Lakehead University has bestowed Alumni Awards on an Orillia graduate and the woman whose vision led to the creation of the local campus.
Sami Pritchard has received the Trailblazer Award from the university. The award is handed out annually to someone who graduated in the past decade and “has flourished since graduation,” a Lakehead news release noted.
“The recipient will have shown exceptional and unconventional accomplishment in their professional career, community involvement, and/or philanthropic work in Canada or around the world.”
Pritchard graduated in 2017 with an honours bachelor of arts and science. She was the first person in more than 10 years from a northern Ontario institution to be elected as treasurer for the Canadian Federation of Students—Ontario.
She currently serves as manager of advocacy with YWCA Toronto.
Pritchard has also co-authored a publication on “developing personal and academic resiliency,” the release noted.
Lakehead also recognized the late Sue Mulcahy with an honorary membership.
Mulcahy worked for decades to bring a university to her hometown of Orillia. She chaired the Simcoe College Foundation, through which thousands of dollars were raised privately and put toward the purchase of 228 acres of land.
“Political and academic alliances faltered and ultimately the land was sold and the foundation dismantled, but Mulcahy’s dream was kept alive,” the release stated.
Mulcahy, a former city councillor, was the first recipient of Lakehead’s Civitas Award at the inaugural convocation for the Orillia campus.
