The afternoon showers held off Wednesday for the outdoor Installation ceremony in the Campus Commons at Thompson Rivers University. The Honourable Wally Oppal, QC donned the official robes as the second Chancellor and Dr. Alan Shaver President and Vice-Chancellor donned the regalia as the third President.

In his address that reflected on his years experience as a judge and as the Attorney General, Chancellor Oppal, said an increase in access to education improves economic well- being, a key measure that has been proven to show a direct reduction to the reactive costs of health care and the criminal justice system.

“If we are going to achieve social justice for all we have to be proactive and address the root causes of poverty in this society by opening the academic door. BC is the best place on earth,” he said. “Let’s ensure there is access for all and put more emphasis on accessible post-secondary education.”

Citing Thompson Rivers University as the epitome of the next transformation of universities that have originated because of the aspirations of community, Alan Shaver paid homage to the five outstanding university presidents he has learned lessons from: David Johnston, Bernard Shapiro, Heather Munro Blum, all at McGill, Tom Traves at Dalhousie and Roger Barnsley from TRU.

“TRU was founded on the goal of facilitating university access by a broad range of students including today’s non-traditional students,” Alan Shaver said in his address to an audience of 200 gathered on the Campus Commons.

“Diversity, information technology and innovation these are the features that differentiate TRU from other universities. It is a powerful tirade that we must develop and advance. These features put TRU in the lead of the direction that university education is going around the globe.”

Wednesday’s installation preceded TRU’s four spring Convocations held June 9 and 10 when nearly 2400 students are eligible to receive credentials that range from certificates to masters degrees.

TRU Chancellor Wally Oppal, QC, (left) and President and Vice-Chancellor Alan Shaver make their way to The Brown Family House of Learning following their formal installation on June 8, 2011. The ceremony was a public one and streamed live over the internet. Go to www.livestream.com/livetru to watch the recorded ceremony and learn about other upcoming TRU events.