2008 alumni awards recognize extraordinary contribution

Rob Fleming (left), Dorothea Harris (right)

Distinguished Alumni Award

Rob Fleming MLA, Victoria-Swan Lake

Rob Fleming is a University Transfer in Arts graduate from 1995. He was involved in the Camosun College Student Society, where he served as communications coordinator. Rob then attained his Bachelor of Arts degree in History at the University of Victoria.

At the age of 28 years, Rob served two terms on Victoria City Council where he was the Chair of the City's Finance and Personnel Committee and the Council Liaison to the Advisory Transportation Committee. Rob held the City's youth portfolio, was Chair of the CRD Health Facilities Planning Committee, and Commissioner for the CRD Water Commission. As Vice-Chair of the Capital District Housing Corporation, Rob helped establish the region's first affordable housing trust fund and created a similar fund at the City of Victoria.

Now a full-time elected MLA, Rob chairs the select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and serves on the Select Standing Committee for Education and the Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct and Private bills.

Promising Alumni Award

Dorothea Harris

A 2007 graduate from the First Nations Family Support Worker program, Dorothea often quotes instructor Robert Wells who says, "Education is therapy and therapy is education."

A bright and inquisitive young mother of five with a drive to make the world a better place for marginalized people, Dorothea began her post-secondary education by taking one course at a time. Her strong orientation to social justice led her to Camosun's First Nations Family Support Worker program. Although she is not Indigenous, she was raised in, and later married into, an Indigenous family and was the first non-Indigenous student in the program, graduating last year with an "A" average. Dorothea says, "I learned with my head and my heart. My teachers were phenomenal, bringing personal wisdom and life experience to the table."

Upon graduation, she was accepted into UVic's School of Social Work and also hired as Specialty Program Coordinator and Aboriginal Liaison with Reverend Al Tysick and Our Place Society, where her goals include more involvement in social justice issues.

Although Dorothea graduated only one year ago, she is already affecting change for the marginalized and homeless population of Victoria. She continues to raise her family, attend university and follow through on her commitment to make the world a better place.