In a ceremony that brought together one of U of T’s newest colleges with one of its oldest, Lord Christopher Patten of Barnes was doubly honoured when he was awarded an honorary degree from Trinity College and became the newest Senior Fellow of Massey last Wednesday night.
Lord Patten, who is 61, recently retired from a distinguished career as a member of Britain’s Conservative Party, and is currently Chancellor of Oxford University. He has likely already secured his place in history by being the last British governor of Hong Kong and presiding over its transfer to China in 1997, which to many marked the final symbolic dissolution of the British Empire. As the British flag was lowered for the final time over Hong Kong, Patten famously wept.
During his tenure as governor, he drew praise from western nations and ire from the Chinese communist government when he liberalized Hong Kong’s electoral system to allow wider suffrage. In his introductory speech Wednesday night, John Fraser, master of Massey College, said that Lord Patten’s leadership “left the people of Hong Kong with a sense of hope for the future.”
Fraser called Lord Patten “one of the outstanding figures of our era,” and lauded him for his work in Northern Ireland, which he said has “been crucial to the current peace” in the region. Lord Patten chaired the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland in 1999 and his recommendations to the current British government have been seen as contributing to the cooling of hostilities between London and separatists in the embattled province. Despite his many notable accomplishments, Lord Patten has his detractors. Many Sri Lankans were outraged when he met with Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as European Union envoy to the country in 2003. His views on Northern Ireland also angered many Irish unionists who are loyal to the British crown.
While Fraser said that Lord Patten’s career has been characterized by “decency, fair play, and the search for justice,” and has made him worthy of the awards “for his own sake,” he also emphasized that the ceremony represented the University of Toronto’s “indebtedness…to centuries of history from Oxford.” The function at Convocation Hall was certainly imbued with a sense of tradition, and featured a procession of some of the university’s elite in ceremonial dress. There was a sense, however, that the ritual was traditional to the point of being outdated: as Chancellor Wilson of Trinity College read out in Latin the declaration of Patten’s degree, the audience of mainly Trinity graduates who had received their degrees in the same ceremony, could be heard laughing.
Lord Patten himself proved to be somewhat of an antidote to the rigid formality of the evening with his short acceptance speech on the subject of pride. “Pride,” he said, “is the only one of the Seven Deadly Sins that engenders debate about whether or not it is a sin…although lust has its supporters.” Purportedly a very religious man, he told the graduates that although the Bible warns against excessive pride, “pride can be identified with respect, tradition, an institution…For myself, I am very proud to be associated with you.”
In accepting the awards at Convocation Hall, Lord Patten became only the second Honorary Senior Fellow at Massey. He is in illustrious company, as the only other person to receive the honour is His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
