Dr. Janet Hoskins, warden and vice-chancellor of St John’s College is pleased to announce the names of the individuals to receive honorary degrees at the 144th Annual Convocation of St John’s College, Sunday November 7, 2010:

Dr. Robert Kroetsch is to receive a Doctor of Canon Law (Honoris Causa) degree and will give the Convocation address. Kroetsch is one of the most prolific and influential of Canadian writers on whose work a vast body of scholarship has developed. His work is internationally known and translated and he is also well known for his generosity in encouraging and assisting upcoming writers. He was a professor at the State University of New York and at the University of Manitoba, where he was made first a distinguished professor and then a distinguished professor emeritus. Kroetsch’s contributions have been recognized by many awards, including a Governor General’s Award for fiction, a Killam Award and the Order of Canada. He was a Visiting Fellow at St John’s College from 2006 to 2009.

The Right Reverend Barbara Andrews is to receive a Doctor of Divinity (Jure Dignitatis) degree. Bishop Andrews graduated from the St John’s College Faculty of Theology in 1997 with a Bachelor of Theology. She was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land that year and was ordained a priest the following year. She served in parish ministry and in an inner-city shared mission project where she pursued a passion for social justice. She also served as the executive director of Sorrento Centre. Bishop Andrews was consecrated Suffragan Bishop for the Kamloops-based Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior on October 18, 2009.

The Most Reverend James Weisgerber will be awarded a Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) degree. Archbishop Weisgerber is the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg and the chancellor of St Paul’s College. He has a long history of dedicated ministry to the people of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, including a strong ecumenical focus. A major endeavour of Archbishop Weisgerber’s ministry has been the reconciliation of aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In April 2009, while he was the president of the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops, he organized the historic encounter in Rome between the Pope and a delegation of former students at residential schools, which went so far in helping to address the deep concerns of the aboriginal community.

For further information, please contact: Dr. Janet Hoskins at: 204-474-8529, or email: J_Hoskins@umanitoba.ca