That’s a wrap: Thank you for celebrating 50 years of Concordia!
The anniversary’s visual identity and branding — 50 Years: Forever Forward — connected Concordia’s past, present and future.
From June 2024 to October 2025, Concordia marked its 50th anniversary with a celebration of the people and partnerships that shaped the university — and continue to propel it forever forward.
The gold-and-garnet milestone offered the opportunity to engage our community, inspire the next generation and build donor momentum for the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now, which successfully closed on September 25, 2025.
The cross-campus commemoration generated extraordinary engagement:
- French and English profiles, with videos, of 50 Great Concordians to spotlight accomplished alumni from each faculty
- Audio tours, narrated by alumni, of our Loyola and Sir George Willams campuses
- More than 1 million views on anniversary-related videos, including the flagship 50 Years: Forever Forward
- 200 million impressions from out-of-home advertising (bus backs, metro, banners)
- 20 million impressions from campus and city signage (elevators, shuttle buses, vitrines)
- 5.3 million digital ad impressions and 3 million social-media impressions — a 300 per cent increase from previous years
“Our 50th anniversary was a catalyst for renewed pride and connection,” says Paul Chesser, BA 94, GrDip 97, vice-president of Advancement and chair of the 50th-Anniversary Steering Committee. “Our milestone inspired our community to come together and help us achieve something extraordinary: raise $365 million through the Campaign for Concordia.
The anniversary’s visual identity and branding — 50 Years: Forever Forward — connected Concordia’s past, present and future through vibrant colours that evoked each of the university’s five decades and a design that was a nod to a vinyl record and an amphitheatre.
Lamp-post banners, shuttle buses and commemorative merchandise carried the 50th logo that could be seen across Montreal.
With celebrations that came to a close as part of fall convocations on October 28, a new chapter commences.
“Our 50th anniversary honoured our history while looking at our future,” says Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins, BA 97, director of Advancement Communications who, as chair of Concordia’s 50th-Anniversary Working Group, drafted and deployed plans.
“Our leaders and volunteers deserve thanks for helping us ideate and validate tactics, while our students, alumni, friends, faculty, staff and retirees joined together to mark this milestone.”
Desjardins also expressed gratitude for the core staff from University Advancement, University Communications Services and the Office of Translation who brought the anniversary to life — with several initiatives earning national and international awards.
“I take great pride that so much in-house talent, creativity and passion helped move our university forever forward. Merci à tous!”