Alum’s return for in-person celebration honours multi-generational tie to SFU

When convocation ceremonies were cancelled due to COVID-19, many students faced an anti-climactic conclusion to their degree.

When graduating with a Bachelor of Environment in Global Environmental Systems in June of 2020, Tracy Lissner decided to pen an op-ed to express the loss she felt when an in-person ceremony was ruled too dangerous.

While Tracy understood the need to postpone an in-person celebration, the personal connection between SFU and Tracy’s grandfather made it a bitter loss. As noted in her op-ed, Tracy’s grandfather dreamt of attending university and would often take videos of himself touring campuses, including SFU.

“Between the stigma of his low social status, and the depression and war, the world conspired to keep him among the lower working class, as there were more pressing matters than school,” wrote Tracy.

While Tracy ultimately decided to pursue a university degree for herself, she was constantly encouraged by the thought of her grandfather and what an education meant to him.

“It pushes you on when you know it was really important to someone else that you really loved. When you know that they wanted this so much for themself, and they wanted it so much for you, it's really important that you walk across the stage not only so you can complete it for you, but for them as well,” says Tracy.

Now, Tracy is working with the City of Vancouver’s Engineering Department Teams Services and is excited to return to campus almost two years later to celebrate in–person.

For Tracy, this day not only celebrates her hard work and marks the beginning to the end of the pandemic, but it is also an important gesture cementing a multigenerational connection.

“You don’t feel like you’ve done that for that person until you’ve grabbed that degree on stage in front of family and kind of completed that transaction,” says Tracy. “I get to stand where he was dreaming.”