May 26 - Douglas awards new highest honour

Radio legend Bill Hughes and youth justice leader Tim Agg have been selected as the first-ever recipients of Douglas College's highest honour - Honorary Fellowship.

The awards will be presented June 1 and 2 during graduation ceremonies at the College's New Westminster campus.

Born and raised in New Westminster, Bill Hughes was general manager of CKNW for 14 years and the voice of the Roving Mic show, where he interviewed visitors to Vancouver on buses. He retired in 1994 after 15,083 programs - setting a Guinness World Record for longest running radio program in history.

He was also executive vice president of Western Broadcasting, president of the Vancouver Canucks from 1972-1981 and served on the NHL board of governors.

Throughout his career, Hughes has been passionate about helping the less fortunate. He served on the board of CKNW's Orphans' Fund for more than 40 years, was active in the Rotary Club and served on the Douglas College Foundation for 18 years.

"The people I came into most contact with at Douglas were mature students - people who really deserved a second chance," he says. "It was amazing how these people inspired assistance. They had goals and dreams."

Hughes has made several major donations to Douglas College, including giving a substantial amount to the library at the New Westminster Campus. In 1999, Douglas College named the library the Bill Hughes Family Library. Now 85, Hughes refuses to rest on his laurels.

"I hope that I'm still giving back to New Westminster and the local area some of the rewards they have given me over the years."

Honorary Fellow Tim Agg has been the executive director of PLEA Community Services, a non-profit agency that provides support and services to people who face addiction, victimization and other difficulties, since 1982.

His numerous contributions to the welfare of children and youth include helping create the PLEA "wraparound" service - a holistic, comprehensive, tailored approach to the needs and circumstances of the individual - as an alternative to custody, and implementing a family care model of detox and supported recovery for youth with addictions.

Agg helped PLEA win the $1 million Vancity Award for the KidStart Mentoring Program, a volunteer program to mentor at-risk youth. He has a special passion for working with young people, emphasizing that PLEA's approach is "every kid counts."

"These adolescents are facing pretty big challenges in their lives. To be able to help them succeed, to grow up and be healthy, contributing adults is a privilege," he says. "It's exciting to be able to see those changes happen to kids, whom most of the world has written off."

Since 2001 Agg has been chair and member of the Youth Justice Advisory Committee at Douglas College. He established the Bernie Agg Scholarship and Bernie Agg Bursary for students in the college's Youth Justice Program. In 2007, he initiated a partnership between PLEA, Douglas College and the McCreary Centre Society to carry out community-based research. 

"It has been so exciting working with the college, being able to build that partnership. In the next year McCreary will be publishing a major piece of research on outcomes for youth in our youth justice programs," Agg says.

Scott McAlpine, President of Douglas College, says the contributions made by Hughes and Agg to Douglas and the larger community have made an impact that continues to benefit students and other individuals in need.

"Bill and Tim are giants. Bill's work with the Douglas College Foundation has made it possible for single parents and mature students to have meaningful futures, and Tim's contributions have helped shape our Youth Justice Program into what it is today."

Peter Kendrick, a Vice Chair of the Douglas College Board, says this year's Honorary Fellows are model citizens who inspire others to live more consciously and give back to society.

"These men have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of individuals less fortunate. It is with great pleasure and respect that we welcome Tim and Bill as Honorary Fellows of Douglas College."