Ron MacLean to receive honorary degree from U of A this afternoon

Nov 19 2019, 6:19 pm

Ron MacLean is back in the headlines this week after the now-infamous moment on Hockey Night in Canada, where former co-host Don Cherry made anti-immigrant remarks.

Following the original segment, MacLean came under fire for not speaking up during Cherry’s rant. He apologized a day after the segment aired and then again this past weekend on Hockey Night in Canada.

“Coach’s Corner is no more,” said MacLean on Saturday. “We are all hurting. I have collapsed a hundred times this week, if not more. We are all disappointed… I’m disappointed in me.”

Today, MacLean, who began his career as a radio and television commentator with CKRD in Red Deer in 1977, is being honoured at a graduation ceremony at the University of Alberta.

A longtime sports broadcaster, MacLean was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2000, and Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2015. He is set to receive an honorary degree of law at today’s ceremony.

“Each of our honorary degree recipients is a unique Canadian voice who has made a positive impact in both local and national communities,” said U of A Chancellor Douglas Stollery. “I look forward to hearing their perspectives as we welcome them to our fall convocation celebrations.”

While the tone of convocation speeches are typically encouraging and uplifting, it will be interesting to see what advice the Canadian media icon imparts on the graduating students, given all that has transpired in the last few weeks.

The ceremony takes place on November 19 at 3 pm.

You can watch a livestream of the ceremony here.

With files from Rob Williams

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