1981 Fredericton Convocation
Robichaud, Gertrude Léger
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Orator: MacGill, Neil W.
Image
Image Caption
L to R: Lt.Gov. Hedard Robichaud, Gertrude Léger Robichaud
Second Image Caption
Source: Joe Stone fonds-UA RG340, 1981 (#13460A)
Citation:
CONVOCATION, OCTOBER, 1981
GERTRUDE LÉGER ROBICHAUD
to be Doctor of Laws
"Men will realize the importance of women and the contribution they can make -- it should have happened a long time ago. But I think women must not lose sight of the need to do things not only well, but graciously."
A few years have passed since Madame Robichaud made that remark, but today this University recognises the important contribution that two women have made, in their very different ways, to the life of their Province and their Country.
Even women sometimes seem to feel that the only route to liberation is to become just like men. And yet this, surely, would be merely replacing one form of bondage with another. Madame Robichaud's words should remind us that as women take up new roles in society they will fulfill them in a new way, bringing graciousness to them that we men in turn must strive to emulate.
And Madame Robichaud's own life also reminds us that women have never lacked for valuable roles in society, even though they may not have received in the past the acknowledgement that is their due. Perhaps she herself fell into this trap in her initial surprise at being invited to receive an honorary degree: why should she be honored in this way?
Why indeed? After all, she is only the wife of Hédard Robichaud and the mother of his nine children.
Or perhaps they are her children and he her husband.
Her work in making a home for her family and for the many guests they entertained is too easily passed over in a few sentences. First they settled in St. Andrews, then in Newcastle, then in Shediac.
They lived in Fredericton from 1946 to 1953, when they moved to Caraquet. During the next eleven years her husband was occupied elsewhere, and the joy and the burden of bringing up nine children were largely her concern.
Ottawa became her home from 1963 to 1971, when she returned to Fredericton and eventually moved to Waterloo Row.
Over these years, Madame Robichaud's life has become more and more public, and yet she preserves in it a personal and individual touch that most of us would find impossible. She remembers people, and shares in their everyday concerns. When she welcomes her guests, it is to hospitality that she has planned and provided -- there are no impersonal catering companies lurking behind the scenes.
Why, indeed, an honorary degree?
To help us to recognise that people are what life is all about; something that Madame Robichaud has never forgotten.
Insignissime Praeses, tota Universitas, praesento vobis Gertrudem Léger Robichaud ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Utroque Jure in hac Universitate.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2
GERTRUDE LÉGER ROBICHAUD
to be Doctor of Laws
"Men will realize the importance of women and the contribution they can make -- it should have happened a long time ago. But I think women must not lose sight of the need to do things not only well, but graciously."
A few years have passed since Madame Robichaud made that remark, but today this University recognises the important contribution that two women have made, in their very different ways, to the life of their Province and their Country.
Even women sometimes seem to feel that the only route to liberation is to become just like men. And yet this, surely, would be merely replacing one form of bondage with another. Madame Robichaud's words should remind us that as women take up new roles in society they will fulfill them in a new way, bringing graciousness to them that we men in turn must strive to emulate.
And Madame Robichaud's own life also reminds us that women have never lacked for valuable roles in society, even though they may not have received in the past the acknowledgement that is their due. Perhaps she herself fell into this trap in her initial surprise at being invited to receive an honorary degree: why should she be honored in this way?
Why indeed? After all, she is only the wife of Hédard Robichaud and the mother of his nine children.
Or perhaps they are her children and he her husband.
Her work in making a home for her family and for the many guests they entertained is too easily passed over in a few sentences. First they settled in St. Andrews, then in Newcastle, then in Shediac.
They lived in Fredericton from 1946 to 1953, when they moved to Caraquet. During the next eleven years her husband was occupied elsewhere, and the joy and the burden of bringing up nine children were largely her concern.
Ottawa became her home from 1963 to 1971, when she returned to Fredericton and eventually moved to Waterloo Row.
Over these years, Madame Robichaud's life has become more and more public, and yet she preserves in it a personal and individual touch that most of us would find impossible. She remembers people, and shares in their everyday concerns. When she welcomes her guests, it is to hospitality that she has planned and provided -- there are no impersonal catering companies lurking behind the scenes.
Why, indeed, an honorary degree?
To help us to recognise that people are what life is all about; something that Madame Robichaud has never forgotten.
Insignissime Praeses, tota Universitas, praesento vobis Gertrudem Léger Robichaud ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Utroque Jure in hac Universitate.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2
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