University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) is the largest education institution in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the city of Saskatoon. A satellite view of the campus can be seen on Google maps.

History

Beginnings

The University was created on April 3, 1907 by a provincial statute known as the University Act. It provided for a publicly funded, yet independent institution to be created for the citizens of the whole province. J.A. Calder became the first university official when he was appointed registrar. Chief Justice Edward L. Wetmore was elected the first university Chancellor. Following the formation of the senate and board of governors, Walter Charles Murray was selected as President of the University. The scope of the new institution was to include colleges of Arts and Science including art, music and commerce, Agriculture with forestry, Domestic Science, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and Dentistry.

Battleford, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina, and Saskatoon all lobbied to be the location of the new university. Walter Murray preferred the provincial capital, Regina. In a politically influenced vote, Saskatoon was chosen on April 7, 1909.

A location next to the South Saskatchewan River, across from the city centre of Saskatoon, was selected for the campus. Prime Minister of Canada Wilfrid Laurier laid the cornerstone of the first building on campus, the College Building, on July 29, 1910. The original buildings were built using native limestone - greystone - which was just north of campus. Over the years, the greystone was to become one of the most recognizable campus signatures. When the local supply of limestone was exhausted, the University turned to Tyndall Stone, so called because it is quarried at Tyndall, Manitoba. The first building on the new campus, the College Building, opened in 1913; in 2001, it was declared a National Historic Site of Canada.

First Students

The University Act provided that the University should provide "facilities for higher education in all its branches and enabling all persons without regard to race, creed or religion to take the fullest advantage". It further stated that "no woman shall by reason of her sex be deprived of any advantage or privilege accorded to the male students of the university." Seventy students began the first classes on September 28, 1909. The first class graduated on May 1, 1912. Of the three students who earned graduation honours, two were women.

342 students, faculty, and staff enlisted for World War I. Of these, 67 were killed, 100 were wounded, and 33 were awarded medals of valour.

Establishment of Colleges

Roughly adhering to the original plan of 1909, numerous colleges were established: Arts and Science (1909), Agriculture (1912), Engineering (1912), Law (1913), Pharmacy (1914), Commerce (1917), Medicine (1926), Education (1927), Home Economics (1928), Nursing (1938), Graduate Studies (1946), Physical Education (1958), Veterinary Medicine (1964), Dentistry (1965), and Physical Therapy (1976).

Theological Colleges, affiliated with the University, were also established: Emmanuel College - Anglican (1909), St. Andrew's College - United Church of Canada (1913), Lutheran Theological Seminary (1920), St Thomas More College (1936), and Central Pentecostal College (1983).

Regina College was saved from bankruptcy and became part of the University in 1934, and was given degree-granting privileges in 1959, making it a second University of Saskatchewan campus. By another act of legislation in 1974, it was made an independent institution known as the University of Regina.

Correspondence courses were established in 1929.

Later development

In the late 1990s, the U of S launched a major revitalization program that has and will include new capital projects such as an expansion to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, the building of a new parkade, and a revision of its internal road layout (which has already seen the East Road access being realigned). The Thorvaldson Building, which currently is home to the Departments of Chemistry and Computer Science, as well as the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition has also seen a number of renovations, including a brand new addition, the Spinks Addition.^*

Land holdings

Up until the late 1980s, the University of Saskatchewan held an extensive area of land in the northeast quadrant of Saskatoon, stretching far beyond the core campus, east of Preston Avenue and north of the Sutherland and Forest Grove subdivisions. Much of this land was used for farming and some areas were earmarked for future campus and facility development. In the late 1980s, most U of S land beyond Circle Drive was earmarked for residential development; the community of Silver Springs was the first of these neighbourhoods to be developed. Another section of land, west of the Preston Avenue/Circle Drive interchange and north of the CPR line, was zoned for commercial use and led to "big box" retail development in the early 2000s (including Wal-Mart and the Preston Crossing shopping centre). Realignment of two major roads in the area around this same time -- Preston Avenue and 108th Street -- also used up a portion of university land. The U of S now maintains a large tract of land immediately east of the Saskatoon city limits that it obtained after the city took over the northeastern section of U of S land. The U of S also maintains two sites north of Attridge Drive, the Regional Psychiatric Centre on Central Avenue, and an as-yet undeveloped parcel of land at Central Avenue and Fedoruk Drive.

In the 1970s and again in the 1980s, the U of S considered opening up some of its land holdings south of College Drive and north of 14th Street for residential development, but opposition from nearby neighbourhoods that appreciated the "green belt" offered by the university, led to these plans being dropped.

Distinguished Research

Over the years, some of the most prominent projects at the University have been associated with the Department of Physics. In 1948, the University built the first betatron facility in Canada. Three years later, the world's first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit was constructed. (The first female Chancellor of the University, Sylvia Fedoruk, was a member of the Cobalt-60 research team. She also served as Saskatchewan's Lieutenant-Governor from 1988-1994.) The success of these facilities led to the construction of a linear accelerator as part of the Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory in 1964 and placed university scientists at the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. Experience gained from years of research and collaboration with global researchers led to the University of Saskatchewan being selected as the site of Canada's national facility for synchrotron light research, the Canadian Light Source. This facility opened Oct. 22, 2004 and is the size of a football field. The Plasma Physics Laboratory operates a tokamak on campus.

The university owns the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. Innovation Place Research Park is an industrial science and technology park that hosts private industry working with the university.

Campus Life

The Sheaf, a student publication, was first published on 1912, either monthly or less frequently. By 1920, it was published weekly with the aim of becoming a more unifying influence on student life. It was continued to publish continually through to the present time (as of 2004).

In 1965, a student-run campus radio station, CJUS-FM began broadcasting on a non-commercial basis. In 1983, the station became a limited commercial station. By 1985, however, funding was no longer provided, and the campus radio presence died. In early 2005, CJUS was revived in an internet radio form and continues to broadcast today. The university also maintains a relationship with the independent community radio station CFCR-FM, which actively solicits volunteers on campus.

Place Riel Theatre, a campus theatre, was opened in 1975, as was Louis, a campus pub. Place Riel, the existing campus student centre, opened in 1980, and now holds retail outlets, games area, lounge space, student group meeting areas, and a food court. These facilities were named after Louis Riel. In the late nineties, Place Riel Theater stopped public showings and is now used for campus movie features and lectures.

The official motto of the University is Deo et Patriae (Latin) which translates to God and Country.

Campus sports teams in Canadian Interuniversity Sport use the name Saskatchewan Huskies.

There are also two (main) residences available to students: McEown Park and Voyageur Place.

Controversies

In March 2006, The Sheaf printed a cartoon drawn by Jeff MacDonald depicting Jesus and the lead character of the strip, "Capitalist Piglet" engaged in an act of intimacy. At the time it was run, recent months had seen violent protests in the Muslim world in reaction to Danish cartoons featuring the prophet Muhammed; The Sheaf editorial staff and writing community were debating the merits (or lack thereof) of reprinting these cartoons out of respect, and had leaned away from printing them, as was favored by news editor Jeremy Warren. After "Capitalist Piglet" (#4) was printed, and further inflaming matters, University President Peter MacKinnon sent an unsolicited email to the entire student body asking for The Sheaf's editors to apologize immediately. The local media, headed up primarily by neo-conservative radio host John Gormley and other radio personalities, brought attention to the story until the Saskatoon StarPhoenix covered it on its front page. Eventually, the Globe and Mail as well as most Canadian network television covered the story as well.

In addition to personal verbal attacks on The Sheaf's editor-in-chief Will Robbins, Mark Watson, the original creator and writer of the Capitalist Piglet strips suffered verbal assaults and threats of violence. Gormley wrongfully held Watson responsible for the cartoon's publication and was forced to apologize on air to rectify his slanderous remarks.

In response to the mounting controversy, Robbins stepped down and apologized on radio and in print for the cartoon slipping into the paper despite it not receiving his approval; short staffing was cited as the problem. Despite numerous threats of violence and sanctions of unnamed sorts, Jeff MacDonald issued no formal apology offered no apologies, and The Sheaf continued to accept Jeff MacDonald's submissions.

During this controversy, many groups, including The Saskatoon Christian Centre, called for The Sheaf to be shut down entirely 1. Others called for a mass-resignation of the editors. Others, using blogs plugged by radio personalities, called for people to phone The Sheaf's advertisers and ask them to stop their support 2. On campus, hostility towards those in the office of The Sheaf, as well as the USSU was high enough that Campus Safety offered to station guards in the lobbies. Very quickly as the controversy appeared to approach pandemonium, some spoke out in support of Will Robbins and the Sheaf, including a Queens Park pundit.

After approximately one month, the media frenzy ended and no changes were made to The Sheaf's structure or editorial practices. At the annual general meeting which was rescheduled due to the perceived need for a larger space, the turnout was dismal, and none of the groups which called for changes were in attendance. The Sheaf's editorial staff, the USSU executive, and MacDonald were all present, but no questions were directed at MacDonald or his supporters.

This wasn't the first controversy involving the student newspaper. In 1987 The Sheaf refused to run a Students Association-sponsored advertisement for the on-campus showing of the James Bond film, The Living Daylights on the grounds that some staff members found the imagery used in the ad -- showing Bond pointing a gun towards a shapely and armed female -- offensive. This too led to discussion about possibly closing the newspaper down (the Student Association arguing that the paper was preventing the association from raising funds through the showing of the film at its Place Riel Theatre) and/or replacing its editorial staff.

Alumni

Notable Faculty and Researchers

Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1970 - Offered a position in 1935 to flee Nazi Germany, and remained at the university for ten years.
Professor William Sarjeant, geologist and novelist.
Dr. Thorbergur Thorvaldson, internationally known scientist and first dean of graduate studies at the U of S.

Notable Students

John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada
- Diefenbaker was also the university's chancellor. After he died, he and his wife were buried at the university, near the Diefenbaker Centre.
Dr. John Hewson, Australian politician
Ray Hnatyshyn, 24th Governor General of Canada
Henry Taube, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1983

University Administration

University Presidents

University Chancellors

Edward L. Wetmore (1909-1917)
Frederick W.G. Haultain (1917-1940)
P.E. MacKenzie (1940-1946)
Donald Maclean (1946-1947)
F.H. Auld (1947-1965)
E.M. Culliton (1965-1969)
John G. Diefenbaker (1969-1979)
Emmett M. Hall (1979-1986)
Sylvia O. Fedoruk (1986-1989)
E.K. (Ted) Turner (1989-1995)
M.L. (Peggy) McKercher (1995-2001)
W. Thomas Molloy (2001- )

Partner Universities

Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

External links

See also University of Saskatchewan Students' Union

University of Saskatchewan | Educational institutions established in 1907

Université de la Saskatchewan

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