.
This Homecoming, from Oct. 28-30, the Com’07 reunion committee is raising money for the Commerce 2007 Award in Memory of Darren James Bishop, a fund set up in honour of a former classmate. The award goes to a student based on financial need and academic achievement.
Philanthropy has always been a part of the Homecoming tradition. Many returning graduates use the opportunity to pay tribute to Queen's by giving back and helping the next generation.
Class gifts support much-needed student bursaries and scholarships, help purchase leading-edge technology, and enable the university to offer an exceptional learning environment for researchers and graduates to address some of the world’s most significant challenges.
“There are two turning points that shaped my life,” says Marsh, who is the president of Liberty Mutual Canada. “One of them is receiving the scholarship to go to Queen’s, and the other is the experience of studying at Queen’s and the people I’ve gotten to know.”
Since graduating in 2007, Marsh and his classmates have raised money to support financial aid to ensure talented students from all socioeconomic backgrounds have the chance to come to Queen’s.
“We put an importance on funding a campaign because my classmates and I would not be where we are today if not for the education and our Queen’s experience,” Marsh says.
Bruce Miller and many of his Sc’72 classmates also describe their time at Queen’s as life changing. It helped launch many of their careers and was the start of life-long friendships.
“As an alumnus of Queen’s, I feel that it is important to support the university in whatever way I can and have done so financially and as a volunteer,” says Miller. “The well-known Queen’s spirit is a reflection of that reverence that most alumni have for Queen’s, and which inspires the giving back.”
Miller has been organizing Sc’72 Homecoming reunions for five decades and because 2022 is a milestone reunion – 50 years – they decided to launch a major class giving project.
The money raised will be for the Science‘72 EDI 50th Reunion Endowment Fund. The Sc’72 advisory committee members decided to focus on equality because fostering a diverse and inclusive community is a priority highlighted in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science’s strategic plan.
“We want to do what we can to ensure that all potential students – regardless of gender, economic, and racial circumstances – have the same opportunities that we had,” Miller says. “We also feel that to be the best engineering educator in Canada, the faculty must reflect the diversity of our society and to ensure that all students have the ability to have the best outcomes that will equip them for the future.”
