Annual service at War Memorial Hall honours veterans
On Fri, Nov. 11, the University of Guelph hosted its annual Remembrance Day Ceremony at War Memorial Hall to commemorate the memories of the men and women who served the Canadian Armed Forces.
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Remembrance Day refers to the armistice between the Allied Powers and Germany at the 11th hour of Nov. 11, 1918.
Originally the day was called Armistice Day, but it evolved into a yearly tradition that involved Canadians paying their respects by giving a minute of silence at 11:00 a.m. and wearing a poppy.
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The tradition of wearing a poppy refers to the first stanza of the famous John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields. McCrae’s poem, which was composed during the second battle of Ypres in 1915, has become synonymous with Remembrance Day, and honouring veterans through donations to the Royal Canadian Legion.
The event featured guest speakers from faculty and representatives of the multi-faith resource team at the University of Guelph.
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The first two speakers were Dr. Malcolm Campbell, University of Guelph’s vice-president of research and Alan Filewod, a professor representing the School of English and Theatre Studies.
Both speakers emphasized past events like Vimy Ridge and current conflicts like the civil wars in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
Filewod reflected that, even though Canadians have been given peace; they should try to make sure that people outside Canada get to the same privilege.
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Iftikhar Sheikh, Muslim imam of the Muslim Students’ Association, and Andrew Hyde, Ecumenical Campus Minister of the Ecumenical Campus Ministry, spoke on behalf of the multi-faith resource team at the University. Both of these speakers connected their respective faiths to pacifism. Hyde read the lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” which features the famous line, “There is a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
The event ended with the Guelph Chamber Singers doing a rendition of Antonin Dvorak’s “Going Home.”
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