Message from Associated Alumni President Marc Bedard

Welcome to Alumni News direct

I'm proud to bring you Alumni News direct, one of several electronic newsletters that will be sent to you throughout the year to keep you up to date with what's happening at UNB. But don’t worry; you will still receive the print version of Alumni News – twice a year – in the spring and fall. In between, Alumni News direct will keep you connected with your alma mater.

In this issue, you’ll read stories about some of our alumni who are making names for themselves, nationally and internationally. You’ll also read about some of the innovative work and projects our faculty, alumni and students are doing. We’ve also included a story about a new book that was launched last November by the Associated Alumnae, commemorating its centenary.

A busy fall on both campuses

A lot has happened since the last issue of Alumni News came out.

As president of the Associated Alumni, I have the privilege of attending many alumni events and activities. This fall was my first year attending Homecoming as president. This has always been a special time for me -- I never get tired of hearing stories from alumni who came before me, and sharing my stories with new alumni.

For those who didn’t attend Homecoming, we captured it all here. I was honoured to be a part of two milestones in the history of the university during Homecoming. I co-hosted, with Kathryn McCain, chair of the Board of Governors, a tribute dinner held to honour our first Chancellor Emeritus Richard Currie, and I was also front and centre as the UNB Associated Alumni celebrated its 150th birthday. Since its inception, the UNB Associated Alumni has grown from 200 to well over 78,000.

We welcomed our new chancellor Allison McCain this fall when he was officially installed at Convocation. A link to the video of the installation ceremony in Fredericton is available at http://www.unb.ca/graduation/convocation . I also had the privilege of welcoming new alumni to the UNB family during the Roytech graduation in Trinidad.

In November, UNB hosted national soccer championships on both campuses. Both our UNB teams played exceptionally well, with the Varsity Reds finishing with a bronze medal and the Seawolves finishing seventh.

Overall, it has been a busy few months and things are not going to slow down any time soon for the Associated Alumni.

One event that I particularly enjoyed was the reunion of the 1963-64 Red Devils hockey team that took place at the end of January. This team won the AUS championship that season and was the first UNB hockey team to play in the CIS hockey championships. While the team finished second to the University of Alberta, they were pioneers and trailblazers of the success UNB continues to enjoy in AUS and CIS hockey today. And no, I did not play on this team, but my father Ted Bedard (BScF’49) was the assistant coach so it was great to represent him at this reunion.

As I write this, the university is preparing for a very busy spring academic session. Also, the Alumni Office is focused on the development of a new alumni engagement strategy, which will be launched jointly by the Associated Alumni and the university in the coming months.  Be sure to look for further information on this strategy and how you can become involved. 

Planning is already underway for Homecoming 2014 and a number of alumni chapter events have already been organized. In this issue you’ll find a list of many chapter events happening across the country. I encourage you to attend and connect with friends and other UNB alumni.

Until the next issue.

Marc