UTM commemorated Remembrance Day last Tuesday with its annual ceremony along with a lecture in honour of the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One.
Students, faculty, and others gathered by the flagpole in front of Davis for UTM’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony on Tuesday.
The ceremony was called to order by the manager of UTM Police Services, Rob Messacar, after participants and college officers marched in twos to the flagstaff.
Principal Deep Saini made remarks near the beginning of the ceremony, praising Canada’s democracy, freedom, and equality.
Following these remarks, Len Paris, the previous manager of Police Services, recited “In Flanders Fields”.
The “Last Post” was then played and the Canadian flag was lowered to half-mast by the officers and members of the Erindale College Special Response Team. Professor Scott Munro played “The Lament” on his pipe while wreaths were laid in front of the flagpole by Saini and Ulli Krull, UTM’s VP special initiatives.
Two minutes of silence followed the playing of “The Lament”. Spectators stood with their heads bowed and poppies on their chests.
At the sound of the “Reveille”, the flag was once again raised.
Messacar concluded the ceremony and the participants and officers marched off, and attendees were invited inside Davis for a small reception.
This year, to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of World War I, the Historical Studies Society hosted a lecture by Professor Nathan Smith on Wednesday.
“As this year was the centennial of World War I, we wanted to honour the memory of those fallen Canadian soldiers in our own way,” said Davin Thornborrow, the events coordinator for the HSS. “[Smith’s] lecture focused on the act of remembrance and what the monuments of the history and soldiers who fought for our country mean to us in this day when there are no longer any remaining survivors of that struggle left on this earth.”
“The memory of the horrifying events of World War One is just that to us now, remembrance,” he added.
According to Thornborrow, 50 students attended the lecture.
