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> Coquitlam resident captained SFU ceremonies for 22 years
Coquitlam resident captained SFU ceremonies for 22 years
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Marilyn Pankratz, Ceremonies, 604.291.4643, pankratz@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, Media & PR, 604.291.4323
Marilyn Pankratz, Ceremonies, 604.291.4643, pankratz@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, Media & PR, 604.291.4323
October 4, 2004
As a youngster growing up on the Prairies, the bagpipes were as foreign to Marilyn Pankratz as year-round green lawns. If the pipes were heard at all, it was the screechy efforts of an amateur street busker trying to elicit alms from passers-by. “I was no fan of pipe music,” Pankratz says with bemused understatement.
Ironic, then, that bagpipes have provided the musical score to Pankratz's dynamic career as SFU's chief party girl. More formally known as the university's Director of Ceremonies and Events, Pankratz has rubbed shoulders with some of the world's most renowned citizens, ensuring that people such as the Dalai Lama, Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, who received honorary degrees at last spring's special convocation, enjoy a seamless event imbued with an appropriate sense of history, prestige, dignity, scholarship and drama.
This convocation is Pankratz's last; she is retiring at the youthful age of 55 following 22 years of organizing convocation ceremonies -- 11 of those as director. She has traveled the world, arranging fetes for the SFU Pipe Band and SFU alumni in such places as New York City, Sydney, Australia and Aberdeen, Scotland's international gathering of the Fraser clan. She has captained every convocation since 1982, except for 2001, when she took time off work to be with her husband, who was dying of cancer. “With the passing,” says Pankratz, “I've been reminded how short life can be.” Realizing work is no replacement for a fulfilled and rich personal life, Pankratz plans to travel the world and spend more time with grandchildren, aging parents and friends.
Convocation is the glamour event of any university, a rite of passage and testimony to students' hard work, aspirations and intelligence. At SFU, it is also a barometer of the university's growth as a world-class institution. There was only one convocation ceremony a year when Pankratz first started organizing graduation ceremonies while a secretary in the president's office. There are now 10 ceremonies a year, a number that will increase in the near future, says Pankratz.
Although Pankratz is leaving SFU, a little bit of SFU will always be with her. The solemn wail of a bagpipe -- even an out-of-tune busker -- is sure “to bring a tear to my eye.”
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Electronic photo available
Ironic, then, that bagpipes have provided the musical score to Pankratz's dynamic career as SFU's chief party girl. More formally known as the university's Director of Ceremonies and Events, Pankratz has rubbed shoulders with some of the world's most renowned citizens, ensuring that people such as the Dalai Lama, Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, who received honorary degrees at last spring's special convocation, enjoy a seamless event imbued with an appropriate sense of history, prestige, dignity, scholarship and drama.
This convocation is Pankratz's last; she is retiring at the youthful age of 55 following 22 years of organizing convocation ceremonies -- 11 of those as director. She has traveled the world, arranging fetes for the SFU Pipe Band and SFU alumni in such places as New York City, Sydney, Australia and Aberdeen, Scotland's international gathering of the Fraser clan. She has captained every convocation since 1982, except for 2001, when she took time off work to be with her husband, who was dying of cancer. “With the passing,” says Pankratz, “I've been reminded how short life can be.” Realizing work is no replacement for a fulfilled and rich personal life, Pankratz plans to travel the world and spend more time with grandchildren, aging parents and friends.
Convocation is the glamour event of any university, a rite of passage and testimony to students' hard work, aspirations and intelligence. At SFU, it is also a barometer of the university's growth as a world-class institution. There was only one convocation ceremony a year when Pankratz first started organizing graduation ceremonies while a secretary in the president's office. There are now 10 ceremonies a year, a number that will increase in the near future, says Pankratz.
Although Pankratz is leaving SFU, a little bit of SFU will always be with her. The solemn wail of a bagpipe -- even an out-of-tune busker -- is sure “to bring a tear to my eye.”
-30-
Electronic photo available