Downey, James

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1991
JAMES DOWNEY
to be Doctor of Laws

Everyone here knows that James Downey served with distinction as our president from 1980 to 1990, and so, rather than tell you about him, I would like to speak directly to him on your behalf, acknowledging as I do so that I take it as an honor to speak for you who have known him as students, as colleagues, or as friends.

Jim, I address you simply, in the way you have encouraged us to do since the day you first came here, signalling to us that wherever you intended to lead us, you intended to be one of us.

Before we thank you, we must first thank Newfoundland for giving you birth, an education, and uncommon good sense. Then we thank London for removing the Newfoundland accent and Ottawa for doing the same with the British. But most of all we have to thank you for having the perspicacity to leave all of those places behind and come to UNB, which proved to us that you were a man of discriminating taste and carefully measured ambition.

You endeared yourself to us almost immediately with your eloquence, your wit, and your good humor. We quickly discovered that, like most Newfoundlanders, you love a good story, and you have a gift for telling them. As you launched into one at your inaugural dinner, I remember glancing across at Laura who was rolling her eyes and saying, "Oh no, not that one." And your reply, indicating that you had by then truly grasped the significance of presidential power, was: "This is my dinner and I can do whatever I want!"

Fortunately for us, you were not only a spell-binding storyteller, you were also a good listener, as indeed you had to be when you presided over UNB's own inimitable Senate. Here you discovered that sophistry comes in two sexes, nine faculties, thirty-two departments, and sixty seven viewpoints, which for variety beats Heinz by at least ten. Thank you for understanding the academic mind at work and for the gentle way you sought consensus.

With the Board you were a master not only because you possess a silver tongue but because you are a man of vision and have the gift for helping others see it. You had also the wit to reduce crises to the manageable level, such as the day when you asked the Board to make an important appointment, which concerned them because the position was already occupied by someone else. With characteristic simplicity, you said that you guessed by appointing the one we disappointed the other, and there the matter lay.

The list of your achievements as president is remarkable. Knowing that universities can never turn a profit, you steered us clear of the destructive deficits that now threaten other universities, some not far distant. You lent civility and foresight to the difficult debate to create a separate senate for UNB-Saint John. You stick-handled your way into (or around) New Brunswick's favorite sport, politics, and convinced both sides that funding our University is a good investment. When the pie was still too small, you led the University in the largest fund-raising campaign in its history. At the same time you extended the network of alumni into the far corners of the world, you spoke with business people and made them our friends and frequently our financial supporters, and you provided leadership in the academic associations of the region and the nation.

Our students came to know you for your warmth, your humor, and your fairness. If your most nettlesome difficulty came from a scant handful of politically frightening dissenters, some of your greatest satisfaction must have come from seeing the student body increase by half and the quality of our programs gain national recognition, as when our engineering and science graduates consistently ranked among the best nationally in winning NSERC scholarships.

Jim, you recently received an honorary degree from your alma mater, Memorial, and in speaking there you used a metaphor that bears repeating for its relevance on this occasion. You reminded your listeners that you move out into the unknown waters of life the way you row a boat, with your back to the open sea and your eyes looking back for guidance at the familiar landmarks on shore. Whatever the future holds for you, Jim -- and for Laura, Sarah, and Geoffrey who generously shared you with us -- your presidency of UNB is now a landmark, for you and for all the rest of us who knew it. As you row your dory out into the fog, UNB will always loom like a promontory in your background, and if it appears to you strong and enduring, it is because you helped to make it so.

Jim, this University will be forever in your debt. Thank you for giving us some of the best years of your life, and for making them the best of ours.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3