Convocation and Commencement ceremony celebrates hundreds of graduates

When health care graduate Paul Rogers strode to the podium Saturday to address hundreds of his peers, their families and friends, it marked another group of students prepared to enter the workforce and start their careers. 

Rogers was one of 160 graduates and academic excellence award recipients to cross the stage at OC’s Fall Convocation and Commencement. Graduates from programs across business, arts, health, social development, trades and continuing studies were honoured in front of family, friends and faculty at the morning ceremony. OC programs are focused on training learners to be ready to jump into in-demand careers.

“If you look around this room, you will see people from all sorts of different programs,” said Rogers, graduating from the Health Care Assistant program. “While these are all very different from one another, we all have something in common: we made it here, we graduated.”

Rogers thanked instructors, classmates, and the families and friends who supported the graduates along the way, before encouraging his peers as they head into their careers. “Wherever life takes you next, go and do the best you can, never give up… and go make a difference in the world.”

“Every graduate crossing the stage today has balanced late nights, early mornings and real life to get here, and they should be very proud,” said Dr. Samantha Lenci, Okanagan College Provost and Vice-President Academic. “They are leaving Okanagan College with the training and skills they need to contribute in their workplaces and communities, and we are excited to see what they do next.” 

Six students also received special awards of distinction:

• Aileen Cainglet received the Governor General’s Academic Bronze Medal for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement, given annually to the student who has achieved the highest graduating grade average in an associate degree or diploma program finishing the Early Childhood Education Diploma with a 98.45 average.
• Keona Gagnier was awarded the Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement in a baccalaureate program. Keona was also the recipient of the Okanagan College Bachelor of Computer Information Systems medal after a 96.78 graduating grade average. 
• Luke Wiebe received the Okanagan College Bachelor of Business Administration medal after graduating with distinction and a 95.3 average, the highest graduating grade average in the program.  
• Mayine Pillay was the recipient of the Okanagan College Associate of Science medal, finishing the program with distinction and a graduating grade average of 92.45.  
• Anna DeMu was awarded the Associate of Arts Okanagan College medal for completing her Arts degree with distinction and the highest graduating grade average of 92.65 in the 2026 academic year.
• Xiau Han Xiao completed the Early Childhood Education Diploma program with distinction and a graduating grade average of 97.05 and is already working as an Early Childhood Educator at a YMCA childcare centre. 

The ceremony also closed a chapter for the Kelowna campus. Future convocations will move to the Don Folk and Family Recreation and Wellness Centre, which will be open in January, in time for Winter Convocation and Commencement ceremonies. 

The new building was made possible through the OC Foundation’s Thrive Here campaign and the generosity of hundreds of local families and businesses to build a new fitness facility at the Kelowna campus. The Centre will open gradually, beginning in December and with a public celebration in January, with more details to come. 

Construction of the Don Folk and Family Recreation and Wellness Centre is one of two major projects completing over the next year. The new Centre for Food, Wine and Tourism is on schedule to be open for Fall 2027.

Okanagan College offers a growing portfolio of shorter-duration credentials and microcredentials designed to meet evolving workforce needs across the region, along with two- and four-year programs.