Queen's University, Canada
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- For other educational establishments called Queens, see Queen's College and Queen's University (disambiguation)
Template:Infobox University2 abroad Queen's University, or simply Queen's, is a coeducational, non-sectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. Beyond the Kingston campus, the university also has an International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, England, formerly the home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
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Founding
Queen's University was founded in 1841 under its first principal, Thomas Liddell, who arrived in Kingston from Scotland carrying the Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, establishing Queen's College as an educational institution. Originally affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland (see the Presbyterian Church in Canada as it was called after 1875), it was established to instruct youth in various branches of sciences and literature.
The university became a secular institution in 1912 and, in that year, Principal Daniel Miner Gordon oversaw the drafting of a new university constitution. Queen's Theological College remained in the control of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, until 1925, when it joined the United Church of Canada, where it remains today.
Present day
Today, Queen's has approximately 13,000 full-time undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students. The undergraduate programs offer studies in a variety of arts, science, engineering, and business programs. The university has an extensive graduate program in these areas, and additionally in its medical, law, and business schools. The Queen's School of Business was ranked No. 1 in the world by BusinessWeek Magazine.
Queen's is regarded as one of the best universities in Canada; first year students almost always have the highest average entering marks of Canadian universities. The average entrance grade for 2004 was 89%.
Traditions
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Student Government
Student government at Queen's was established in 1858 in the form of the Dialectic Society, which is known today as the Alma Mater Society.
Athletics
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Queen's Golden Gaels.
Queen's University has a rich ice hockey tradition. The university competed against the Royal Military College on the Kingston Harbour in 1886 thus creating the Canadian national sport. Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax, however, have inception fables of their own. Queen's also competed for the Stanley Cup in 1899 and 1906, and won the Allan Cup in 1909.
Songs
The university anthem and fight song is "Queen's College Colours," but it is almost universally called the "Oil Thigh" after words in the Gaelic chorus. Students and alumni sing the song at football games and other events, usually performing it with a low-kicking can-can dance. The tune is the same as The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Another popular song sung at sporting events is "Old Queen's Sweater."
Faculty of Applied Science (Engineering)
Queen's Applied Science (Engineering) students also have strong traditions, such as dyeing their yellow leather jackets (known as "Golden Party Armour") purple — the traditional colour of the British Army engineers — and spending Friday afternoons at "Ritual" held at the Clark Hall Pub, a bar on campus run by the Engineering Society (http://engsoc.queensu.ca). In Fall of 1956, Sci '60 became the first class to climb the legendary Greasepole, a long standing engineering tradition at Queen's. The Greasepole was originally a football goalpost at the University Of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, before it was stolen by a group of Queen's engineers during the early 1950s. Another Queen's tradition is an event called the "sci-formal" (Science Formal) in which fourth year students spend thousands of hours constructing and transforming the interior of Grant Hall into storybook scenery that rivals movie sets for a one night black tie event. In past years, whole castles, churches, and pyramids have been constructed inside Grant Hall. The Engineering Society also publishes the weekly humour newspaper, "Golden Words."
Queen's Bands
The Queen's Bands (http://clubs.myams.org/bands/) are one of the most unique, most celebrated traditions at Queen's. Queen's Bands are called "bands," plural, because there are actually four of them: a pipe band, a brass band, highland dancers, and a troupe of male and female cheerleaders. They perform at all Queen's football games, appear at major university ceremonies, and represent Queen's at numerous parades and events across Canada and the United States. The Bands got their start in 1905, when a few first-year students decided to form a marching brass band "to help things along at football games." The Bands developed their own uniforms in 1920: white duck trousers, tricolour sweaters, and Queen's tams. The current uniforms, with the Royal Stewart Tartan kilt, were adopted only after the Second World War. A pipe band was added to the troupe in 1925, but did not become a permanent fixture until 1938, at which time highland dancers also appeared. It is unclear when cheerleaders first joined the Bands. "Rooters clubs" were formed early this century to lead students in cheers at Queen's games and appear to have gradually become informally, and then formally, linked with the Bands. There are now about 120 students in the Bands. The Queen's Bands celebrated their 100th anniversary in March of 2005.
Military
Queen's students served in both World War I and World War II. Approximately 1,500 students participated in the First World War and 189 died. Months before Canada joined the second world war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Queen's to accept an honorary degree and, in a broadcast heard around the world, voiced the American policy of mutual alliance and friendship with Canada. Roosevelt stated, "The Dominion of Canada is part of the sisterhood of the British Empire. I give to you assurance that the people of the United States will not stand idly by if domination of Canadian soil is threatened by any other Empire." Canada, during the Second World War, had the participation of 2,917 Queen's graduates and the sacrifice of 157. The Victoria Cross was awarded to Major John Weir Foote, Arts '33, Canadian Chaplain Service.
Today, numerous Queen's students serve in Kingston's naval reserve division, HMCS Cataraqui (which administers the University Naval Training Divisions program for reserve officers), and Kingston's local milita regiment, The Princess of Wales' Own.
Radio
Queen's University has one of the longest running radio traditions in the world, surpassed only by the Marconi companies. The first public broadcast of the station was on October 27th, 1923 as the football game between Queen's and McGill was called play-by-play. CFRC operates to the present day and broadcasts at 101.9 MHz.
Anniversary
Queen's celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary in 1991 and received a visit from Charles, Prince of Wales and his then-wife Diana to mark the occasion.
Rivalry
Queen's students maintain a cordial rivalry with McGill University in Montreal. This rivalry has inspired an annual boat race between the two universities in the spring of each year since 1997. McGill has dominated in the men's and overall categories, while the Queen's women's boat has been defeated only once.
Queen's students call games between the schools' football teams "Kill McGill" games.
Nevertheless, the two share a successful publishing house (McGill-Queen's University Press).
Frosh Week
Once first year students at Queen's have moved into residence and become acquainted with some of the new people they meet, Frosh Week begins. First year students travel with a team of upper year students (called Gaels if in Arts, Frecs if in Applied Science, Bosses if in Commerce, Capes in Nursing, Techs in Computing Science etc.) who take their Frosh Groups on excursions throughout the Queen's campus and into the Kingston community. This experience helps students feel comfortable in their new home away from home and includes activities such as mud games, shaving cream wars, house parties, scavenger hunts and more.
Smokers
Smokers, a common term for social gatherings, occur at Queen's and serve two purposes.
The first purpose is to raise money for an event, group, or charity. The money is raised through the collection of "cover" or admission at the door. One event that money is raised for is the fourth year "Science Formal (http://www.appsci.queensu.ca/prospective/tradition/sciformal)", one of the biggest events for a Queen's Engineering student.
The second purpose is to give a group a venue to gather at. For example, First Year Engineering students will gather to celebrate at Clark Hall Pub after first semester exams for the "Jacket Smoker". At the "Jacket Smoker" the students enjoy the satisfaction of finishing the exams and being allowed to wear their Engineering Jackets (http://www.appsci.queensu.ca/prospective/tradition/jackets/).
Smokers are often held at Queen's Campus Pubs (e.g. Clark Hall Pub), but can be held at off-campus bars as well. When the Smokers are held on campus 100% of the cover (minus a fee) goes to the event, group, or charity. At off-campus bars only a percentage of the money raised will go to the event, group, or charity.
Queen's Centre
In October 2004, Queen's University announced a $230-million plan to create a sports and recreation complex called the "Queen's Centre" over two city blocks. It is expected to take over ten years from design to completion.
The plans include the building of a six-lane track, an Olympic-sized arena, 25-metre pool, eight basketball courts, substantially more gathering and meeting space than is currently available, fitness, aerobic, locker and food space, and a new home for the School of Physical and Health Education.
The university has also unveiled a slogan for the centre, which is "Where mind, body and spirit come together".
In 2005, the administration of the Alma Mater Society promised the University that students would pay for $30-million of the Queen’s Centre cost. This was controversial because part of the student body felt the project to be mismanaged. The proposed method of collection, dubbed the Queen's Centre fee, involved charging each undergraduate student a mandatory fee of $71 every year for the next 5 years, and $141 each per year after that. Opponents of the fee argued that:
- the $30-million could be raised through an existing fee that individual students can elect not to pay;
- the fee was a hidden tuition increase; and
- it was unfair to make students of the present pay for a building that would be completed after their graduation.
The AMS decided to hold a vote on the Queen's Centre fee at its annual general meeting on March 16, 2005, rather than through the usual university-wide referendum. This decision was decried by some as guaranteeing the fee's approval, and was controversial because the president-elect of the AMS, Ethan Rabidoux, seconded the motion to hold the vote at the AGM—bureaucatic technicalities were cited—despite having opposed it while campaigning for the presidency.
During the period leading up to the vote, both "Yes" and "No" campaigns were run, with the University producing materials that stated that the Queen's Centre project will not be able to continue without "student support". Proponents of the fee, including the University, also referred to Grant Hall (explicitly noting that it was to be the venue of the vote), which was built using student funding and alluded to student loyalty. Opponents of the fee (who had to fund the "No" campaign out of their own pockets because it was not a referendum issue) noted Rabidoux's renege and the opinions listed above; furthermore, they called the motion to hold the vote at the AGM an attempt to circumvent democracy.
The controversy led to one of the best attended annual general meetings in the University’s history. While AGMs normally do not attract many more people than those directly involved in the student government, over 750 students showed up to vote on the fee, but most left after the vote on the fee. The motion passed 545 to 212, allowing the groundbreaking of the Queen’s Centre to begin in the summer of 2006.
Various members of the student body claim that a dangerous precedent has been set for the AMS to pass further motions through a similar process.
Enrichment Studies
Each year, Queen's University offers younger students a chance to visit, and participate in classes with other students from across Canada and The United States. There are 3 different programs, for different age levels.
Above and Beyond the Curriculum (ABC)
The ABC Program operates in February, March, and April. These two-day courses for students in grades 5 and 6 offer an extension to the Ontario Curriculum. Courses offered include "Painting Animals in Art - Dragons, Crocodiles, Cats and Dogs", "Digital Recording - Do Sounds Byte?" and "Balloons, Gliders and Rockets in Action - There's No Way That Will Fly!". The cost of this program is $30 per student for two days.
Seeds (and Seeds-In-Residence)
The Seeds program is similar to ABC, however, instead of choosing a course for the class, each student picks a "track" to follow. Each track consists of 1 to 3 courses related to that track. The cost of this program is $120 per student for three days.
S-I-R is a three day, overnight program, and is quite similar to Seeds, except that there are afternoon and evening activities, as well as Breakfast and Dinner served in the main cafeteria. This program gives "Gifted and Highly Motivated Students" the opportunity to experience campus life.
E=MC² (EMC)
E=MC² is an overnight, 6 day/5 night program for gifted and highly motivated high school students. Operating two one-week sessions in May, Queen's provides an excellent opportunity for perspective students to see the Queen's Campus and University life. Arriving on the Sunday, students are welcomed by senior Queen's Students and staff, and settle into their dorms. Starting Monday, and going on through Thursday, students participate in classes such as Journalism, Film Studies, and Languages during the mornings and afternoons. In the late afternoon and evening, there are activities which students can sign up for. Breakfast and dinner are provided for students. On Friday, students go to one final class in the morning, and in the afternoon, prior to departure, there is a BBQ lunch. Schools from across Canada and the United States send students to the EMC program. Those living in Kingston can participate in the classes, but are not involved in the other activities. Some schools send as little as one student, or some schools, such as Woburn C.I. and Western Technical & Commercial School from Toronto send upwards of 50 students.
List of former Chancellors
- The Rev John Cook (1877-1879)
- Sir Sandford Fleming (1880-1915)
- James Douglas (1915-1918)
- Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty (1918-1923)
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1924-1929)
- James Armstrong Richardson (1929-1939)
- The Hon Charles Avery Dunning (1940-1958)
- John Bertram Stirling (1960-1973)
- The Rt Hon Roland Michener (1973-1980)
- Agnes McCausland Benidickson (1980-1996)
- The Hon Peter Lougheed (1996-2002)
- Charles Baillie (2002-Present)
List of former Principals
- Rev Thomas Liddell 1841-1846
- Rev John Machar 1846-1853
- Rev James George (acting principal) 1854-1857
- Rev [John Cook] 1857-1859
- Rev William Leitch 1859-1864
- Rev William Snodgrass 1864-1877
- Rev George Monro Grant 1877-1902
- Rev Daniel Miner Gordon 1902-1917
- Rev Robert Bruce Taylor 1917-1930
- Sir William Hamilton Fyfe 1930-1936
- Robert Charles Wallace 1936-1951
- William Archibald Mackintosh 1951-1961
- James Alexander Corry 1961-1968
- John James Deutsch 1968-1974
- Ronald Lampman Watts 1974-1984
- David Chadwick Smith 1984-1994
- William Leggett 1994-2004
- Karen Hitchcock 2004-
Notable alumni
- Dean Armstrong, actor
- Alfred Bader, founder of Sigma Aldrich
- Rob Baker, musician of The Tragically Hip
- Ashleigh Banfield, MSNBC news anchor
- Curtis Bartlett, co-founder of Intellectual Capital Partners
- Janet Cardiff, artist
- Tom Cavanagh, actor
- Jock Climie, CFL player
- Jane Corkin, artist
- Wendy Crewson, actor
- Hon. John Crosbie, former federal cabinet minister
- Jim Cuddy, lead singer of Blue Rodeo
- Chris Cuthbert, CBC sportscaster
- David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada
- Gord Downie, musician of The Tragically Hip
- Brad Elberg, CFL player
- Charles LeGyt Fortescue, electrical engineer
- David Franklin, chief curator, National Gallery of Canada
- Steven Heighton, author
- Priscilla Galloway, author
- Hon. John Gerretsen, Ontario MPP, former mayor of Kingston, Ontario cabinet minister
- Sarah Harmer, singer/songwriter
- Mike MacMillan, co-founder of Atlantis Films (now Alliance Atlantis)
- Seaton McLean, co-founder of Atlantis Films (now Alliance Atlantis)
- Hon. Peter Milliken, speaker of the House of Commons
- Michael Ondaatje, author
- Janice Platt, Academy Award winner and co-founder of Atlantis Films (now Alliance Atlantis)
- Shelagh Rogers, CBC broadcaster
- Jeffrey Simpson, political columnist for the Globe and Mail
- Gord Sinclair, musician of The Tragically Hip
- Peter Tharos (Peter Panopoulos), actor
- Judith Thompson, playwright
- Shirley Tilghman, President of Princeton University
See also
External links
- Queen's University official site (http://queensu.ca)
- Queen's Enrichment Studies (http://www.queensu.ca/enrichment/ESU/index.php)
