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TWU’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture celebrates 5th anniversary

On Wednesday, April 8, some 200 students, faculty, and special guests celebrated the 5th anniversary of Trinity Western University’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC). Since its launch, the School has graduated 236 creative people in music, theatre, communications, and art and design.

“A school is, first of all, a community,” said Dean David Squires, Ph.D., to the event attendees. “In the context and ethos of community—people in dynamic relationship—those facilities become a home, and the programs become a focal point. In the School of the Arts, Media and Culture, that focal point is the culture in which we live and which we will create for the future—and the arts and media that enrich, express, and in many ways define us as human beings.”

After the crowd sang Happy Birthday to the School and enjoyed a SAMC birthday cake, the official program kicked off. TWU President Bob Kuhn and Provost W. Robert Wood, Ph.D., both addressed the students. Graduating theatre major Cody Friesen, who served as the TWU Student Association President this academic year, encouraged SAMC students to believe in themselves and in what they could achieve with their degrees.

TWU Vice President Alumni & Community Engagement Scott D. Campbell (’99), a former theatre major, closed the formal celebrations in a group prayer.

“I have the privilege of leading a highly qualified, deeply skilled, creative and caring group of faculty and staff in the School of the Arts, Media and Culture," said Squires. "I honour them and bless them for all they do, year in and year out, in their teaching, their artistry, their scholarship and their research. These are indeed exciting—even inspiring—days to be a student in the School of the Arts, Media and Culture.”

View a photo gallery on SAMC's Facebook page.