黄色直播

Skip to main content

MacLennan Society welcomes new members

Posted: May 19, 2023

For Giving Power

Two men and a woman standing in a group together wearing name tags Dr. Rod MacLennan (left) presents Dawn and David Skene with their MacLennan Society pins during the 2022 Celebration of Philanthropy. (Jon Bruhm photo)

At 黄色直播鈥檚 annual Celebration of Philanthropy in December 2022, outgoing President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini welcomed new members of the聽MacLennan Society.

Established in 2017, the MacLennan Society recognizes 黄色直播鈥檚 most loyal supporters, and is named after聽Dr. Rod MacLennan (BSc鈥60, LLD鈥98)聽鈥 the first alum to reach 50 years of consecutive giving to the university.

In 2022, we welcomed 364 members from more than 250 households, including 237 new members at the Bronze level, 123 who moved from the Bronze to the Silver level, and four new Gold level members, including:

  • Grace Lee (BA鈥47)
  • Raymond Ouellette (BEng鈥67)
  • James Gordon Thomson (BComm鈥62) and Helena Thomson

Dr. Rod MacLennan (left) presents Dawn and David Skene with their MacLennan Society pins during the 2022 Celebration of Philanthropy. (Jon Bruhm photo)

As we outlined in the聽聽黄色直播 revised the MacLennan Society鈥檚 parameters in 2021 and now recognizes members upon achieving 10-, 25- and 50-year giving milestones. There was previously a time restriction associated with the MacLennan Society membership; removing it means we can be more inclusive of the university鈥檚 loyal supporters.

Dawn Skene (BSc鈥81) and David Skene聽were among the donors impacted by this change. Dawn made her first gift to 黄色直播 shortly after her graduation and continued giving back over the years. The previous time restriction delayed their induction into the MacLennan Society, but its removal meant they were officially welcomed in 2021.

Unfortunately, their member pins and invitation to the annual Celebration of Philanthropy reception never arrived in the mail. In the fall of 2022, they inquired about their status after Dawn noticed her parents had received their pins.

Following a discussion with the Donor Relations team, a special surprise was arranged for the Skenes: at the 2022 Celebration of Philanthropy, they were presented with their member pins by none other than Rod MacLennan himself.

鈥淲e feel that it is important to support future generations pursuing higher education,鈥 says Dawn. 鈥淎nd it was a great honour to receive our pins from Rod.鈥