Sir Edmund Hillary, Yehudi Menuhin, Richard Hunt and Diana Krall are set to have a little more company.

All are on the University of Victoria's list of honorary-degree recipients, which began in the early 1960s. Five more are being added Nov. 10 and 12 at UVic's fall convocation ceremonies.

The newcomers are University of Colorado Denver nursing professor Jean Watson, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Sidney-born Lorna Marsden, who served in the Senate and as president of both Wilfred Laurier University and York University, Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation CEO Norman Riddell and former clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch.

"This round in particular seems to have a collection of recipients that has a prior connection to the university in one sense or another," said UVic spokesman Mike McNeney, "But that's by no means a particular reason why they were selected."

He said the university has always cast a wide net for its honorary-degree holders.

"It's international. Over the years we've had recipients from pretty much every corner of the globe. The nominations are gathered from the university community, which is pretty broad, and then they go to a committee of the university senate."

The degrees are given out based on achievement in such areas as academics, research, teaching, the creative arts and public service.

Hillary, known for his humanitarian work as well as his conquest of Mount Everest, was honoured by UVic in 1969, when convocation ceremonies were held in Centennial Stadium.

"He commented that it was as cold at Centennial that day as it was on Everest," McNeney said, laughing.

Temperatures should be just fine this time around, with 1,410 graduates ready to be acknowledged indoors at UVic's Farquhar Auditorium.

Camosun College will honour its graduates just ahead of the UVic ceremonies with a Friday convocation at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, on Camosun's Interurban campus. There are 1,043 graduates eligible to take part. Organizers expect a combined crowd of about 1,500 graduates and guests at the 4-6 p.m. ceremony.

Sarah Sampson, a 1993 graduate of Camosun's university-transfer program, where she took sciences, will be recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Sampson started at Camosun, taking Grade 12 equivalency courses to complete her high-school education, then went from the transfer program to Washington State University.

She completed a bachelor of science degree in animal studies, and continued to veterinary school at Washington State. The married mother of two is now an assistant professor at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Sampson said the award from Camosun is a true honour.

"Camosun gave me a fresh start and renewed my love of education by providing an environment that encouraged independence and rewarded hard work," she said in a statement.

Also receiving a special honour is Michele Spencer, who graduated from Camosun's indigenous family-support program with an 8.78 grade-point average, out of a possible nine. She will be presented with the B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Silver Medal Award.

Spencer, of Lakota ancestry, said the program has given her a means to connect to her culture and has changed her as a person. She is continuing her studies, with a goal of earning a master's degree in counselling psychology and working with aboriginal youth.

jwbell@timescolonist.com