Orillia Mayor Ron Stevens to receive Lakehead University Orillia Campus Civitas Award

(June 1, 2010 – Orillia ON) Orillia Mayor Ron Stevens will be honoured with the Lakehead University Orillia Campus Civitas Award at the University’s upcoming June 5 Convocation.

The Civitas Award is presented annually to a Simcoe County resident who has made significant contributions to the community and to the Orillia Campus. The award was first introduced in 2008 when it was awarded to Sue Mulcahy who spearheaded the Simcoe College initiative in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2009, the second Civitas Award recipient was Lloyd Dennis, distinguished for his outstanding contribution to education in Ontario.

Mayor Ron Stevens was nominated for his leadership as Chair of the Mayor’s University Task Force and the role he played in establishing the Lakehead University Orillia Campus.

“I believe that without Mayor Stevens’ conviction and commitment to this initiative, that Lakehead – Orillia would not be the reality it is today,” says Robert Lamb, Simcoe County Manager of Economic Development. Lamb nominated Stevens for the award, and notes how instrumental he was in developing a successful partnership with Lakehead University to establish the new Orillia campus.

Mayor Stevens began his municipal service in 1974 when he was appointed to the Township of Orillia Planning Board. Following positions as Councillor for the Township of Orillia and then Mayor of the Township of Severn, Stevens was elected Mayor of the City of Orillia in 2000. Upon completion of his third term as Mayor this fall, Stevens will have the distinction of being the longest-serving Mayor in the history of the City. He has declared this will be his final term as Mayor.

Stevens acknowledges the development of the Lakehead University Campus in Orillia as one of the highlights of his Mayoral tenure. “The entire experience involved a group of leaders who all shared a similar vision,” Stevens recalls. This vision-sharing experience included Lakehead University President Fred Gilbert. “Dr. Gilbert visited us and made a public presentation, and when I saw the standing ovation he received from the audience, I knew we had clear project direction and ample community support,” Stevens notes.

With the new University Avenue campus set to open this fall, Mayor Stevens says he is proud of what Lakehead – Orillia brings to our community and the region. “At the onset of this project, our interest in attracting a university to Orillia was inspired by a statistic we noticed in a census report,” explains Stevens. The document reported that the Canadian average of those with post secondary education was 27 per cent, compared with less than twelve per cent in Orillia and Simcoe County. “By establishing the Lakehead Campus in Orillia, we committed to improve this statistic and contribute to the long-term social and economic development of the region.”

The Civitas Award will be presented to Stevens at the Lakehead – Orillia Convocation on Saturday, June 5, at which over 200 graduands, including some students from the campus’ charter class, will receive their degrees. The ceremony will be held at Patrick Fogarty Secondary School at 10:30 a.m.