X-Ring shines with pride and poignancy

“After 1,190 days, we made it!”
~ Kevin Klin, 2010 senior class president

The loud joyous cheer that filled the Keating Millennium Centre moments after the Class of 2010 received their X-Rings said it all.

Wow.

On Thursday, Dec. 3, the Feast Day of patron saint, St. Francis Xavier, senior students gazed down at their fingers in awe, took pictures holding up their rings, smiled and hugged friends, and when the 976th ring was presented, spontaneously erupted in joy.

“Each year the importance of this event seems to grow,” StFX President Dr. Sean Riley told those gathered to watch the 2009 X-Ring ceremony.

Countdowns – including the one on the Students’ Union website – were ticking down to the 1,000th second.

Meanwhile, several thousand proud parents, family and friends gathered in overflow rooms on the StFX campus, as more tuned in worldwide via the web, to watch the Class of 2010 proudly receive their X-Rings.

As Dr. Riley welcomed all to the much-awaited ceremony, he made mention of the charged atmosphere of the room, festively decked with a cascade of sparkling lights. “The true source of electricity in the room comes from our X-Ring students today, to each of the thousand unique and personal journeys coming together in a spectacular and unforgettable moment.”

He told the students their X-Rings shine with academic achievement, with the inspiration and help received along the way, with personal emotions, and the great warmth of friendship stored in their hearts and minds.

While the Class of 2010 cannot know how the future will unfold, he urged those gathered to help others and foster good in the world.

It was a theme echoed by guest speaker Geoff Flood ’76, former StFX Students’ Union president, who is co-founder and president of T4G, a project-based technology services organization.

Mr. Flood’s company has several times appeared on the Globe and Mail’s best workplaces in Canada list.

“Citizenship is our responsibility. What I encourage you to be is better citizens. …I encourage you to voice your opinions and to be passionate about what you believe.

“You don’t hear love and business in the same phrase often, I think the power of that is something we need to hear more of. “

Mr. Flood, whose history with StFX is deep (his father is a graduate and two children are currently enrolled), talked about how he helped build a company on a foundation based in the humanity and social conscience he learned while at StFX.

He also gave current students an engaging and sometimes humorous insight into student life circa the mid-1970s. Back then, those in residence would line up on a Saturday night to use a payphone. Now it’s 24/7 communications. Today, students often arrive with all the bells and whistles. He’d be dropped at the highway to hitchhike, he laughed.

“But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The spirit here is still as incredible as it always was.”

For students it was unquestionably a day of celebration.

A feeling of pride and optimism filled the Keating Millennium Centre as Carolyn Curry’s stirring voice sang out in musical interlude as candle bearers slowly walked the centre aisle to place their individual lights in a symbolic X.

“After 1,190 days, we made it,” said senior class president Kevin Klin. “To the Class of 2010, it has been a joyful 1,190 days. May the journey continue, but from now on in, with your X-Ring.”

Loud applause and a standing ovation greeted the news from Dean of Business Leo Gallant, that former mailroom supervisor Mitch Hudson, a loyal member of the Xaverian community for nearly 40 years, was this year’s honorary X-Ring recipient.

After a rendition of StFX’s school song, Hail and Health, graduates filed out of the KMC, tapping their newly minted X-Rings on a piece of chapel wood, wearing smiles as broad as their futures.
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