VANCOUVER (CCN) — St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College marked several transitions at this year’s convocation, formally welcoming Archbishop Richard Smith as chancellor, debuting new Indigenous-inspired academic regalia, and conferring an honorary doctorate on Dr. Tom Cooper for his decades of work connecting faith with Vancouver’s civic life.
The May 9 ceremony at St. Mark’s College Chapel focused on the role of Catholic graduates in fragmented culture, with college president Dr. Gerry Turcotte urging graduates to resist reducing complex issues to social media slogans.
“You’ve learned that not every problem has a quick answer and not every answer fits in a tweet,” Turcotte said. “You’ve learned that human dignity is not negotiable, and that truth is not determined by how loudly it is shouted.”
Turcotte described Catholic higher education as a formation in wrestling with questions of truth, goodness, and beauty, cautioning students against confusing “information with wisdom, noise with meaning and confidence with competence.”
The convocation featured a welcome from Johnna Sparrow-Crawford, a Musqueam Indian Band member and Aboriginal relations adviser, who reflected on family, education, and the importance of the relationships formed during students’ academic journeys.
Sparrow-Crawford said Corpus Christi College had been part of her own family’s story, helping support her children’s education as they moved from Catholic schools to post-secondary studies.
The ceremony included the first public use of new academic regalia created in partnership with Musqueam artist and weaver Janna Becker. The robes incorporate Coast Salish imagery, including an arrowhead representing guidance, strength, and cultural continuity, and a Coast Salish-style cross symbolizing connection, balance, and the continuity of cultural teaching.
Cooper, founder of the ecumenical ministry City in Focus, received an honorary doctor of sacred letters degree in recognition of decades of work connecting religious, political, business, and charitable communities in Vancouver.
Turcotte pointed to Cooper’s more than 30 years leading City in Focus, his role in the annual Vancouver Prayer Breakfast, and his work co-founding the Streetohome initiative to help provide housing for low-income and unhoused people. The papal Benemerenti Medal was conferred on him in 2024 for his work in ecumenism and bringing a Catholic voice into civic and political life.
Cooper described much of his ministry as operating in “secular orbits” while trying to keep faith engaged in public life. City in Focus takes its name from the conviction that faith brings clarity to the whole of life, he said.
“If we look at life without our faith, without Christ, our life, our health, our career, our decisions, our relationships, the world is blurry,” Cooper said. “But if Jesus is with us and we look at the world, it’s clear who we are, who he is, and what we need to do for the world.”
In his own remarks, Archbishop Smith connected Cooper’s work of relationship-building with the mission of Catholic education and ecclesial life.
The Archbishop described Cooper as “a networker” whose ability to bring people together in pursuit of common goals was “likely unparalleled.”
Archbishop Smith encouraged graduates to see their education not simply as professional preparation, but as participation in what he called the Church’s “communion in Jesus Christ.”
Their studies in various disciplines equipped them to share their expertise with others, he said, but the theological and spiritual formation they received also gave them the ability to witness to the joy of communion “in a world deeply marred by sadness and division.”
The ceremony also introduced two new honours. The inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to educator and Corpus Christi alumna Reine Sader Mykyte, who was part of the college’s first cohort and now serves as principal of Blessed Sacrament School in Vancouver.
The Community Impact Award was presented to James Crescenzo, co-founder of the East End Boys Club Society, which provides leadership training and mentorship for young people in disadvantaged communities or circumstances.
Father Martin Moser, who served on the faculty of St. Mark’s College from 2005 to 2016, was also named Professor Emeritus of theology.
For Dr. Tom Cooper, receiving an honorary doctorate from St. Mark’s College brought together several important strands of his life – faith, civics, and public service.
Cooper, founder of City in Focus, told graduates he has spent much of his ministry outside church circles, in boardrooms, prayer breakfasts, fundraising circles, hospitals, and civic spaces where religious language is not always expected. Yet the spiritual need is often close to the surface.
He described City in Focus as an effort to help people see the city, and their own lives, through the lens of faith.
“If we look at life without our faith, without Christ, our life, our health, our career, our decisions, our relationships, the world is blurry,” Cooper said. “But if Jesus is with us and we look at the world, it’s clear who we are, who he is, and what we need to do for the world.”
Cooper spoke about his long path into the Catholic Church after years of involvement at St. Mark’s Parish at UBC and the advice he received from Father Jim Sheehan.
“I said, ‘Father Jim, I like St. Mark’s. I like the Catholic Church. But my Rolodex and my portfolio are Protestants and a lot of secular people. I cannot at this time become a Catholic.’”
Father Sheehan responded with advice that changed his life: “Tom, quit trying to hold on to the Church. Let the Church hold on to you.”
Cooper told graduates that the Church should be seen not as a place of harsh judgment, but as a place where wounded people can find mercy and healing.
Quoting Pope Francis’ description of the Church as “a hospital after battle,” Cooper said everyone is wounded at some point, whether they go to church or not.
He urged graduates to engage the world with their faith, not withdraw from it.
“No matter how far you have strayed from the faith of the Church or you will stray from faith in God’s love and hope and grace,” he said, “remember Jim’s words to me: his Church will always hold on to you.”
The St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College convocation marked the debut of new academic regalia for St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College, featuring artwork by Musqueam Indian Band member, weaver, and emerging visual artist Janna Becker.
The robes were developed as part of the colleges’ continuing work with the Musqueam Protocol Office and unveiled during the May 9 ceremony at St. Mark’s College Chapel. The colleges also acknowledged Liz King Osadczuk, senior director of protocol, ceremonies and events at UBC, for helping guide the process with Musqueam in what speakers described as “a good and respectful way.”
The new chancellor’s and president’s robes include a Coast Salish arrowhead, representing guidance, strength, and cultural continuity, and a Coast Salish-style cross symbolizing connection, balance, and the continuity of cultural teaching.
The regalia was presented as a visible sign of the colleges’ relationship with the Musqueam people, on whose traditional territory the colleges are located, and of their stated commitment to reconciliation through respectful partnership.
