6 To Receive University of Regina’s Highest Honour

This year’s graduating class at the University of Regina will be joined by a group of people who have made a difference in Saskatchewan.  Honorary degrees will be bestowed on six recipients.

Barb and Jon Ryan

Many people in Regina know Barb Ryan as the mother of former NFLer and new Saskatchewan Roughriders punter Jon Ryan, but there are also a lot of people in the city who know her as a big helping hand.

For the past 10 years, Ryan has worked with the Regina Progress Club and Open Door Society to help immigrant families get settled into their new lives. She said she started after her husband died and her kids all left home around the same time. Ryan said she’d been a stay-at-home mom but it was time to try something new.

“I’ve always been sort of fascinated by people who come to our country and how they could ever adjust, what they had to do to adjust, and how they could keep their customs and their traditions and yet fit in with our society,” she explained Monday.

“I’ve adopted a lot of people,” she said with a smile in her voice.

Ryan keeps in contact with some of the families. She can tell stories about paying for a teenage boy from Africa to get soccer equipment and getting together with her daughters and daughters’ friends to buy Christmas gifts for 56 children in African families she has helped. Ryan called them her “African grandchildren.”

Ryan encourages other people to volunteer as well, in whatever way they can. She said that you don’t have to be bored or lonely, but that volunteering is fun and can make you feel good at the same time.

Barb will be doubly proud on June 5 during the university’s spring convocation at the Conexus Arts Centre, as her son Jon will also be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws.

Jon is being given the honour for his charity work — his foundation which provided minor football with proper equipment and safety training, and the foundation he named after his father which provides scholarships for University of Regina Rams players.

Jon also is being recognized for his outspoken support of the LGBTQ+ community. They’re the first parent/child combo to be given honorary degrees on the same day at the university.

Renu Kapoor

Kapoor is a prolific volunteer in Regina, helping out organizations like Cultural Connections Regina, the United Way of Regina, Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation, SaskCulture, Regina Public Library and the YWCA of Regina. She’s also helped lead fundraising for events like India Night, Champions for Mental health and Moving Forward Together.

This won’t be the first award for Kapoor. Among others she also has been given are the Governor General’s Sovereign Medal, Diamond and Jubilee Medals, University of Regina President’s Community Award, YWCA Volunteer of the Year Award and the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal.

Kapoor will be awarded with an Honorary Doctor of Laws on June 6.

Eric Peterson

One of Saskatchewan’s most famous and accomplished actors, Eric Peterson is best known to many for his role as Oscar on the popular TV show Corner Gas.

Born and raised in Indian Head, Peterson pursued his passion for acting in England, and upon his return to Canada worked on developing home-grown theatre projects.

Peterson is being recognized for his lifelong advocacy for the arts, as well as for a career that includes work in theatre including London’s West End and Broadway.  Peterson was already an acting legend in Canada for co-authoring and performing the two-man musical play, “Billy Bishop Goes to War” in theatres across Canada, at international festivals, as well as on Broadway and London’s West End.  He also had lead roles in “Street Legal” and “This is Wonderland.”

Peterson will be given an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts on June 6.

Jill and Gordon Rawlinson

Are being awarded Honorary Doctors of Laws June 7th, for their extensive philanthropy through the Rawlinson family’s foundation, the Lily Street Foundation, of which Jill is the chair.

Among many other pursuits, they helped establish the Rawlco Centre for Mother Baby Care at the General Hospital in Regina, and have supported the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, and are major donors to the new Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford.

The Rawlinsons have taken the lead in recognizing the importance of First Nations peoples and the role they play in the future prosperity of Saskatchewan.  They established programming and financial support for Indigenous business students at the universities of Saskatchewan and Regina, as well as Indigenous Entrepreneurship and the School of Journalism at the U of R.

Gordon and Jill have also helped ensure Saskatchewan has world-class facilities for the arts, with substantial support to the E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts in Prince Albert, the Dekker Centre in North Battleford and the Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon.  The couple are also major supporters of the Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan and the United Way in Regina and Saskatoon.

Gordon is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan.

Gordon Rawlinson is the owner and CEO of Rawlco Radio, with seven radio stations in Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary.  Rawlco Radio’s six Saskatchewan stations are:  980 CJME, Z99, Jack 94.5 Regina and 65O CKOM, C95, Rock 102 Saskatoon.

This story was expanded from an earlier version