There occurred last Friday evening at Government House a gathering of members of the great estates upon which society is built. Represented at the home of royalty were religion, governments national and international, commerce, academe and the press.

The august occasion was a Convocation of the University of St. John?s, one of the leading Catholic universities in the US. The Convocation was to confer on ?three of Bermuda?s outstanding corporate citizens? honorary Doctorates in Commercial Science. Two of the recipients were the Brians, Duperreault and O?Hara, long-time leaders of ACE and XL Capital, respectively. The third honoree, Joseph Smetana, was a lifetime employee of the American International Group (AIG), the insurance industry?s all-time leading goal scorer.

Mr. Smetana serves on the St. John?s University Board of Governors and on the Executive Advisory Council of the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science (SRM), while Mr. O?Hara and Mr. Duperreault are members of the St. John?s University Board of Overseers of SRM.

?We believe in pageantry and ritual,? said the Reverend Donald J. Harrington, President of St. John?s, in his comments congratulating the awardees. The physical pageantry was in the bright red robes bearing heraldic shields and the tasselled mortarboards in which the honourees and university staff were attired.

Seeing people one knows in these unusual garments - the three honourees resumed wearing business attire at the reception following the Convocation - was odd, and prompted an irreverent recollection of the opening scene in ?Horse Feathers?, a movie in which Groucho Marx pokes fun at academia.

Nothing remotely like a Marx Brothers movie unfolded at Government House on Friday. The Convocation was an important moment set aside to acknowledge the meaningful public work the three honorees had contributed in their spare time, when not running global empires.

?These men are role models, and we celebrate their achievements,? said the Rev. Harrington, who had earlier this year conferred an honorary degree on King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand on the 60th anniversary of his reign. The King is the longest-serving monarch alive; he cried upon receiving the honour. Ronald Reagan and Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak were other St. John?s honourees, an inspiring context for the three gentlemen being acknowledged last Friday.

?An honorary degree from St. John?s, as from any similar institution, recognises a great level of accomplishment,? Rev. Harrington said. ?It recognises great personal and professional success. At St. John?s, it?s also a teaching moment. We hold individuals up to society as role models and say: ?This is what we hope our students will in time become.? ?

Congratulating Mr. O?Hara on what he had become, Mr. Duperreault said: ?It sometimes feels as if we?re joined at the hip.? The Brians have wives called Nancy and sons called Daniel. The Brians? business interests are simultaneously entwined and competitive. During the second and most productive acts of their lives, they have fostered the development of an economic community as important, in its way, as Silicone Valley. The honourees have changed more than the landscape of Hamilton; they have spearheaded Bermuda?s headlong dash into the 21st century.

?I?m just lucky to have the talented and dedicated colleagues that I have at XL and to get the credit for their hard work,? Mr. O?Hara said, acknowledging ?the great honour? bestowed upon him and his fellow honourees.

Seen at the scene: His Excellency the Governor, Sir John Vereker, the very model of a modern Crown representative, and Lady Vereker, who hosted the occasion. US Ambassador Gregory Slayton put in an appearance, as he now seems to whenever two or more Bermudians are gathered together. Members of the Bermuda Government were present, in the shape of the Minister of Finance, Paula Cox, who worked for Mr. Duperreault at ACE for some years, and the Minister of Telecommunications & E-Commerce, Michael Scott, whose Ministry now deals with Bermuda?s interests in outer space, i.e. the Island?s satellite rights.

The insurance industry was well represented by a number of luminaries including XL chairman Michael Esposito, AXIS Capital?s chairman Michael Butt, IPC Re?s Jim Bryce, Cyrus Re?s Robin Spencer-Arscott, QKnow?s Dick Meyer, a star veteran of the Bermuda insurance market, and many others who had worked with or alongside the honourees.

?This is a celebration,? declared the Reverend Harrington, and in that spirit, it was refreshing when a senior figure in the Bermuda community leaned over and whispered: ?Well, it should be easier to get a doctor?s appointment in Bermuda now.?