UBC grad gowns, caps stuck due to floods, rival institutions step up to help
Posted November 22, 2021 2:53 pm.
Last Updated November 22, 2021 4:08 pm.
As UBC grads prepare to walk across the stage for the first time since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday, their celebration was nearly cut short by the B.C. floods, after their gowns got trapped by floodwaters on route.
But the University of Victoria has stepped, donating 600 gowns for students to borrow.
“In addition, BCIT, Langara, Capilano University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and Douglas College have all stepped up with souvenir mortarboard caps that they have onhand from their most recent sets of ceremonies,” said Liz King, director of ceremonies at UBC.
UBC is borrowing caps and gowns from the University of Victoria for its graduation ceremonies this week, after the university’s own gowns couldn’t be delivered due to travel disruptions from last week’s unprecedented storm. Credit: University of British Columbia
She says it’s an incredible example of community, “even though to a certain extent, we’re rival institutions.”
“At the end of the day, all of us are working towards the same thing, and that’s celebrating graduating students each year.”
WATCH: B.C. post secondary schools donate gowns, caps to UBC grads after shipment stuck in floods
In total, about 2,500 caps have been donated for UBC grads to keep. This will be the first time in-person grad ceremonies are held at UBC since before the pandemic.
“Graduation is such a moment in time for grads and it’s, for many of them, the most important day of their life so far. It has really been just an incredible display of support,” King said.
From left to right, Liz King and Rodolfo Calero from UBC and Jeanie Gunn from UVic load 600 caps and gowns at the UVic campus onto a truck bound for UBC on Sunday. Credit: University of British Columbia
The gowns will be cleaned between ceremonies.
This gesture from the six post-secondary institutions will help UBC grads retain some sense of normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the provincial state of emergency, King says.
“We’re really looking forward to celebrating them this week in their academic regalia, as we usually would, even if it’s not quite exactly the same as normal,” she added.
Flooding has led to the closure of the major highways connecting the Lower Mainland to the rest of B.C. and country. Non-essential travel is prohibited on Highways 99, 3, and 7. The Coquihalla Highway remains closed.
