Vic Report 2013 Winter

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winter 2013

Educating the Imagination: President’s Annual Report 2011–2012 p. 7

Two Nations Under God? p. 19

vic report winter 20132

president’s page

Awakening the Imagination by paul w. gooch

Winter 2013 Volume XLI No. 2

Published under the authority of the Board of Regents of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

Publisher: Larry Davies, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs and Advancement

Executive Editor: Alison (Massie) Broadworth Vic 9T7, Director of Alumni Affairs and Advancement

Editor: Jennifer Little Vic 9T5, Manager of Marketing and Communications

Managing Editor: Liz Taylor, Communications Officer

Copy Editor: Frank Collins

Design: DDB Canada

Cover: Christine Choi Vic 0T7, Miguel Gamboa and Pauline Holdsworth. Photograph by Horst Herget.

Vic Report is sent to all alumni, faculty, associates and friends of Victoria University.

Published three times a year; circulation 24,000; ISSN 0315-5072. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40741521

Send letters and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Vic Report c/o The Victoria Alumni Office 150 Charles Street West Toronto ON M5S 1K9

Tel: 416-585-4500 Toll-free: 1-888-262-9775 Fax: 416-585-4594 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.vicu.utoronto.ca

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Please send your updated address, phone number and e-mail address to the Victoria Alumni Office.

Please notify us if the graduate named in the address is deceased (enclose obituary or equivalent) and we will remove his/her name from the mailing list.

Victoria University respects your privacy and does not rent, trade or sell its mailing lists.

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When I look up from my desk through my office window, I see several times a day passers-by pause before the new sculpture of Northrop Frye Vic 3T3, Emm 3T6. They take in the slightly larger-than-life figure sitting on the bench, the tilted head with a small smile both wry and kindly, pondering endlessly some idea from the books around him. Then the camera comes out; the visitor sits closer to the great scholar than ever might have happened in life, and a photo freezes this moment and relationship in time.

Last October, 100 years after Frye’s birth, Vic celebrated the Collected Works of Northrop Frye. The sculpture unveiled at that time brings into the present one iconic figure in Vic’s

past, making him available, not just in words, but in tangible image.

This striking piece of bronze signifies, for me, something about the Vic experience. The past, recovered and reshaped in the present, is about ideas, but also about persons, their histories and their passions. Just as persons are more than minds and thoughts, so education must take into account, as well as ideas, a whole complex of relationships, communities, social and political context, values and character, physical location—the material as well as the social and intellectual conditions of learning. One does not learn abstractly, but with and through and within (and even in spite of) all these other conditions.

Think, then, of the ‘where,’ and ‘with whom,’ and the ‘because of’ as you read through this President’s Report on the past academic year. In these pages you will pay a brief visit to each of our colleges, the library, the registrar’s and dean’s offices providing our students with academic advice, financial assistance, and co-curricular

programming, the alumni and advancement office, and the bursar’s many operations in the service of learning. All these activities come together in one overarching aim: drawing on the rich resources of a memorable past, we seek to fashion together with students, faculty and staff a vibrant, challenging education in the present.

What it is that one learns is of course crucial, as the stack of books beside Frye reminds us. With whom one studies is even more importantly at the heart of our two colleges, Victoria and Emmanuel. The learning at Vic is deliberately personal, and it extends well beyond the classroom door into other architectural spaces. Burwash Dining Hall, built 100 years ago, still rings with student (not only male) voices at meal times, but becomes eerily hushed in the small morning hours during exam preparation weeks, though chockfull with commuting and resident students in need of a quiet study area. This spring we will open the revitalized and expanded Wymilwood space in the new Goldring Student Centre, securing for the future splendid facilities for all the learning that goes on informally and in the programs overseen by the dean of students.

Outside my window, Northrop Frye sits cast in bronze, unperturbed by the elements, welcoming indifferently, undergraduates and tourists, children and squirrels. His gaze looks unblinkingly forward in an endless moment. We don’t know what he sees in the future as he looks past Old Vic in the direction of the Pratt Library. We do know, however, about the spirit captured and distilled in this moment. It is the Vic spirit of an insatiable curiosity, awakening the imagination into a critical appreciation of all things human. That spirit animates those who belong to Vic today; that spirit is Vic’s heritage for tomorrow.


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Paul Haynes Vic 9T9, president of the Alumni of Victoria College Executive, announced that Robert C. Wong Vic 6T3 is the 2012 Victoria College Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. The award will be presented at a dinner on April 17 (see page 20 for details).

“This award is a vivid reminder to me of the profound influence that Vic has had on my life,” says Wong. “My years at Vic were an exciting time for embracing new ideas, learning, living in residence and making lifelong friends. Inherently, Vic gave me an educational foundation, a worldly perspective and instilled in me the confidence to meet later challenges in business and politics.”

Wong is currently vice chair and senior portfolio manager at Leon Frazer and Associates. His personal history, however, reflects a varied and interesting career path. While completing an MBA in finance, Wong taught high school math, physics and pioneered the teaching of computer science at the high-school level, and wrote textbooks on the subject.

By the early 1970s, Wong’s interest in politics was growing steadily. He had the opportunity to serve as special assistant to the minister of national health and welfare, and as advisor to the minister of state for multiculturalism. After his time in Ottawa, he returned to Toronto and co-founded a brokerage firm that eventually grew to 12 offices across the nation. All the while, he remained active in politics and worked to grow Chinese-Canadian political engagement.

He left the investment world for a full-time career in politics in 1987 when he was elected MPP to the Toronto riding of Fort York and, in short order, was appointed Ontario’s Minister of Energy in Premier David Peterson’s government. This appointment made Wong the first cabinet minister in Canada of Chinese descent. Two years later, he took on the citizenship portfolio. His time in parliament was marked

by making major changes to the Power Corporation Act and for promoting multiculturalism and equity among Ontario’s diverse population.

Wong has supported many organizations as a volunteer, including the Toronto Board of Trade, Toronto Community Foundation, St. John’s Rehab Foundation, Canadian Automobile Association, St. Stephen’s Community House and CFMT Channel 47 (Canada’s first multilingual television station), where he served as a founding director for 10 years. He currently serves on a number of boards and committees, including Victoria University’s Board of Regents’ investment committee, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, George Brown College and Schulich School of Business International Advisory Council. His honours include a U of T Arbor Award, Courvoisier Leadership Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He continues to remain involved in political activities at both the provincial and federal levels.

Robert C. Wong Vic 6T3: Public Service, Private Achievements Distinguished Alumni Award Winner to be Honoured on April 17

Robert C. Wong in the Ontario legislature.

REMINISCE AND RE-CONNECT!Wednesday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street WestAll Vic One grads are welcome.RSVP to [email protected]

We’re collecting alumni stories about the first 10 years of Vic One. Be sure to send us yours.

For more information please visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF INNOVATION

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From October 4 to 6, 2012, U of T’s Department of English and the Centre for Comparative Literature hosted a conference in Old Vic on the works and impact of Northrop Frye Vic 3T3, Emm 3T6. The conference began with a celebration hosted by Victoria University in honour of its former student, professor,

Just as Victoria University wished to commemorate one of its greatest scholars and teachers in his centennial year, the Moncton Frye Festival was investigating the commission of a sculpture of the Moncton-born and -raised Northrop Frye. After an open competition, the commission was awarded to New Brunswick’s Darren Byers and Fred Harrison. Vic commissioned a modification of the Moncton sculpture to reflect, more specifically, Frye’s time at Victoria.

“We wanted to develop a sense of his presence—his warmth, his timidity, his yearning for comradeship countered by his reticence. Hence, his welcoming pose balanced against the book beside him, which inhibits intimacy,” say Byers and Harrison about this welcome addition to campus. “We also wanted to portray him at a stage of life when he was most typically recognized, so we chose the period when he was chancellor of Victoria University. His relaxed pose reveals his contentment, at this time, with himself and his surroundings. He is reflecting on a lifetime of experiences since he first arrived at Victoria College in 1929.”

The 300-pound sculpture overlooks his eponymous building, towards Vic’s quad and the E.J. Pratt Library. Byers and Harrison came to Toronto for the unveiling of the sculpture. “We were honoured to be part of the Frye centennial celebration,” say the artists. “It was overwhelming to receive such positive reactions from people who knew Professor Frye personally. We were told that we had ‘captured the human

university professor (U of T), principal (Victoria College 1959–1966) and chancellor (1978–1991). The completion of the Collected Works of Northrop Frye was marked by a student presentation of the entire 30-volume set of essays, correspondence, diaries, speeches, interviews and fiction to Victoria University. Speakers included Professor Alvin Lee Vic 5T3, Emm 5T7, editor of the Collected Works, Professor Jean (Reilly) O’Grady Vic 6T4, associate editor, and Dr. Ron Schoeffel, editor, University of Toronto Press. Following the presentation, guests attended the unveiling of the Frye sculpture (see story below).

Considered to be one of the most influential literary critics and theorists of the 20th century, Northrop Frye was born on July 14, 1912 and passed away on January 23, 1991. He received numerous international awards and honorary degrees, including being named a Companion of the Order of Canada. Victoria University created a video in Frye’s honour, which includes personal anecdotes as told by Victoria University faculty members. To watch the video, please visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca/alumni.

Frye,’—it doesn’t get any better than that. We also appreciated the visit by President Paul Gooch to the studio and his genuine appreciation for the sculpture and the details that make it Vic’s.”

Be sure to visit the sculpture and note the details on the book he holds, including angel and Leviathan motifs referring to his religious background and his respect for William Blake; piano keys symbolizing his love of music; a young Frye sitting at a typewriter representing his move to Toronto; a train evoking the train yards of his youth; and an illustration of Frye with his wife Helen (Kemp) Frye Vic 3T3.

newsline

Educating the Imagination at Victoria University Honouring the Centenary of Northrop Frye’s Birth

New Sculpture of Northrop Frye Graces Vic’s Grounds Artists Commissioned to Honour Influential Academic

All 30 volumes of the Collected Works of Northrop Frye were displayed by current Vic students. Each student also held one of Frye’s 38 honorary degree hoods.

A closer look at details on the sculpture’s book. Pho

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for a hospital in London, Ontario and then spent the rest of her career teaching dietetics at Brescia University College, London. She was very close to her niece Elizabeth and nephew Norman Park and their two families. She passed away on March 18, 2012 in her 94th year.

Hodgkinson was a very private, frugal woman with a biting sense of humour. She valued education and was confident that a gift of this nature to Victoria College would have a very large impact.

Mary Isabel (Park) Hodgkinson Vic 4T3 was a staunch believer in hard work. Nobody, she thought, should expect to be handed anything on a silver platter. She also believed everyone should be given a chance to create something meaningful with his or her life—meaning that could be found through effort and education. Thanks to her recent $1.9-million bequest to Vic, an extraordinary number of hard-working students will receive well-deserved assistance.

“When I first learned about this gift,” says Vic’s registrar, Susan McDonald, “my reaction was that this was absolutely fantastic news. We have so many talented Vic students who earn high averages and qualify for our in-course awards guarantee that this bequest is timely and very needed, indeed. This tremendous donation could amount to over 75 in-course awards per year.”

Hodgkinson was born in Mitchell, Ontario, to a stonemason and a homemaker. After high school, she worked as a teacher to support her brother’s medical school studies and to save money for her own education. She came to Vic during World War ll and graduated at the top of her class. “Despite the unhappiness of war time, the photos of my aunt at Vic show a very happy young woman,” says Mary Elizabeth Park Vic 6T8. “The education she received at Vic opened up doors and windows for her on what would have otherwise been a more narrow life.”

After her undergraduate education in household science, Hodgkinson did graduate studies at U of T and obtained a master’s degree. She was accepted into a PhD program at Cornell University but chose not to pursue it.

While in her 40s, she married Gordon Hodgkinson. He had no formal education, but he was clever, worked hard and eventually built a successful electroplating company. Things were tough in the beginning and the two of them lived in a trailer close to his factory. They had no children and, tragically, Gordon passed away at only 53 years of age. Alone, Isabel sold the business and worked as a dietician

Mary Isabel (Park) Hodgkinson: Encouraging Education and Effort Grad leaves $1.9M to Victoria College

Isabel Hodgkinson pictured in a family photo on her 92nd birthday.

Where There’s a Will…Victoria University can be designated as a beneficiary in your will. Here’s an example of a suggested wording:

I give and bequeath to the Board of Regents of Victoria University, Toronto, Ontario, the sum of $ or % of my estate.

If you wish to designate a specific bequest (a scholarship, the library, etc.), please contact Sharon Gregory at 416-813-4050, toll free at 1-888-262-9775 or [email protected].

Become a Heritage DonorBy arranging a planned gift for Victoria, you automatically become a member of the Victoria Heritage Donor Society. Benefits include invitations to special Victoria and U of T events as well as recognition in annual donor listings.

Dollar-for-Dollar Matching To recognize and further the impact of Isabel Hodgkinson’s bequest, a portion has been designated to match endowed awards for, in her words, “worthy students.” To establish or add to an existing endowment fund, or for more information, contact Larry Davies at 416-585-4501, or [email protected].


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Future home of the landscaped quadrangle.

THE GOLDRING STUDENT CENTRE

JOIN YOUR PLACE IN VIC HISTORY Excitement is building on campus as the Goldring Student Centre nears completion. When the doors open, the centre will have 40,000-square feet of new and renovated space. This transformational expansion will include meeting spaces, a casual study lounge, a café, an outdoor patio and quadrangle, and an entertainment centre that will also house The Cat’s Eye. For the 80 per cent of Vic students who commute, the Goldring Student Centre will provide a second home—especially with the addition of a large commuter lounge.

A space has been reserved in the building to recognize all donors of $2,500 or more. Alumni from 2000 to present will be recognized for $1,250 or more. Donate now at uoft.me/vicgsc or call the Office of Alumni Affairs and Advancement at 416-585-4526.

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Preserving the copper and wood of Wymilwood during its renovation and expansion.

The two-storey student commons, an open and bright space.

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IMAGINATION

vic report winter 2013 – president’s annual report 2011–2012

Paul Gooch can’t help seeing Victoria University’s 175th year through the eyes of three of its most famous graduates. Filmmaker Norman Jewison Vic 4T9; Nobel

Laureate and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson 1T9; and literary critic and scholar Northrop Frye Vic 3T3, Emm 3T6 all figured prominently in what Vic’s president and vice-chancellor says are among the school’s greatest accomplishments of 2011–2012.

In September 2011, Gooch sat down for dinner with Jewison and the inaugural class of the Norman Jewison Stream, the newest Vic One program. Featuring small group seminars, lectures, tutorials and informal conversations enriched by weekly plenary sessions with guest professors, visiting artists, writers, ambassadors and other public figures, the Jewison program attracted 18 outstanding students in the first year alone.

“He’s the only living person we’ve honoured in this way,” says Gooch of Jewison. “To talk to him and hear the students speak about why they chose Vic… it is inspiring and unforgettable!”

The Vic One Lester B. Pearson stream is also top of mind for Vic’s president. In early 2012, the program received a leadership gift from David Wilson Vic 6T8 and his sister Ann Wilson Vic 7T2. The David and Ann Wilson Professorship in Public Policy and Society will help attract a leading scholar or public policy expert to Vic.

Says Gooch: “I’m very, very pleased to see Vic One funded by honouring—not just Pearson—but our loyal alumni, who are role models for our students.”

The Wilsons’ gift was counted among the $43 million donated to the campaign. The president’s office played an important role in the Imagination Unbound campaign’s successes of the last year, its name inspired by 1933 graduate Northrop Frye.

“Having an appreciation of history humbles you,” explains Gooch, which is why he is reflecting on the past while also celebrating the successes of 2011–2012.

“We must cherish our past and make sure it continues to serve with a good purpose.”

president’s annual report 2011–2012

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Pauline Holdsworth, Miguel Gamboa and Christine Choi Vic 0T7 participated in October’s Chancellor’s Council and Charter Day Luncheon entitled The House that Frye Built. Each student is pursuing writing: Holdsworth through journalism, Gamboa through poetry and Choi as an academic and PhD candidate. All are alumni of the Northrop Frye Stream of Vic One.

EDUCATING THE

Did you know? President Gooch visited Chengdu, where Canadians founded West China Union University and its medical and dental schools (now Sichuan University). Residents have collected 300 photographs of these Canadian missionaries, and the photos are now housed in a museum near the city. Almost 30 of these Canadians were Vic graduates.

Victoria commissioned a sculpture of Northrop Frye Vic 3T3, Emm 3T6 in honour of the centenary of his birth (see page 4).

President Gooch serves on the Board of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and on the Campus Alberta Quality Council.

8 vic report winter 2013 – president’s annual report 2011–2012

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Angela Esterhammer is arguably Vic’s number one fan. Appointed principal of Victoria College on July 1, 2012, the 1983 Vic grad and renowned scholar of British, German, and European Romanticism and 19th-century literature and culture, spent much of last year preparing for the College’s top job by gaining an insider’s perspective on the strengths and opportunities facing the campus.

She loved what she saw.“In the last year, Vic took the initiative in transforming

the first-year experience academically through Vic One and co-curricularly through programs like Ideas for the World. Our goal is to enhance the student experience in a way that crosses boundaries between the academic community and society around us.”

Remembering her own outstanding undergraduate experience, Esterhammer is especially proud of the College’s efforts to blend its unique traditions with the global experiences students need today. In 2012, together with Queen’s University and Mount Allison University, Vic launched the Cross-Cultural College, a partnership with Kwansei Gakuin University (KGU)

VICTORIA COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

ENHANCING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCEin Japan. Thirty KGU students spent time at Vic this summer, and six Vic students travelled to Japan earlier in the year as part of a joint seminar program.

Vic’s Concurrent Teacher Education Program was also a stand-out for Esterhammer. The program’s partnership with Beijing Foreign Studies University sent five Vic students to China’s capital in 2011–2012 to teach in the university’s affiliated primary school; two Chinese teachers from that school are currently completing a term of professional development at Vic and OISE.

Continuing to expand international learning opportunities is a goal Esterhammer shares with her predecessor Principal David Cook Vic 6T9 and President Paul Gooch.

“I heard a lot last year about ‘personal education.’ It’s a Vic goal and maybe even an ideal, but it’s also a challenge for the largest research university in Canada,” she says. That’s why Vic’s transformation proved so compelling to Esterhammer.

“2011–2012 showed Vic to be a strong and lively community doing wonderful, dynamic things. That same vision continues to inspire me today, and I’m excited to help take it into the future.”

Students of the Cross-Cultural College enjoying Vic’s campus.

Did you know? In the spring of 2012, nearly 600 students from over 20 countries competed for Vic One’s 200 spaces.

Vic One launched with two streams in 2003; today it has five.

Last year Victoria College received approval to offer a unique minor program in Material Culture.

9vic report winter 2013 – president’s annual report 2011–2012

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Emmanuel College bucked a worrisome trend in 2011–2012: While enrolment in theological education programs across North America remained challenged, especially at the graduate level, Victoria’s theological college has seen an increase of 24 per cent from 2010–2011 to 176 students.

“It’s a combination of our innovative programs, outstanding faculty, student support and the recruitment strategy we launched in 2009,” explains Principal Mark Toulouse. “These things are paying dividends in student numbers.”

Emmanuel welcomed 57 new degree students in 2011–2012. A number of those were attracted by the college’s tuition grant program, introduced in 2011 to recruit Master of Divinity candidates from across Canada. The entering awards provided 100% tuition support to enable students, in their first year, to concentrate on their education instead of their finances. When combined with other scholarships and bursaries available to Emmanuel students, more than $570,000 was awarded to basic and advanced degree students in 2011–2012.

EMMANUEL COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATORS

In 2011, with the financial support of the Muslim community, Emmanuel recruited a visiting professor of Muslim studies, currently held by Nevin Reda. Four Muslim students enrolled in the master’s program that same year— a first in Emmanuel College’s more than 80-year history.

Natalie Wigg-Stevenson joined the faculty in 2011–2012 as the director of contextual education. Exploring new ways of connecting church and academy, theory and practice, Emmanuel College secured a $500,000 grant from the Lilly Foundation to launch the Teaching for Ministry Fellowship (TFM) Program. TFM brings together an interdisciplinary group of doctoral students from classical fields like history and theology, and pairs them with Emmanuel master’s students working with congregations, social service agencies and community groups across the city.

“The goal,” says Toulouse, “is to help doctoral students engage in innovative ways with our community and master’s students to learn to think analytically. We’re preparing the next generation of theological educators.”

“ Emmanuel isn’t just challenging me to be a good student, it’s challenging me to be a good human being.”

Khaiam Dar

Did you know? In 2012, Emmanuel successfully applied for a Lilly Endowment Incorporated Grant of $500,000 to fund its new Teaching for Ministry Program.

This fall, Emmanuel welcomed Swee Hong Lim as the new Deer Park Professor of Sacred Music.

A proposed conjoint PhD program between the Toronto School of Theology and U of T is in process with a target to offer admissions to new students in September 2014.


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Anyone who fears libraries are becoming redundant should talk to Robert Brandeis.

Victoria University’s chief librarian and his staff of 20 full-time and 50 part-time student employees fielded more than 115,000 queries last year—helping to track down everything from an online genetics journal, to a rare text on medieval history. There were close to 400,000 user visits to Vic’s E.J. Pratt and Emmanuel College Libraries in 2011–2012.

“Both print and electronic resources continue to be heavily used. We have more than 300,000 print resources and provide access to over 75,000 e-journals at the University of Toronto,” explains Brandeis. “Not everything is on Google.”

A growing number of library visitors are interested in Vic’s more than 90 named special collections, including works by and about E.J. Pratt Vic 1T1, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group, William Blake, Northrop Frye and Norman Jewison Vic 4T9. More than 3,000 digital

CHIEF LIBRARIAN

TRADITION AND INNOVATION UNITEitems and objects are also available online as part of Vic’s Digital Collections.

An exhibition mounted by the library staff in celebration of Vic’s 175th anniversary in 2011, drew heavily from the University’s archives and digital collections. Featuring memorabilia, digitized film and photographs from throughout Vic’s history, the exhibition was displayed in the E.J. Pratt Library from September until the end of October and was a focal point of the All-Years Reunion.

“We even had digitized film from the 1930s of students in raccoon coats getting up to hijinks after an athletic event,” laughs Brandeis.

The E.J. Pratt Library also underwent a minor facelift in 2012. Opened in the 1960s and renovated in 2001, the library received much-needed additional study and counter space to accommodate increasing student demand.

E.J. Pratt Library exhibition celebrates Victoria’s 175 anniversary.

Did you know? In 2011–2012 the E.J. Pratt and Emmanuel library websites had over 2 million viewers.

More than 61,000 manuscripts from the Special Collections were consulted at the Pratt Library in 2011–2012.

Since 1992, over $1.5 million has been raised by the Friends of Victoria University Library.

11vic report winter 2013 – president’s annual report 2011–2012

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Last year at this time, Registrar Susan McDonald had more than her fair share of nomination forms on her desk. Vic nominated a record 12 students for the prestigious University of Toronto John H. Moss Scholarship in 2011–2012. The award recognizes extraordinary academic performance and extra-curricular involvement.

“I’m always delighted by how well our students do,” says McDonald. “They’re so accomplished, driven and talented. They’re always going off to do amazing things.”

The scholarship was ultimately awarded to Kate Bruce-Lockhart Vic 1T2, a passionate leader and advocate for justice, Vic One mentor and accomplished athlete who is now pursuing a master’s degree in African Studies at Oxford.

Bruce-Lockhart wasn’t alone in her exceptional achievements last year. According to McDonald, 562 students received in-course awards for their academic performances in 2011–2012, a 16 per cent increase over the year previous. In-course scholarships worth $1,000 are presented to

REGISTRAR

RECOGNIZING ACCOMPLISHMENT AND TALENTundergraduate students who have earned 80 per cent or more at the end of their first, second and third years. Another 110 students earned entrance awards to attract them to Vic and support their first-year studies. Many entrance and in-course scholarships are generously supported by alumni donations and bequests.

To ensure that Vic students have access to international experiences and opportunities the University established a study abroad fund to help offset the costs of travel and study for a term at partner institutions around the world. In 2011–2012, 112 Vic students received bursaries of up to $2,000 to help fund their study and research opportunities abroad.

All told, Victoria College awarded more than $1.66 million in funding in 2011–2012 including $1.1 million in admission, in-course, research awards and post-graduate scholarships, and an additional $560,000 in need-based funding and study abroad bursaries.

“ Everyone at Vic is genuinely interested in what students have to say, and wants to create the best student experience. I’ve had resources that helped me become confident in my ideas and myself, grow as a person and become a leader.”

Elveena Yessoo

Did you know? In 2011–2012, over 5,000 students competed for 850 first-year places at Vic and 13 per cent of the incoming class received admission scholarships.

The admission cut-off average at Victoria College has steadily risen over the past 15 years.

Thanks to alumni support, 562 students, roughly 21 per cent of Vic’s student body, were awarded in-course scholarships this year, compared to only five per cent in 1993.


Why is academic freedom so important? How do the media influence public opinion? What cultural assumptions underlie Canada’s peace work in the Middle East? How does public perception of the role of religion differ between Canada and the U.S.? What are the moral and legal issues around whether HIV status must be disclosed? What roles do politics and business play in promoting or hampering specific scientific research?

These and countless other issues were discussed by Vic students and members of the public as part of the University’s ground-breaking Ideas for the World program launched in 2011. Between September 2011 and April 2012, Vic offered six lunch-hour sessions giving students the chance to interact, reflect and share ideas on everything from science and culture, to politics and religion. Another two evening sessions on theatre and humanities brought together students and community members facing poverty and hardship.

All told, over 200 students and 65 community members participated in the unique and interactive program in 2011–2012.

“We’re pushing education to be broad and deep not just inside the classroom, but beyond it as well. And we’re focussing on the complete experiences and well-being of students at university,” explains Dean of Students Kelley

DEAN OF STUDENTS

NURTURING THE WHOLE STUDENTCastle, who conceived the program. “The social benefits of learning have somehow become hazy; we’re trying to revivify them by blending student social, academic and community experiences in a single program.”

Integration was the theme behind every initiative introduced by Castle last year. A new Commuter Student Package launched in September 2011 provided off-campus students with overnight study space; three commuter dons who led programs on timely challenges such as exam stress; and financial support to help commuting students participate in campus programs such as Ideas for the World. The dean of students also hosted Minding our Minds, a conference (open to professionals as well as students) on mental health in the university featuring keynote speaker David Goldbloom, chair of the Canadian Mental Health Association. The November event attracted more than 100 guests.

Says Castle: “It’s not just learning that needs to be integrated; it’s support as well. If you’re having an academic problem, you’re probably also struggling emotionally. Our students need to take intellectual risks and we need to encourage it with opportunities and support at every level.”

Ideas for the World participants chatting on campus.

Did you know? The Goldring Student Centre will offer over 40,000 square feet of space, double that of Wymilwood.

Vic’s Ideas for the World program offers eight sections of non-credit courses, including Humanities for Humanity and Theatre for Thought.

Annesley Hall, opened in 1903, and no two rooms are alike. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2003.

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13

There was a moment in the fanfare surrounding the launch of Vic’s $60-million Imagination Unbound campaign that Larry Davies, executive director of alumni affairs and advancement, says he will not forget.

David Peterson, then chancellor of U of T, told the 500 guests at the April 3, 2012 event that he had been to 157 convocations and shaken 61,000 hands, but it was his recent meeting with Vic student and Moss Scholar, Kate-Bruce Lockhart Vic 1T2, that confirmed his belief that U of T alumni “will truly change the world.”

Bruce-Lockhart shared her experiences in Vic One, and as a Jackman Humanities Institute Undergraduate Fellow, concluding that, “Vic students are taught not simply to care about our GPAs, but also to care deeply about the world around us, and to think critically about how we can contribute to enriching our collective human experience at a local, national or global level. As I move on to my master’s degree, Vic has shaped the ways in which I understand the value of education, showing me how a passion for learning can be translated into palpable positive change in my own life and the lives of others.”

“These comments confirmed that Vic is creating the kind of creative and responsible citizens we need in Canada,” explains Davies, who returned to Vic in August, “and showed why we need to do even more to maximize that potential.”

Imagination Unbound is providing Vic with the means to continue its transformation of undergraduate and theological

ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND ADVANCEMENT

SUPPORTING ALUMNI AND THE UNIVERSITYeducation, providing every student with an education that is personal, enriched by international experiences and including activities beyond the classroom. In April, more than $43 million had already been committed toward the $60-million goal.

The campaign event was the book-end to an already exceptional year for Vic’s alumni affairs and advancement team.

In October 2011, the department orchestrated the closing ceremonies of a year-long celebration of the University’s 175th anniversary. The week-long festivities, October 12 to 16, brought together students and alumni from every graduating year, headlined by a gala evening at the Royal Ontario Museum. Among the guests at the gala was 1936 grad Ronald MacFeeters, who proposed the toast in honour of his alma mater. This was MacFeeters’ third Vic anniversary milestone; born in 1914, MacFeeters also attended Vic’s 100th and 150th celebrations.

“The alumni and advancement team worked hard to make both the anniversary and campaign celebrations a remarkable success, but we couldn’t have done it without our dedicated volunteers,” says Alison (Massie) Broadworth Vic 9T7, director of alumni affairs and advancement.

Vic alumna Valerie (Naylor) Story Vic 7T0, served as chair of the Vic 175 Anniversary Committee and Imagination Unbound is guided by an impressive team of President’s Advisors and honorary chairs: the Honourable Hal Jackman Vic 5T3, Norman Jewison Vic 4T9 and Blake Goldring Vic 8T1.

vic report winter 2013 – president’s annual report 2011–2012

“ Vic has taught me what a tremendous impact a few individuals can make on the lives of others.”

Zenia Turkewych-Miner

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Did you know? Since 1836, over 46,000 students have graduated from Victoria and Emmanuel.

Victoria’s students have committed $7 million towards the construction of the Goldring Student Centre.

There are 50 Victoria Student Ambassadors who work with the alumni office to help maintain ties between current students and alumni.


STATEMENT OF OPERATIONSFor the year ended April 30, 2012(in thousands of dollars)

2012 2011

REVENUES

Student fees $ 9,441 $ 8,648

Grants from the University of Toronto 4,544 5,258

Grants from the Toronto School of Theology 373 432

United Church grant 364 296

Government grants 318 200

Donations 1,411 824

Investment income 3,183 3,664

Sales, services and sundry income 3,412 3,492

Amortization of deferred capital contributions 785 780

Real estate income 10,060 8,925

Unrealized gain on interest rate swap contract* 210 209

Unrealized gain (loss) on short-term investments* (22) 7

Unrealized gain (loss) on held-for-trading investments—marketable securities* (655) 1,864

$ 33,424 $ 34,599

EXPENSES

Salaries and benefits $ 19,253 $ 18,440

Supplies and other 3,764 3,741

Repairs and maintenance 1,074 1,022

Utilities 1,596 1,712

Amortization of property and equipment and revenue-producing properties 4,433 4,294

Scholarship and bursaries 2,364 1,741

Cost of sales and services 1,184 1,199

Interest 840 1,018

$ 34,508 $ 33,167

Deficiency of revenues over expenses for the year $ (1,084) $ 1,432

* These losses are of a non-cash nature and are disclosed under the new Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants standards.

The Statement of Operations has been derived from the audited financial statements of Victoria University for the year ended April 30, 2012.

A complete set of audited financial statements may be obtained through the Office of the Bursar.

“It was the year of raising the bar.” That, in a nutshell, is how Ray deSouza sums up his 2011–2012 year as Victoria University’s bursar and chief administrative officer.

DeSouza and his team have been investing time and resources in all the non-academic aspects of campus—from food services, to technology—to ensure they match the standards of excellence set by Vic’s outstanding academic programs.

“When our students are challenged in the classroom by leading professors, they carry those same high expectations into the residences, libraries, reading rooms and dining halls,” he explains. “We want to meet and even exceed those expectations.”

DeSouza oversaw a handful of major capital projects over the past year, including construction of the Goldring Student Centre, which will open this year. The University’s dining services also underwent a complete overhaul. No longer just a cafeteria, Burwash Dining Hall is a bustling centre of social activity where students can eat and study at peak periods from as early as 8 a.m. until 1 a.m. The bursar’s office also completed a review of the technologies driving the Vic student experience to ensure enhanced support for laptops, tablets and smartphones.

While a more modern campus is one of deSouza’s goals, he’s careful not to impose change at the expense of Vic’s signature buildings. “All renovations take into account the historic nature of our buildings. This is about the relationship between the old Vic and the new.”

Victoria’s Board of Regents is equally committed to strategic campus growth and commissioned a campus master plan in 2011–2012. Campus life and student engagement are recurring items on the Board’s agenda. The Board, with deSouza as secretary, is also cultivating stronger ties with the neighbourhood Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Association.

Explains deSouza: “There is no other campus like this in the City of Toronto. We want to remain a unique asset to our neighbourhood and an unmatched centre of academics and student life.”

BURSAR

IMPROVING THE CAMPUS EXPERIENCE

Board of Regents Executive Committee 2011–2012

Paul Huyer Vic 8T1, ChairShoaib Ali 1T3Larry ChapmanMurray Corlett Vic 6T1Angela Esterhammer Vic 8T3John Field Vic 7T8Paul Gooch

John Grant Vic 8T3Judith (Rhodes) Nettleton Vic 8T1Alison Schofield Vic 7T8David Silcox Vic 5T9Gordon ThompsonMark ToulouseRay deSouza, Secretary


alumni spotlight

John Meisel Vic 4T8 has written a memoir entitled A Life of Learning and Other Pleasures: John Meisel’s Tale (Wintergreen Studios Press). The story begins in 1923 in Vienna and traces his family’s escape from Europe. His journey leads him to Eindhoven, Casablanca, Rio de Janeiro, Panama and Port-au-Prince, culminating with his family’s arrival in Toronto. A chapter is devoted to his years at Vic. Meisel eventually joined Queen’s University as a faculty member. The memoir also shares an insider’s view of the CRTC (which he chaired), and describes the experiences of a Canadian professor straddling university and government cultures.

Q: In an interview with Steve Paikin Vic 8T1 on The Agenda, you stated that you never planned very much but that you were always willing to seize an opportunity. How has this ethos helped guide your success personally and professionally?

A: Most of my activities I either enjoyed or thought worth doing because I deemed them to be desirable and useful. Seizing opportunities exposed me to sometimes unexpected and challenging experiences which considerably broadened my perspective and knowledge. Becoming involved with the CRTC is a good example. These openings led me to new terrain and enriched my experience to no end.

Q: What impact did Vic have on your career?

A: Vic made a tremendous contribution to my growing into adulthood. It gave me a taste of university life and values and exposed me to the joys (and challenges) of academic life.

At a different level, it eased me into the anglo-Canadian community. While at Vic I started establishing friendships and developed an admiration for values of decency, social responsibility, integrity, prudence and abhorrence of violence. A quite different, but immensely important impact was meeting my future wife and marvellous soul-mate, Murie Kelly Vic 4T6. Many friendships we made as students with colleagues and faculty continued into our later life. Vic became a life-forming, socializing community which, along with family and ethnic ties, formed our selves.

Q: Which professor influenced you the most?

A: Northrop Frye Vic 3T3, Emm 3T6. His intelligence, erudition and social outlook, taste for music and sense of humour were enormously appealing. After graduation, he invited me to serve on the editorial board of the Canadian Forum, which he edited. I tell an anecdote in my book in which we share a wonderful picnic in London with the Fryes. Other Vic profs also deeply affected my life: Kathleen Coburn Vic 2T8, Emm 8T6 strengthened considerably my interest in the English novel; E.J. Pratt 1T1 in Shakespeare; and Eric Havelock in Greek thinking. All three had inquiring minds and infectious ideas. Jessie Macpherson, the Dean of Women, also served as a role model.

Q: What similarities/differences do you perceive between your undergraduate experience and that of today’s student?

A: There were a lot of World War II veterans when I was at U of T. Hardly any student was left untouched by the conflict. Students were less involved in international and developmental issues. Feminism was yet to grow. The milieu was dramatically different. Virtually every student would find a job consistent with his/her university training. Nowadays the job situation is much less secure. Students also frequently graduate with colossal debts. This was not the case in the late 1940s.

Q: What do you think of our world’s non-stop, 24/7 access to “news” that both traditional and non-traditional media are providing?

A: I deplore it, but would need to write another book to explain adequately. Still, it is worth noting that when I was at Vic, Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan were the world’s most important pioneers in the study of this phenomenon.

Q: What are your thoughts on the trend toward amalgamation of major media/entertainment outlets?

A: Small is beautiful. I am deeply concerned about these developments and rejoice that the CRTC seems to share my view.

An excerpt from the chapter ‘Varsity 1944–1948’ featuring Vic 1T1 graduate, and famed poet E.J. “Ned” Pratt:’ “Ned” Pratt, as he was known, occasionally invited an undergraduate to his office for tea. I was chosen once and had an enlightening tête-à-tête with him, taken up largely with stories about his native Newfoundland and my tales about Bata. But the principal feature of the social hour was not his engaging charm, nor his conversation, but the truly monumental clutter of the ambience. This is a condition of which I am a connoisseur, indeed a pre-eminent practitioner. But the great bard’s den surpassed anything I had ever seen or even imagined. It was so chock full of books, papers and bric-a-brac that the task of depositing a teacup seemed impossible. Still after much shuffling, piling and stacking a bare spot was found on which Professor Pratt deposited the pièce de résistance of our repast: a hard-boiled egg still in its shell. This came as no surprise since it was common knowledge that this perfectly shaped nutriment always constituted the gastronomical centrepiece of Professor Pratt’s hospitality.

“And if not now, then when?” (Hillel) John Meisel Reflects on the Opportunities of Life


CAREERS, AUTHORS, HONOURSSixty years ago, eight English ‘Lang and Lit’ Vic 5T2 grads formed Book Club as a way to keep in touch with each other. Nancy (Curran) Carnwath, Pat (Grandy) Stewart, Carol (MacKinnon) MacDermott, Pat (Smith) Broadhurst, Janet (Waite) Burnie, Anne (Ward) Maxwell, Catherine (Wilson) Lawson, Shirley Wigmore and Margaret (World) Parker met in the Copper Room of the then-new Wymilwood building. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea was their first challenge. Usually books chosen were literature, but biographies later made an appearance,

and poetry—even cookbooks have been discussed. Northrop Frye visited on one occasion and TVO filmed the group. As individuals married and had families, meetings were held at homes, and over time, some members have left, others have joined including alumnae from Vic, Trinity and UC. Today, Book Club has 12 active women who love to read. This past October, Book Club celebrated its 60th anniversary with a luncheon, balloons and champagne at the Ladies’

Golf Club of Toronto. Six of the original eight were able to attend.

Kabir Ahmed Vic 9T0, a New York- and Ontario-licensed corporate and securities lawyer and mining entrepreneur, successfully completed a Master of Laws degree from Cornell University Law School in May 2012. He is now pursuing a PhD at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

This past June, at the age of 104, Jane (Brien) Bateman Vic 3T2, who sadly passed away in December, was a guest speaker at a tree-planting ceremony commemorating World Elder Abuse Day on June 15. The event was sponsored by the Elder Abuse Resource and Prevention Committee, Windsor-Essex. Bateman spoke these words:

“ If the tree is nourished and not abused, it grows robust and strong. It puts forth limbs and branches. One of the branches produces pen pals. Pen pals can be mutually beneficial. Young lives revitalize the older ones. Even as the tree ages, it still has nourishment to give to the young limbs. It is a gift to respect and honour youth and age.”

Seventy-eight paintings by John Bennett Vic 4T2 were recently accepted by the National War Museum in Ottawa to be part of its permanent collection. Serving with the Canadian Forces in World War II, Bennett carried his painting supplies with him, painting what he saw along the way in France, Belgium, Holland and England. Bennett was elected to the Ontario Society of Artists in 1951, was president of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour in the 1970s and, when he retired in 1982, was co-ordinator of visual arts for the Toronto District School Board. Beyond the museum in Ottawa, his paintings now hang in private homes, galleries and institutions across the country.

Benjamin Chan Vic 8T7 has joined the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at U of T. Chan will be leading work at the institute to explore how quality improvement techniques can be used to accelerate the adoption of best practices and innovations in the delivery of rural health care, particularly in developing countries. Chan has had a long and distinguished career in health services research and management, including a decade at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences where he has written more than 60 publications. He was the 1987 Moss Scholar and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Victoria College in 2005.

In September 2012, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. re-released a book originally published by University of P

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Save the Dates! May 30–June 2 Celebrating the Honoured Years: 3T8, 4T3, 4T8, 5T3, 5T8, 6T3, 6T8, 7T3, 7T8, 8T3, 8T8 Come back to Vic for the weekend! Visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca/alumni/springreunion.

milestones send us your news: [email protected]

Five Vic alumnae, Melanie Aitken Vic 8T8, Kevin (Smith) Garland Vic 6T2, Judy Goldring Vic 8T7, Maureen Kempston Darkes Vic 7T0 and Catharine Whiteside Vic 7T2 have been included in the Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women for 2012.


milestonessend us your news: [email protected]

Lawson was nominated by the YMCA of Metropolitan Toronto for his many volunteer contributions over 60 years to that organization, the extraordinary contribution he has made to Canadian society as the Chairman of the Board of the Counselling Foundation of Canada, his service to Victoria University, as well as his many other volunteer leadership roles.

Catharine (Turnbull) McKenty Vic 5T2 has been giving talks in Ireland and Canada, in libraries and schools, based on her book, Polly of Bridgewater Farm:

An Unknown Irish Story, published by Cabbagetown Press in partnership with Carol Moore-Ede Vic 6T6, founder of the Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum. Copies are available

at the CRP Museum and Nicholas Hoare book store. To learn more visit www.pollyofbridgewaterfarm.com.

Kimberley (Earle) Powell Vic 8T3 is an educator and child development specialist who teaches at Nipissing University, and recently visited Canberra, Australia, for a few months with her family. Two articles, written by her during this time, have appeared in the Midland Mirror. One is about children’s sense of place and its importance in

Toronto Press in 1980 as part of its series Social History of Canada. Within the Barbed Wire Fence: A Japanese Man’s Account of His Internment in Canada, New Edition, is by Takeo Ujo Nakano,

with Leatrice M. (Nakano) Willson Chan Vic 7T5. It is an account of Chan’s father’s internment, first in road camps in B.C.’s interior and later at Angler Camp 101, near Marathon, Ontario.

Alex French Vic 0T8 had her image of the National Ballet School studios— and dancers practising on different levels of the building—selected for digital exhibition by Aday.org. More than 100,000 were submitted and only 45 were selected. Visit http://www.aday.org/#exhibition to view her image.

This past fall Melanie (Chandler) Jackson Vic 7T8 had her ninth novel published with Orca Books, High Wire, a circus mystery for young adults.

Donald G. Lawson Vic 5T1 was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on December 5, 2012.

development, security and well-being. The second examines the use of padded calming rooms in schools as a behaviour-management tool for students with special needs.

Lorraine Richard Vic 8T2 was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in Toronto this past October. She received the award for “breaking down the barriers of language, culture and geography to inspire the community to be global citizens” and her “commitment to excellence in education with a focus on experiential learning.”

David Sutcliffe Vic 9T3 stars in Cracked, a new CBC drama about a fictional psychiatric-crime unit. He plays Detective Aidan Black, a cop who is paired with a forensic psychiatrist to solve crimes involving mental illness.

Brian Tennyson Vic 6T2, professor emeritus, Cape Breton University, has published The Canadian Experience of the Great War: A Guide to Memoirs (Scarecrow Press), an annotated bibliography of published writings by Canadian men and women who served in the First World War.

MARRIAGESLevon Stepanian Vic 0T3 married Maral Mekhjian on May 19, 2012 in San Francisco, CA.

Grad Year: Vic Emm

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milestonesAlumni are invited to send information for inclusion in Milestones. For marriages please indicate, if applicable, whether you prefer to be known by your married or birth name. An obituary must accompany notices of death.

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milestones

IN MEMORIAMCourtney V. Arthur Vic 1T2, in Kawartha Lakes, Ont., September 29, 2012. Gifts in memory of Courtney can be designated to the Courtney Arthur Fund at Victoria College by visiting alumni.utoronto.ca/courtneyarthur.

James M. Austin Vic 4T7, in Sudbury, Ont., November 2, 2012.

Arthur R. “Art” Bailey Vic 4T8, in Ottawa, September 26, 2012.

Jane E. (Brien) Bateman Vic 3T2, in Windsor, Ont., December 22, 2012 (see Milestones page 16).

Newton Rowell Bowles Vic 3T9, in Duluth, MN, October 2, 2012.

Ruth (Hicks) Clarke Vic 3T9, in Hamilton, Ont., July 28, 2012.

Jean Ellen (Joynt) Clayson Vic 4T5, in Bradford, Ont., November 28, 2012.

David A. Creighton Vic 5T4, in Burlington, Ont., May 26, 2012.

John B. Crowther Vic 4T8, in Oshawa, Ont., November 12, 2012.

Leonard S. Cummings Vic 4T9, in Toronto, December 9, 2012.

William E. “Bill” Curry Vic 3T8, in Waterloo, Ont., November 14, 2012.

W. Thomas Delworth Vic 5T1, in Ottawa, October 29, 2012.

Donald M. Ewing Vic 4T1, in Guelph, Ont., September 10, 2012.

Shirley R. (Tabb) Farlinger Vic 5T0, in Toronto, December 18, 2012.

Fred C. Farr Vic 4T9, past editor of Vic Report’s Along the Strand, in Toronto, November 19, 2012.

E. Irene (Patterson) Garrett Vic 3T8, in Mississauga, Ont., November 5, 2012.

Alice P. (Carscallen) Griffiths Vic 3T6, in Toronto, November 30, 2012.

Phyllis (Weese) Haberstroh Vic 5T2, in Bellingham, WA, November 27, 2012.

George T. Hindley Vic 3T7, in Guelph, Ont., September 27, 2012.

M. Isabel (Park) Hodgkinson Vic 4T3, in London, Ont., March 18, 2012 (see page 5).

Lecily C. (White) Hutcheson Vic 4T9, in Huntsville, Ont., November 25, 2012.

George H. Kinsman Vic 5T4, in Edmonton, Alta., October 20, 2012.

Mary E. (Morrison) Lambert Vic 4T2, in Picton, Ont., October 11, 2012.

Isobel J. (Ledingham) Lymbery Vic 4T3, in Lindsay, Ont., September 16, 2012.

Larry W. Marshall Emm 7T6, in Toronto, June 13, 2012.

Doris M. (Chisholm) McBean Vic 3T6, in Toronto, August 31, 2012.

D. Marion (Irwin) O’Donnell Vic 4T9, in Oshawa, Ont., October 10, 2012.

Frank Peppiatt Vic 4T9, in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, November 7, 2012.

Clayton R. Peterson Vic 5T2, in Toronto, August 19, 2012.

Olga E. (Hoare) Reed Vic 4T6, in Toronto, November 17, 2012.

Ethelwyn B. “Babs” (Jeffers) Scott Vic 4T7, in Toronto, October 13, 2012.

Ronald A. Spalding Vic 5T1, in Sudbury, Ont., October 31, 2012.

Peter R. Sturdy Vic 5T1, in Cambridge, Ont., July 27, 2012.

Isabella W. (Alexander) Troop Vic 4T8, in Peterborough, Ont., November 18, 2012.

Belva E. (Barker) Walker Vic 4T9, in Victoria, B.C., December 2, 2012.

Douglas E. Willis Vic 5T0, Emm 5T3, in Selkirk, Ont., October 5, 2012.

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faculty forum

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What is the “proper” relationship between religion and public life? Both Canadians and Americans wrestle with this question. But they do so in different ways. It is impossible to keep religion and public apart, and not necessarily wise to attempt to do so. As the histories of both countries exemplify, it is often the public face of religion that helps a nation accomplish important social improvements. Of course, the relationship between the two can create problems as well.

Because religion is so obviously visible both in public and in politics within the United States, many Canadians naturally assume that the mixture of religion and public south of the border is much more prevalent, and usually more problematic, than it is in Canada. In many ways, this is certainly true; in others, perhaps not so much. At the mid-point of the last century, Christian faith and practice were more evident in Canada than in the United States. The notion of a Christian Canada really only began to fade during the 1960s and following.

The formal and constitutional separation of church and state in the United States means that, at least institutionally, the two do not mix very successfully, though there are many in American politics who keep trying to mix them. In Canada no such constitutional separation exists. This makes it possible, as happened in 2010–2011, to provide over $5 million in city and federal funds to help Youth for Christ Canada build a new centre in downtown Winnipeg. On its various websites, the organization conveys its passion to reach the 60,000 young people in Winnipeg with “the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.” This kind of mixing of religion and public certainly carries significant and problematic implications. In the U.S., public funding of this type could not have been provided.

In Canada, a measure of public monies is also used to fund theological education in cases where theological schools are connected to provincial universities. Emmanuel College benefits in a small way from this arrangement. And, for schoolchildren, the separate school programs (mostly Catholic, rarely Protestant) are also publicly funded in three provinces and three territories. These institutional examples of mixing religion and public are simply not present in the same ways in the United States.

The mixing of religion and public in the United States is a rather complicated phenomenon. In contrast to the Canadian constitution (1982) which mentions “the supremacy of God,” the constitution of the United States, written in the late 18th century, is a completely secular document. Yet, a secular American Congress added the words “under God” in 1954 to the pledge of allegiance, which had originally been written by a Unitarian minister in 1892 without mention of God. The sudden interest in God had a good bit to do with an attempt to make clear a differentiation between the U.S. and the “atheistic” or “godless” communism of the Soviet Union. For the same reason, Congress changed the motto of the United States in 1956 from E Pluribus Unum (“out of many, one,”

which, though never codified by law, had operated as the nation’s motto since 1782) to In God We Trust. This generic “God,” found also in the rhetoric of presidential addresses and other public forums, is rarely defined. In most cases, the reference seems to imply a god who is especially concerned with the success of American activities. These public references to “God” are like public uses of the Bible in courtrooms. In such cases, there is no interest in the content of the Bible; instead, the Bible is used as a symbol to accomplish other purposes.

American public life is filled with references borrowed from Christianity and Judaism, but what is meant by them differs from meanings found in their original contexts. That is why scholars have used the term “civil religion,” instead of referring either to Christianity or Judaism, to understand the religious meanings associated with these phrases in American public life. The meanings are related to rituals intended to serve a nation, or to serve the interests of the American people. As contemporary expressions, they have very little to do with either Christianity or Judaism. Instead of reinforcing Christian and Jewish notions of justice and freedom, or themes like sin, grace, repentance and forgiveness, civil religion promotes an unhealthy nationalism that divides the world into good people and bad people largely based on whether or not they affirm the American way of life. Civil religion is nearly non-existent in Canada. This remains true today despite the fact that throughout his 2004 campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party, and in the 2006 address immediately following his election as prime minister, Stephen Harper regularly used the phrase “God bless Canada” to conclude his political speeches. Even more interesting was the fact that an Ipsos-Reid survey found in 2006 that 65% of Canadians supported Harper’s use of the phrase at the end of his speeches.

Take it from an American who is hoping to be a Canadian citizen by the end of this calendar year, it would not be wise for Canada to adopt this particular American practice. My opposition has nothing to do with a belief that religion and public should not mix. I happen to think they should, at least in appropriate ways. After all, religion, properly understood, is not merely a private affair. But general religion in the form of civil religion is rarely appropriate, and usually creates a veneer of religious self-righteousness for national matters that are best decided according to much broader criteria.

Mark Toulouse has been the principal of Emmanuel College since January 2009. He is cross-appointed to U of T’s Department for the Study of Religion.

Two Nations Under God? by mark toulouse

Alumni Calendar of Events

From 1911 to 1913 Vic witnessed the construction of wonderfully ornate Burwash Hall. This neo-Gothic building was erected and furnished thanks to the initial bequest of Hart Almerrin Massey Vic 1845 and the subsequent efforts of his daughter and son, Lillian Massey Treble and Chester D. Massey.

The building officially opened on October 17, 1913 on the occasion of the retirement of Rev. Nathanael Burwash, Victoria University’s chancellor and president for 24 years. The Massey family heralded Burwash as “one of the most brilliant educationalists in the history of Canada.”

Burwash residence names have remained unchanged since 1913: North, Middle, Gate, and South House and a Royal Standard of Queen Victoria is still displayed over the dining hall’s High Table.

Notable architects of the day, Messrs. Sproatt and Rolph, were fans of Gothic collegiate architecture, as is reflected in Burwash and many of their other projects, including Emmanuel College, Hart House and Soldiers’ Tower.

On October 4, 1913, The Globe newspaper wrote, prophetically: “Graduates of former years . . . exclaim at the good luck of the modern undergraduate who has before him the prospect of life in the genial academic atmosphere of one of these residences . . . . These buildings are presumably here to stay; they will doubtless accommodate generations of students through many years and perhaps through several centuries.”

Burwash Hall Celebrates its First Century

on campus

March 22–23Vic ChorusGilbert and Sullivan Spring Concert The Pirates of Penzance, Isabel Bader Theatre, March 22 at 8 p.m., March 23 at 2 p.m., [email protected].

March 27VWA “Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations” The VWA ends its celebrations of 115 years with pianist Leslie Kinton playing Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Victoria Chapel, Old Vic, 2 p.m., $30/person. Funds raised benefit the VWA Endowed Bursary Fund. Refreshments to follow in Alumni Hall. Send your cheque payable to the VWA to the Victoria Alumni Office, 91 Charles St. W., Toronto, ON M5S 1K7. A tax receipt will be issued for the allowable amount.

March 27Friends of Victoria University Library Annual F. David Hoeniger Lecture, “All in the Papal Family: The Building of Renaissance Rome” with Ken Bartlett Vic 7T1, Alumni Hall, Old Vic, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. RSVP to 416-585-4471.

April 17VWA Annual Luncheon“Life and All That” with guest speaker David Gilmour Vic 7T2, Pelham Edgar Visiting Professor, Alumni Hall, Old Vic, 11:45 a.m., $28/person. Advance registration and payment required. Visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca/alumni/VWA for details.

April 17Distinguished Alumni Award Dinner Honouring Robert Wong Vic 6T3 (see page 5), Alumni Hall, Old Vic, 6:30 p.m., cash bar reception, $50/person.

May 26 Doors Open Toronto Featuring Burwash Dining Hall, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

May 30–June 2Spring ReunionCelebrating the Honoured Years: 3T8, 4T3, 4T8, 5T3, 5T8, 6T3, 6T8, 7T3, 7T8, 8T3, 8T8Come back to Vic for the weekend! Visit www.vicu.utoronto.ca/alumni/springreunion.

Visit the Vic website for the most up-to-date event information and news at www.vicu.utoronto.ca and join us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter! To subscribe to Vic’s e-newsletter contact [email protected].

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Documents

Vic Report 2013 Winter