Today is @uocommonlaw and @commonlawfr’s (virtual) spring convocation.

A thread.

(With lots of photos from #uOGrad 2019 and screenshots of #IndigenousGrad2020 captured in the days before Covid confinement!)

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When I say I love Convocation, I often get funny looks.

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A noisy, crowded room. Long lines. Bright lights, hot, itchy robes. Much sweating, many wardrobe malfunctions. It is called a ceremony, but convocation is about as far from my own understanding of «ceremony» as is possible. 3/14

And yet, Convocation days are three of my favourite days every year. 4/14

I believe it is important as a moment of achievement and closure for individual graduates. A moment to stand up, robe up, and claim academic spaces that haven’t always been open, and remain difficult to access, for some of our communities. 5/15

Convocation is a moment for family, kin, and community. Very few people walk the path to convocation alone. It is with the support of folks who stand in front of, beside us, and behind us. Convocation is a moment to celebrate remarkable community achievement, too. 6/14

Like many law students, my Learners, their families, and our communities make tremendous sacrifices in the name of the pursuit of a legal education. Significant financial and time investments are made. 7/14

And for Indigenous Learners, the pursuit of legal education also requires sui generis intellectual and emotional investment as we engage in intensive study of laws and systems that have often proven destructive in our communities. 8/14

My Learners carry heavy weight: for most Indigenous folks, graduation for one is hope for many. 9/14

Why do I love Convocation? It is a moment when we can stand up in spaces that have historically excluded us, and celebrate with our communities in #LawWithHeart and joy. Also, I (usually) get to hug the Matriarchs. 10/14

This year, we cannot gather in person. We are asked to love each other enough to stay home. And so today, on this day on which we were supposed to gather, I am at home in body. In heart and mind I am with my Learners, thinking about their paths to graduation. 11/14

I am incredibly proud of the resilience and determination each and every one of you has demonstrated in bringing your degrees to completion in these «unprecedented times». Thank you for trusting us @uocommonlaw with your legal education. 12/14

Je suis incroyablement fier de la résilience et de la détermination dont chacun d'entre vous a fait preuve pour mener à bien vos études en ces temps sans précédent. Je vous remercie de nous avoir fait confiance @commonlawfr pour votre formation juridique. 13/14

When we next gather in person to celebrate our graduates, you better believe I will be on stage under the bright lights in the hot, itchy robe, ready to celebrate incredible community achievements. I will be there, with beads on.

Congratulations. Félicitations.

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