SASKATOON -- The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) will pay tribute to three honorary degree recipients during this year's fall convocation.
The three recipients are "survivors who went on to make major contributions to their communities and to society, and whose stories have inspired and informed Canadians all across the country," the U of S said in a press release.
An honorary degree is the highest honour the university can award and acknowledges the unique contributions the recipients have made to their community and the world, the U of S said.
The recipients are:
- Holocaust historian Max Eisen, the only member of his family to survive the horrors of Auschwitz during the Second World War. Eisen will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws. Eisen has spent the past 30 years travelling from coast to coast telling his story. Eisen also committed to finding justice for the millions of victims of the Holocaust, testifying at the trial and conviction of two Nazi SS guards from Auschwitz, the university said.
- Celebrated author Joy Kogawa, who endured the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War will receive an Honorary Doctor of Letters. Kogawa studied at the university in the 1960s and went on to write novels and worked to educate and to earn reparations for those interned during the war. She was invested into the Order of Canada in 1986, earning one of the country’s highest honours.
- Fred Sasakamoose, who will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws, suffered through a decade in the residential school system after he was taken from his family during the Second World War. Sasakamoose is passionate about creating opportunities for youth, the U of S said. He is from Ahtathkakoop Cree Nation and was the first Indigenous hockey player from Saskatchewan to make it to the NHL.
Eisen, Kogawa and Sasakamoose will be honoured on the graduation celebration website on November 10.
