Mount Allison University president runs students their diplomas

Jean-Paul Boudreau is the president of Mount Allison University and also an avid runner. The Sackville, N.B., native decided to congratulate the class of 2020 with a special diploma delivery system. He ran 18 of the 31 local students their graduation certificates on June 19. 

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Boudreau says the Mount Allison class of 2020 had their convocation online and had the option of getting their diplomas mailed. If they were local and didn’t choose the mailing option, Boudreau ran the grads their papers.

“This is a difficult time right now and this was a nice opportunity to do something good,” he says. “This class is experiencing unprecedented times. We did an online presentation of degrees for the class of 2020. There were student valedictorians and speeches. It was viewed on YouTube and Facebook over 9,000 times. I thought this would be a nice touch to hand-deliver degrees where possible. Running was the best way I knew how.”

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Boudreau reached 18 students and covered roughly 20K on his run. There was a van following him with the degrees and his president’s gowns – so he could take an official picture with the graduates. The president laughs that some students didn’t know he was running and was asking why he was sweaty. “It felt good to do something special for this class.”

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