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Former Queen’s Gaels hockey player Slater Doggett (Artsci’19) was recently honoured as one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians during a ceremony hosted at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada.

Doggett received the Governor General’s Academic All-Canadian Commendation for the 2018-19 season, one of the highest honours for varsity athletes in the country.

At the reception he was presented with the award by Assunta Di Lorenzo, Secretary to the Governor General and Herald Chancellor of Canada.

Every year the Academic All-Canadian Commendation is presented to a group of eight exceptional athletes. Recipients must have maintained an average of 80 per cent or more over the academic year while playing on at least one university varsity teams.

“The Governor General’s Academic All-Canadian Commendation is one of the highest honours a student-athlete in Canada can receive, with just eight recipients recognized from over 3,500 student-athletes across the country who achieve Academic All-Star status each year,” says Leslie Dal Cin, Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation at Queen’s. “Outstanding leaders, role models and ambassadors, Queen’s student-athlete achievements transcend sport and reach into excellence in the classroom and impact in our community. Slater had an incredibly successful four-year career at Queen’s, and it has been our privilege to have him in our Gaels community.”

Among his many accomplishments, Doggett was named a U SPORTS All-Canadian, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East MVP and a Randy Gregg Award nominee, and in 2019 led the Gaels to their first Queen’s Cup title since 1981. Queen’s Athletics recognized him with the Jenkins Trophy as the university’s top male athlete last spring.  The star forward also won a bronze medal for Canada at the 2017 International University Sports Federation’s Winter Universiade in Kazakhstan, and had the opportunity to compete against Hockey Canada's World Junior Prospects with the 2018 U SPORTS All-Stars.

Throughout his time at Queen’s, Doggett was committed to serving his community. He volunteered to help Syrian refugees, was involved in the Autism Mentorship Program and contributed to Nightlight Kingston, an adult drop-in centre. He also spent time with the Running and Reading Program, volunteering once a week at the Molly Brant Public School to support the initiative.

“Slater’s statistics and awards will go into the record books, but they don’t reflect the legacy that he left on the men's hockey program at Queen’s,” says Queen’s men’s hockey head coach Brett Gibson. “He proved you can excel in the three main areas of university life for a student-athlete – academics, athletics, and giving back to the community. I ask our players that when they leave the program to make sure they leave it in a better place. Slater not only did that, but he set the bar for future Gaels to strive for.”:

After graduating from Queen’s, Doggett signed a professional contract with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League and currently plays professionally for the Vipiteno Sterzing Broncos in the Alps Hockey League.

To learn more about U SPORTS and Academic All-Canadians, visit the U Sports website.

Note: This article originally appeared in the Queen's Gazette.