Cathy Jones did what the promise of an hour-long business meeting couldn’t.
On Thurs., May 31, the Gemini-award winning actress and star of Codco and This Hour Has 22 Minutes drew capacity crowds to the University of Calgary Alumni Association’s Annual General Meeting.
"Obviously, Cathy Jones has a bit more appeal than an hour-long meeting on the logistics of the Alumni Association," said AGM chair Tamara. "It’s a fun way of getting people out to the meeting and it’s a service to the community."
The AGM consisted of a brief half-hour business meeting during which outgoing president Jeffrey Larson delivered a short address before the formal executive changeover, after which incoming president Grant MacEachern delivered his welcoming address. Jones then took the podium for a half-hour standup routine touching on topics ranging from relationships to Canadian politics, and fielded questions from the crowd on an equally diverse number of subjects, including U of C President Terry White’s retirement.
"President White is finishing his term here after five years," explained Student’s Union Vice-president Academic Nic Porco to Jones. "We’ve been unable to put on a roast for him, and I was hoping you might be able to help us out with that."
Jones responded enthusiastically.
"I roasted him the minute I met him!" she responded. "He was giving me an … um … rundown on his … trip that he and his wife were … taking to Newfoundland. He was telling me, ‘we’re going to, umm, North Bay, ummmm, Maine.’ He’s roastable!"
According to McCarron, Jones drew a near-capacity crowd of approximately 500 people to the meeting, held at the Red and White club in McMahon Stadium.
"We’re very pleased with the turnout," she said. "I’ve had lots of positive feedback from members of the university community who really enjoyed themselves. This was one of our most successful meetings."
Jones, a native of Nova Scotia, also responded to questions regarding celebrity satirist Rick Mercer.
"Why don’t you get a make-over to look like Rick Mercer?" asked a junior audience member after several of Jones’ digs at her This Hour castmate.
"That’s a great idea!" exclaimed Jones. "But I’m not sure I could get my head that big."
"We researched a lot of potential guest speakers," said McCarron. "Cathy [Jones] really stood out. It was a pretty unanimous decision to invite her, and the evening went really well, so we’re very pleased."