1974-10-17. MUN Gazette, vol. 07, no. 03

              MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY
of NEWFOUNDLAND
Vol. 7, No. 3
Thursday, October 17, 1974
St. John's, Newfoundland
Honourable E. John A. Harnum
Dr. George A. Hickman
Dr. Donald G. Creighton
Mrs. Helena Frecker
Mr. Cecil Mouland
MUN Fall Convocation
Five Honorary Degrees
to be awarded
Memorial University of Newfoundland will honour five distinguished Canadians at the Fall Convocation to take place in St. John's,
October 19, 1974 at the Arts and
Culture Centre.
In the morning, Newfoundland's
former Lieutenant-Governor, the
Honourable E. John A. Harnum, and
Dr. George A. Hickman will receive
honourary Doctor of Laws degrees.
The honourary Doctor of Letters
degree will be conferred upon Mrs.
Helena Frecker. Mrs. Frecker will be
Convocation Speaker.
On the afternoon of October
19th, the honourary Doctor of
Letters degree will be conferred on
Canadian historian Dr. Donald G.
Creighton, who will address Convocation. Mr. Cecil Mouland, a
retired fisherman, logger, sealer, carpenter and one of four living survivors of the tragic S.S. Newfoundland sealing disaster of 1914 will be
awarded an honourary Doctor of
Laws degree.
*Mr. Harnum, 64, was born at
Sound Island, Placentia Bay, where
he received his early education. He
attended Bishop Feild College in St.
John's and upon graduating entered
the business world working in insurance until he set up his own company, Harnum Insurance Agencies
Ltd., in 1958. He sold his interests in
. the firm earlier this year.
Mr. Harnum was a president of
the Newfoundland Board of
Insurance Underwriters, the Insurance Institution of Newfoundland
and the Newfoundland Insurance
Agents Association. A Mason for the
past 40 years, Mr. Harnum was Newfoundland    District    Grand    Master,
Masonic Lodge, Scottish Constitution, from 1964-69.
Mr. Harnum was sworn in as the
province's fifth Lieutenant-Governor
on April 2, 1969. He retired from the
post June 30, 1974.
Mrs. Helena Frecker was born in
Oderin, Placentia Bay, and received
her early education there and at
Mercy Convent School, St. John's.
She was awarded the Senior
Jubilee Scholarship in 1925 and was
the first student to graduate from
Memorial University College in 1926.
Mrs. Frecker then attended Loretto
and St. Michael's Colleges, the University of Toronto, receiving a
Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) in
English and History. A Gold
Medallist in English in her graduating
year, Mrs. Frecker later obtained her
Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1930. From
1929 to 1933, Mrs. Frecker was a
lecturer in English and Latin at
Memorial University College. She
married Dr. G.A. Frecker (who is
now the University's Chancellor) in
1933 and retired from academic life
to raise eight children.
She returned to Memorial in the
academic year 1958-59 as a lecturer
in the Department of English. Mrs.
Frecker has remained associated with
the English Department since that
time. She will retire at the end of this
academic year.
Dr. Hickman was born and grew
up in Fortune, Fortune Bay. He
attended the Newfoundland Normal
School graduating in 1927 and taught
in several Newfoundland outports. In
1935, Drt Hickman completed the
two-year diploma course at Memorial
University College and in 1937
graduated from Mount Allison University with a Bachelor of Arts
Degree. He received the degree of
Master of Arts in Education from
Acadia University in 1941 and his
doctorate from Columbia University,
New York, in 1954.
For eight years, Dr. Hickman
served as principal of Grand Falls
Academy and came to Memorial in
the Fall of 1944 as Head of the
Department of Education. In^
recognition of the contribution he
has made to education in Newfoundland and the Atlantic Provinces, Mount Allison University
awarded Dr. Hickman an Honourary
Doctor of Law Degree in 1972.
Canadian historian. Dr. Donald
Creighton, 72 was born in Toronto,
Ontario, and received his early education at Humberside Collegiate
Institute. He graduated from Victoria
College, University of Toronto, with
a Bachelor of Arts degree. He went
on to complete his Master of Arts
degree at Balliol College, Oxford University.
Dr. Creighton joined the University of Toronto in 1927 as a
lecturer in the History Department
and became full Professor of History
in 1945. He was the Sir John A.
MacDonald Professor of History at
the University in 1965.
He is the author of many books
on Canadian History including the
widely acclaimed two-volume
biography of John A. MacDonald.
His other works include Dominion of
the North and The Empire of the St.
Lawrence.
Dr. Creighton is the recipient of
several awards for historical writing
which include the Tyrel Medal for
History, the Royal Society of Canada
in 1951, the Governor-General's
Medal for Academic Non-Fiction,
1952, and the Molson Prize, awarded
by the Canada Council in 1964. He
holds membership in a number of
learned societies and is a
Corresponding Member of the Royal
Society.
Dr. Creighton has honourary
doctorates from the Universities of
New Brunswick, Queen's, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Victoria,
St. Francis Xavier, and Dalhousie.
Born in Doting Cove, Bonavista
Bay, September 27, 1893, Mr. Cecil
Mouland represents the sturdy, self-
sufficient Newfoundlander and is an
outstanding example of his
generation and time.
As with most of his generation,
he was a fisherman during the
Summer months and worked as a
logger in the Winter.
In the Spring of 1912, he made
the first of his two voyages to the
sealf ishery as a sealer on board one of
the famed "wooden walls", the S.S.
Newfoundland commanded by
Captain Wes Kean. His last "Spring at
the Ice" was in 1914, again with
Captain Wes Kean in the S.S. -Newfoundland, but with tragedy and consequences that were never contemplated.
On March 31, 1914, the "Newfoundland's" crew were put on the
ice floes on the Front. Some of the
sealers returned to their vessel early
in the morning because of
threatening weather conditions. Mr.
Mouland and his party pressed onwards.
Later in the day, some 120
sealers, many of whom had little
food and were dressed in only light
clothing became stranded in a
blizzard.
They were on the ice for two
nights and three days before being
rescued by ships of the sealing fleet,
who ironically were only a few niles
away from the lost party.
There are many tales of heroism
and the will to live. Mr. Mouland was
one of the 51 survivors who lived
through the ordeal. The others died.
Mr. Mouland never returned to
the sealf ishery. In 1928, he went to
Brooklyn, United States of America,
where he worked as a carpenter.
Retiring in 1958, he returned to
Newfoundland and resided at Hare
Bay, Bonavista Bay, until he moved
to St. John's several years ago.
Approximately 567 undergraduate and 86 graduate students
will receive degrees.
In the morning the degrees to be
conferred are: Bachelor of Arts-
education), Bachelor of Education,
Master of Education and Graduate
Diploma in Education.
On the afternoon of October
19, the following degrees will be
conferred: Bachelor of Arts (Honours
and general), Bachelor of Science
(Honours and general) Bachelor of
Commerce, Bachelor of Physical Education, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor
of Medical Science, Doctor of
Medicine, Master of Arts, Master of
Science, Master of Engineering,
Doctor of Philosophy, Master of
Physical Education and Master of
Philosophy.