Forged in celebration

Convocation is a special time where new futures meet long-standing traditions. Graduates step forward into the next chapter of their lives while the familiar rhythms of academia — robes, mortarboards and bagpipes — ground the moment. This year, another element will join that scene at Mount Royal: a ceremonial mace, designed to lead the procession and mark the celebration.

A first for the university, the mace was commissioned by MRU’s President and Vice-Chancellor Tim Rahilly, PhD, as a gift to the Mount Royal community.

“I love the tradition of convocation,” he says. “I have had the honour of working at several different universities, and convocation often has these ceremonial pieces, maces or swords or some other object, and I thought that it would be great if MRU had something like that.”

Ceremonial maces have deep roots in academic institutions, but this one has been intentionally reimagined. The art piece is not a symbol of authority, but rather a visual expression of achievement, connection and shared experience.

For Rahilly, that distinction was important from the outset.

“The history of maces is a bit checkered,” he says. “They are conceived of as kind of like a weapon, and that’s not what I wanted for MRU. In other contexts, like parliament or legislatures, there’s also this idea of authority being transmitted through the mace, and that’s not what I was looking for either.”

Instead, the intention was to reflect the community. “What I really wanted was this notion of us all coming together at convocation to celebrate our students who have achieved something fantastic.”

An open call was issued to local artists, and Calgary sculptor Sinéad Ludwig-Burgess was ultimately selected to bring the project to life. Working primarily in welded steel and mixed media, Ludwig-Burgess was drawn to the opportunity to create something lasting.

“I was really interested in the idea of making an object that becomes part of Mount Royal’s history,” she says. “Something that represents a whole community and stands the test of time.”

Her final concept drew on Mount Royal’s original crest, created in 1912, and translated its symbolism into a more contemporary sculptural form.

“I think it’s good to combine those two elements,” she says. “Something made in this day and time that references the past, but is still relatable today.”

At the centre of the piece is the Alberta wild rose, introduced as a more organic counterpoint to the structure’s linear, human-made steel forms. Curving welded elements rise into the flower before resolving into cleaner lines below, creating a sense of contrast and movement.

“There are a lot of dualities in the piece,” Ludwig-Burgess says. “Nature and human-made forms, different ways of thinking, different pathways.”

Within the rose sits an ammolite stone, a detail that gradually reveals itself. Cut to emphasize flashes of blue and green depending on the light, it connects the mace to Alberta’s geology and to Indigenous relationships with the land on which Mount Royal University stands.

Additional details include three circular forms at the mace’s base to represent the past, present and future — a reflection of the student journey from arrival to graduation and beyond.

Rahilly says those elements resonated strongly as the design came together. “I think the mace also kind of captures this notion of the journey. A point of departure, a little bit of growth and then a coming together at the end.”

“It’s such an important moment in students’ lives,” Ludwig-Burgess says. “To create something that represents achievement and joy is really meaningful.”

That intention will come to life as the mace makes its debut, carried at the front of the convocation procession. While rooted in tradition, its purpose at Mount Royal is deliberately centred on celebration and shared experience.

As graduates cross the stage, this new one-of-a-kind piece will stand as a marker of the milestone they have reached and the community that surrounds them.