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Queen’s is reserving its honorary degrees in 2016 for alumni in celebration of the university’s 175th anniversary. Throughout spring convocation, The Gazette will profile all 11 honorary degree recipients and explore how Queen’s has impacted their life and career.

Veteran actor and Queen’s alumna Wendy Crewson offered an impactful message to graduating students after accepting her honorary degree Wednesday.

“Becoming my most authentic self gave me strength and made everything in my life richer,” says Ms. Crewson, who revealed she was gay during a television appearance in December 2014. “We all have that one thing that’s quirky, or weird, or different. We need to embrace it and be honest with ourselves.”

Ms. Crewson said being gay didn’t fit into her picture of becoming a leading lady in film and television. Her perspective changed after portraying several significant Canadian women. Playing those roles helped her realize that those women had the courage she was looking for to recognize the part of her life she had hidden even from herself.

“You need to figure out who you are and everything will be okay. I realized at 48 I was gay. I had played the wife of half the leading men in Hollywood and I’m gay? I thought ‘how am I ever going to face that or admit it, never mind embrace it?’” Ms. Crewson said during her convocation address. “Now I know a lot of you might be thinking ‘gay, so what?’ or ‘what took you so long?’ And thank God you are thinking that because it means things have changed, but way back then, it wasn’t like that. It was secret and maybe shameful.”

From a young age, Ms. Crewson knew she wanted to act. With only three schools in Canada offering a drama program, she chose Queen’s, which she has never regretted. She started out in the English program but soon switched to drama.

“The faculty here always supported me and made me believe anything was possible and that I was good enough to go into the world. There was also so much theatre happening in Kingston and that made it seem like a life I could have. This community is so creative.”

After graduating in 1977, Ms. Crewson acted in both Canadian and American film and television productions including Air Force One with Harrison Ford, The Santa Clause film series opposite Tim Allen and Saving Hope as Dr. Dana Kinney.

Despite a successful career on both the big and small screens, Ms. Crewson admits she thought there had been a mistake when she opened the letter from Queen’s inviting her to receive an honorary degree.

“I really couldn’t believe or understand what I was reading,” she said with a smile. “I’m thrilled and disbelieving and humbled and honoured.”