BY
VICKI GILHULA
It felt like Christmas morning. There was a noticeable buzz in
the air. A symphony quartet played softly. Proud parents and
family members looked at their watches.
Mothers held bouquets of flowers for their daughters. Dads
checked their camera equipment. At a few minutes after 10 am,
members of the Class of 2007, Laurentian University's largest
graduating class ever, entered Fraser Auditorium.
This year almost 2,000 people are graduating from Laurentian.
There are nine ceremonies being held at the Sudbury campus, and
six at smaller campuses elsewhere in the province.
Many of this group are members of the double cohort-the term
applied to 100,000 Ontario Grade 13 and Grade 12 students who
graduated at the same time in 2003 when the province eliminated
the fifth year of high school. Others are "mature students" who
deserve an extra bit of applause for successfully balancing
their course load with part-time jobs and family
responsibilities.
The Class of 2007 were addressed by a man who left Sudbury 30
years ago and has become one of the world's brightest thinkers.
Bruce Mau, who grew up on a farm in Wahnapitae, was presented
with a doctorate of letters.
Many in attendance may not have been aware Mau was curator of a
large exhibition on design solutions for the 21st century,
called Massive Change, which opened in Vancouver in 2004 and
has toured to major art galleries around the world. They may
not have known his design firm is responsible for "branding"
Roots, Chapters and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Mau's exhibition, and his book of the same title, expresses his
optimistic view that people living in the 21st century have the
talent, resources and tools to fix what is wrong with the
world.
He didn't tell the graduates to seek fortune, fame or a
mortgage. He didn't tell them to make a difference. He
challenged them to change the world.
The Class of 2007 has more power, education, money, access to
travel, and technology than any previous generation. But they
also face the greatest challenges.
The successes of the 20th century has left a large
environmental footprint. And in the next 40 years the
population will increase from six billion to nine billion.
There will be an increase in the migration to cities.
Creative thinking will be required to increase the world's
current infrastructure by 50 percent, Mau said.
"You are part of a revolution…that is positive and peaceful,
and you are living in a revolution of possibilities," he said.
 "You have more power to change the world than any
generation in history."
