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The University of Western Ontario (Western or UWO) is a coeducational, non-denominational, research-intensive university located in London, Ontario, on one of the most beautiful campuses in Canada. Western is one of the country's leading and most prestigious universities, consistently placing in the top three of Maclean's national university rankings. The University boasts more 3M award-winning faculty than any other Ontario University.

The University of Western Ontario is one of Canada's oldest universities, having been founded in 1878 by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth and the Anglican Diocese of Huron as "The Western University of London Ontario". The first students graduated in arts and medicine in 1883. Today, The University of Western Ontario is a vibrant centre of learning with 1,164 faculty members and almost 29,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Research is an integral part of the University’s mission, and external support for research projects totals nearly $190 million per year. There are about 1,200 faculty members at the university and affiliated colleges. Through its 12 faculties and schools, and three affiliated colleges, the University offers more than 200 different degree and diploma programs. Entrance requirements to the university are high, with an increasing entering average for the 2005-06 class at 88%. The student/faculty ratio for the 2003-04 year was about 21 students per member of faculty.

A few notable Western alumni include actor Alan Thicke, Ontario premier David Peterson, 60 Minutes host Morley Safer, and discoverer of insulin Sir Frederick Banting.

Campus

The University covers 1.6 km² of land on the North Branch of the Thames River. Western is considered one of the most beautiful universities in Canada, Western is located on nearly 400 acres of land along the banks of the Thames River. The main campus consists of 75 buildings, and the University also has land holdings outside of the main campus. The library system at Western has seven major service locations with more than 7.7 million items in print, microform and electronic formats. Together, they constitute one of the largest research library systems in Canada. There are many special collections, such as those in the areas of Canadiana, Art History, Sport History, Music and Law. Western's libraries are:
  • Archives and Research Collections Centre
  • Business Library
  • Education Library
  • John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library
  • Music Library
  • Allyn and Betty Taylor Library
  • The D.B. Weldon Library
  • The Pride Library

Athletics facilities on campus include the 8,000-seat TD Waterhouse Stadium, the Thompson Recreation and Athletic Centre, which contains an ice rink, an indoor track, curling sheets and tennis facilities, and Alumni Hall, a multi-purpose auditorium for basketball, volleyball and other indoor events.

The campus is also the home of art and performance facilities, retail and food outlets and the McIntosh Gallery, the oldest university art gallery in Canada. The permanent collection of the McIntosh includes over 3000 works in various media dating primarily from the early 19th century to the present, including works by the Group of Seven.

History

The University was founded in 1878 by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth of the Anglican Diocese of Huron as "The Western University of London Ontario." It incorporated Huron College, which had been founded in 1863. The first four faculties were Arts, Divinity, Law and Medicine, and there were originally only 15 students when classes began in 1881. The first of these students graduated in 1883. In 1916 the current site of the University was purchased from the Kingsmill family, and in 1923 the name of the University was changed to its present form. The first two buildings constructed at the new site were the Arts Building (now University College) and the Natural Science Building (now the Physics and Astronomy Building). These were built in a neo-Gothic or "Collegiate Gothic" style. The University College tower, one of the most distinctive features of the University, was named the Middlesex Memorial Tower in honour of the men from Middlesex County who had fought in World War I (all 40 male students at Western in 1914 had enlisted). Classes on the present site began in 1924.

Although enrolment was low for many years, after World War II the University began to increase greatly in size, and by the 1970s 10% of university students in Ontario were enrolled at Western. After World War II, the University saw the addition of new faculties such as the Faculty of Graduate Studies (1947), the School of Business Administration (now the Richard Ivey School of Business) (1949), the Faculty of Engineering Science (now the Faculty of Engineering) (1957), the Faculty of Law (1959), and Althouse College for Education students (1963).

Other notable buildings on campus include Thames Hall (built in 1949), the Stevenson-Lawson Building (built in 1959), Middlesex College (with its clock tower, another distinctive feature of the university, built in 1960), Talbot College (built in 1966), Alumni Hall (built in 1967), the University Campus of the London Health Sciences Centre, the John P. Robarts Research Institute, the Lawson Health Research Institute, the D.B. Weldon Library, the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory, the University Community Centre, the Social Science Centre, and T.D. Waterhouse Stadium (built in 2001). There is also the Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory, built in 1940 as one of the first observatories at a Canadian university, and named after the grandfather of actor Hume Cronyn. The McIntosh Memorial Art Gallery was built in 1942, and is now the oldest university art gallery in Canada.

The school colours are purple and silver, and the school's motto is Veritas et utilitas, meaning Truth and usefulness.

Organization

The University's Chancellor is Arthur Labatt, and its President is Dr. Paul Davenport.

Western offer more than 60 degrees and programs. Faculties at the University are:

The University also has three affiliated colleges:

In addition, there is a Continuing Studies facility in the downtown Galleria Mall for the purposes of adult education.

Student life

There are approximately 25,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students at Western. King's University College has about 3,100 students (2003/2004), Huron University College about 1,000, and Brescia University College about 500. The student residences on the main campus are:

The affiliated colleges have their own residences.

The University Community Centre is home to many student-run clubs and media outlets, including The Gazette, Western's daily student newspaper, TVWestern, the campus television station, and CHRW, fondly known as Radio Western. The campus also houses the popular student lounge with pub section, the Spoke, as well as the Wave, a restaurant/dance club. School spirit runs high at Western, as social events are well attended. Orientation (Frosh) Week and Homecoming are especially popular. Western's O Week is a $600,000 program, and the largest of its kind in Canada. USC representatives have led several seminars at other universities teaching them how to run an O Week comparable to Western's.

Sports, clubs, and traditions

In 1929 J.W. Little Stadium was built. This stadium served as the site of convocation until 1960, and continued to be used as a sports stadium until 2001 when it was torn down and replaced with TD-Waterhouse Stadium. The new stadium was the primary site of the 2001 Summer Canada Games, which were held in London.

Western has more than 20 sports teams, which are called the The University of Western Ontario Mustangs. From 1939 to 1948 the football team was undefeated, and they have won six Vanier Cups. For 30 years the football team was coached by John P. Metras, for whom the Canadian Interuniversity Sport's best defensive linesman award is named. The men's basketball team has also won many championships. Further, the men's squash team has won 21 consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) titles.

After years of debate, the Ontario University Athletics board of directors voted in May, 2006 to let schools provide athletic financial awards (AFAs) to first-year student-athletes. It has been argued that this will allow Ontario schools to become more competitive.

Western is also home to one of Canada's two university-level marching bands, the Western Mustang Band. It was started in 1938 by alumnus Don Wright (for whom the Music Faculty is now named). The only other Canadian university marching band is found at Queen's University. The Mustang Cheerleading team has won 21 consecutive Canadian Collegiate Championships (since 1985). The squad which started in 1929 is the longest running collegiate cheer team in Canada.

Due to Western's long history in Canadian interuniversity sports, its years of past successes and large and enthusiastic crowds, Western has intense rivalries with many other schools.

Arts and culture

Western is home to over 175 clubs for academic, religious, cultural, and other pursuits, which are governed by the University Students' Council. The Students' Council also publishes The Gazette, Canada's only daily student newspaper, which was founded in 1906 and given its present name in 1937.

Theatre Western, meanwhile, produces a season that includes an annual musical revue of modern and classic Broadway, Purple Shorts: Western’s One-Act Play Festival, and a major musical production each spring.

The student television station at The University of Western Ontario, TV Western, was co-founded by former ABC, and current Global TV anchor Kevin Newman. TV Western features original video programming created for students by students, including coverage of sports, arts, information and culture.

UWOpera, operating out of Talbot Theatre, performs a wide variety of repertoire ranging from operetta to full operatic works.

Recent fundraising

Western's most ambitious and successful fundraising campaign ever, Campaign Western, was publicly launched in September 2000, and raised more than $327 million in private donations, including an additional $65 million in expected planned gifts and more than $150 million leveraged from various government matching programs.

The total amount exceeded $540 million and represented one of the largest amounts raised by any Canadian university.

Campaign Western focused on six themes: building the University's endowment to meet highest priority needs, recruiting and retaining top faculty, attracting and supporting the best students, expanding research capacity, ensuring superior academic programs, and enriching the campus and community environment.

More than 55,000 alumni from around the world gave to the Campaign, representing a substantial increase from previous appeals.

Scholarships

Western has an extensive competitive scholarship program. The University's top scholarships are the National Scholarships *, which include:
  • President's Scholarship * (awarded to the top 11 entering students) and valued at $24,000 ($6,000 per year).
  • Faculty Scholarship * (awarded to the next 15 students) and valued at $16,000 ($4,000 per year).
  • National Merit Awards (awarded to up to 50 students) and valued at $2,000 (one year).

Western also offers an unlimited number of admission scholarships based on entering averages:

  • Continuing Scholarships (unlimited) and valued at $10,000 ($2,500 per year) for students entering with an average in the mid to high 90s.
  • Western Scholarship of Excellence (unlimited) and valued at $2,000 (one year) for students entering with an average of at least 90%.
  • Western Scholarship of Distinction (unlimited) and valued at $1,500 (one year) for students entering with an average of at least 85%.

Recent controversies

In spring 2005, Western decided to award an honorary degree to pro-choice advocate, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the first university to bestow such an honour upon him. The decision sparked great debate, locally, and nationally, as the event was covered by the national media. Hundreds of protestors converged outside of Alumni Hall, the site of Convocation, and tight security was employed. The debate also affected donations to the University, as on bequest of $2 million dollars was apparently withdrawn.

Western's unwanted image as a "party school" was resuscitated in October 2005, when pictures of a female student performing a striptease at one of the University's residences appeared on the Internet. The incident briefly attracted widespread media attention and was the subject of articles by a number of Canadian media outlets. The incident sparked a discussion about just how much control, or in reality how little, institutions of higher learning have over what goes on in their residences. In this case, the University took the position that all participants were willing and the activities were not explicitly forbidden in student housing rules and regulations.

Prominent groups

  • The University Students' Council (USC) is a $22-million dollar organization, the largest in Canada. 50% of UWO students are involved with the USC in some way or another.
  • The Western Mustangs football team is considered to be one of the top ten varsity football teams in Canada.
  • The Western Mustangs cheerleading squad has won 21 consecutive national championships, and first at the North American championship
  • The University of Western Ontario Debating Society, the oldest student association at the University and one of the largest and most respected university debating societies in Canada.
  • The Western Indo-Canadian Students' Association (WICSA) is the largest south Asian student's association in North America and host to the annual WICSA culture show, where students from all across North America compete in south Asian dance routines.

Miscellaneous trivia

  • Asteroid 15025 Uwontario is named after the University. See Meanings of asteroid names (15001-16000).
  • An episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, an NBC comedy for which UWO alumnus Andrew Orenstein wrote, featured a school whose football team was known as the "Western Mustangs" and which wore purple jerseys.
  • Though the practice was discontinued in the 1970s, Western frosh would wear a beanie throughout September.
  • The University of Western Ontario is the first Canadian University to offer an Aviation Management program.
  • A 1668 edition of Paradise Lost, reported to be Milton's personal copy, is housed in the university archives.

List of chancellors

List of presidents and vice-chancellors

See also

References

External links

University of Western Ontario | Universities in Ontario | Educational institutions established in 1878 | Botanical gardens in Canada

Université de Western Ontario | ウェスタンオンタリオ大学 | Uniwersytet Zachodniego Ontario | 西安大略大学

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "University of Western Ontario".

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