For the first time in over two years, faculty, students, and parents of students in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences gathered in person in Katzman Lounge on May 17 to celebrate the students who achieved Dean’s Honour Roll status during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.

Students must maintain an average of at least 86 per cent to be considered. Of the 260 students named to the Dean’s Honour Roll, only 23 were able to attend the in-person event.

For many second-year students, this was one of the few times they had physically visited campus. There was extra energy in the room as people met friends, colleagues, and instructors they had only seen on screen during the pandemic.

“I believe the achievements we are marking today are that much more impressive as we are recognizing academic excellence during difficult and unusual times at the university, said dean Cheryl Collier.

“Since the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced most of our courses onto an online or in some cases a hybrid format, students have had to adapt their learning from a predominantly in-person experience with the support and community of their classroom peers, to a virtual experience that has been at times somewhat isolating and perhaps less interactive, despite the best efforts of their professors.”

She praised the students for persevering and thriving in the new environment: “You have all worked extremely hard to earn recognition today and for that you should be immensely proud.”