Roger Casgrain, Com’80, and Colette Charest, Sc’82, still love Queen’s after graduating more than 30 years ago.
And Queen’s still loves them. Their dedication to the university is the reason the couple have been named the 2015 Stirling Award recipients, the highest honour bestowed by the Montreal Branch of the QUAA.
Roger and Colette are big supporters of the University and the QUAA’s Montreal Branch – they can be counted on to promote Queen’s within the Montreal community or sponsor an alumni dinner. They both found Queen’s to be a friendly and welcoming campus when they first arrived in Kingston. Now, they’d like to see more students from Montreal head to Kingston as well as have Montreal become a hub for alumni east of Kingston.
“Their commitment and support have helped keep the Queen’s tradition alive (in Montreal) and all the alumni here benefit from their dedication to the university. “Together, Colette and Roger epitomize the Queen’s spirit,” says Montreal Branch president Monica Dingle, Com’02.
Roger and Colette sat down with Monica and Branch volunteers Vaughn DiMarco and Heather Murdock to talk about giving back to the community and why Queen’s is important to them.
Q: How does it feel to be the 2015 Stirling Award winners?
A: (Roger) It feels great and we are very honoured and surprised. We really were not expecting this.
Q: Coming from the Montreal community, why did you decide to study at Queen’s?
A: (Roger) We both wanted to go to school outside of Montreal to experience something new. Queen’s was very welcoming to us. It’s a very inclusive place, a truly national university in my opinion.
Q: It’s been more than 30 years since you both graduated from Queen’s. Why are you still volunteering and involved with the university?
A: (Roger) The way I think of it is you can have a good meal but you can also add something special to it and make it exquisite. Giving back to community is like this. You can have a good life but you can add community involvement and make it exquisite.
Q: You are both alumni, but you didn’t meet while attending Queen’s. Tell us how you met.
A: (Colette) We actually met in Montreal after graduation. I had already graduated from geological engineering at Queen’s and had just returned to Montreal after completing my MBA at Tulane University. We were both working downtown and waiting for the commuter train in Town of Mount-Royal. The train was very late that day and Roger asked me to share a cab with him. I thought who is this guy and I initially said no. But then I rationalized, this guy is wearing a 3 piece suit, there will be a cab driver and so, I changed my mind. One of the best decisions I ever made!
Q. How did you start donating to Queen’s?
A. (Colette) I had already started donating a bit to Queen’s as a young alumnus and talked Roger into doing so also. Then, throughout our careers, we started to give more and get more involved. More generally, I really feel that volunteering and contributing to community is a civic duty and that everyone can give back in some way. One just has to decide what is most important to them and focus their volunteer or donor commitments in those areas. It’s also very enriching personally.
Q: Who else from your family has attended Queen’s?
A: (Roger) Two of our nephews are currently attending Queen’s. Colette has one cousin who attended Queen’s and two friends whose daughters attended or are currently attending Queen’s.
Q: What are your fondest Queen’s memories?
A: (Roger) I was very young when I started at Queen’s and found the students very welcoming. I got involved with a lot of sports teams. BEWS was great I played many of the sports. At the suggestion of my English literature professor, Barry Thorne, I also got involved with the Business school paper, The Chronicle. At first I was a writer for them, then a columnist and finally, the assistant editor. Barry was a mentor to me and I cherished very much the relationship that we established at Queen’s and maintained even after I graduated.
A: (Colette) I went to Queens a bit after Roger (we overlapped for a year) and after completing CEGEP in Quebec, I did my engineering degree in three years which meant I had a very full course schedule. Despite this, I still managed to find time to have fun. I have really fond memories of our geological engineering cohort. We were a really tightly knit group. On Fridays in the lab as we were finishing up, someone would say: “Who wants to go to the pub?” Of course everyone went and, we went to what is now the Underground – that was our hang out. I also have great memories of our field schools! During our last field trip to St. Stephen’s New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy, we would try to organize our traverse lines to end at some point near Ossie’s lunch where we picked up some really amazing fried clams. Also, one of my favourite things to do in Kingston was to get season’s tickets to the ballet. Generally, they were smaller ballet companies but I enjoyed it and I particularly liked inviting one of my male engineering friends as some sort of a challenge to them.
Q: This is not the first time that you have been jointly recognized for your philanthropic efforts. Could you tell us a bit about the recognition you have received from other organizations in Montreal?
A: (Colette) We were recognized for our support of Centennial Academy as well as the Institute of Learning Disabilities in Montreal. Centennial gives an annual prize to the graduate that best exemplifies perseverance, commitment and dedication in and outside the classroom and last year they renamed this award the Colette Charest and Roger Casgrain Award. The Institute of Learning Disabilities in Montreal recognized both of us for our contributions to the board, as volunteers as well as benefactors of the organization.
Q: Roger - You are a senior officer at Casgrain and Company, the largest Canadian-owned independent investment dealer that specializes in the fixed income market and have more than 30 years of capital markets experience. In addition to your career achievements you have also been active with the Queen’s Investment Committee, what would you say to others who want to give back in a professional capacity?
A: (Roger) I would say do it! As an alumnus of Queen’s and a professional, I have enjoyed very much participating with other Queen’s alumni, staff and friends on the Queen’s Investment committee for many years. There is a great collegial atmosphere within the committee and it’s a great way to stay connected to the University as well as give back meaningfully.
Q: Colette - you are or have been involved with numerous charities and, are serving or have served on the boards of organizations such as Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, Centennial Academy and College, the CLD les 3 Monts and the Town of Mount-Royal Figure Skating Club. Why is giving back to the community important to you?
A: (Colette) Giving back is very important to me. Initially, some of this commitment came from my desire to support the schools or activities that my children attended or participated in. From there, I got involved in some community issues and other broader issues which either had business or education underpinnings. I’ve always felt that if you want to change something or make something move forward, you need to get involved and be proactive as an agent for that change.
