When Brock University’s newest graduates gather to mark their accomplishments next month, they’ll be ushered into this new chapter of their lives by the inspiring words of an environmental activist, an accessibility champion and a baseball legend.
As part of Brock’s 115th Convocation celebrations from June 10 to 14, the University will bestow honorary doctorates upon Maude Barlow, Tricia Pokorny (BA ’95) and Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins, who will each then deliver an address to the graduating class.
A respected Canadian activist and author, Barlow chairs the board of Food and Water Watch, which advocates for safe food, clean water and a livable climate for all. She is also the founder of the Blue Planet Project, a leading water justice organization.
Barlow will be honoured during Brock’s 10 a.m. Convocation ceremony on Tuesday, June 11.
In 2008-09, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly and was a leader in the campaign to have water recognized as a human right by the UN. She is the creator of the Blue Communities project in which municipalities pledge to ban or phase out the sale of bottled water and to recognize water as a human right and a public trust. There are now more than 25 million people living in official Blue Community towns and cities around the world.
