UVic has done an 180 on its decision to leave STEPS graduate Nathan Bodie out of his graduation ceremony this June.
UVic Executive Director Bruce Kilpatrick says a motion had been in the works for months but they wanted to make sure they got it right. "Today our University Senate was delighted to support an opportunity for students in the BC initiative for inclusive post secondary eduction system to be recognized in our convocation ceremonies."
The Senate, voted late Friday afternoon to approve a recommendation that students with developmental disabilities enrolled in UVic courses through STEPS
will be recognized at the university's convocation ceremonies, starting this June.
Work on the proposal was well underway when Bodie's story generated an outpouring of community support through social media, letters and news media in the last 10 days, in part generated by the misapprehension that he might not get the opportunity to convocation this spring.
UVic's Convocation Committee strongly recommended adoption of the proposal submitted by STEPS Forward to the university's Senate, which, under the provincial University Act has responsibility for all matters related to convocation.
With Senate approval of the request from STEPS Forward, UVic is now able to join the other BC universities who are offering the opportunity to participants to be recognized at convocation.