Wilfrid Laurier University
Encyclopedia : W : WI : WIL : Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) is a public university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada.
Wilfrid Laurier University offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate up to the Doctorate level programs in a variety of fields. WLU has a compact campus and small enrollment relative to most other universities in Ontario. The City of Waterloo is home to WLU and the University of Waterloo.
History
Wilfrid Laurier University's history as an institution of higher learning dates back to 1911 when the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada [link] opened its doors to students. This was a result of the agreement made between the Canada Synod and the Synod of Central Canada of the Lutheran Church who decided they wanted to open a Lutheran Seminary. Waterloo was selected as the location of the seminary for two main reasons, the first being that land was offered by the citizens of Waterloo on the boundary of town for the seminary and the second being that most of the Lutherans in Canada at the time resided in Waterloo and Berlin (now known as Kitchener).
In 1914 the Seminary developed facilities for pre-theological education. These courses could lead to senior matriculation, which was offered by Waterloo College. In 1924 the Waterloo College of Arts was established, offering post-secondary four-year programs. In 1925 the Faculty of Arts, under the name of Waterloo College, affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Laurier's school colours of purple and gold originated in this period. Maroon and gold were the colours of Waterloo College, but to honour the link with Western, whose colours were purple and white, maroon was discarded in favour of purple.
In 1960 the Seminary revised its charter, changing its name to Waterloo Lutheran University and ended its affiliation with University of Western Ontario. Waterloo Lutheran University became a public institution, Wilfrid Laurier University, on November 1, 1973, named after The Right Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's seventh prime minister. Bill 178 was given Royal Assent to make it official.
Wilfrid Laurier opened a second campus, in Brantford, Ontario, in September of 1999. Construction of two new residence apartment buildings, a new academic building, and a large addition to the science building were completed in 2004.
The university's Faculty of Social Work is set to move to downtown Kitchener in 2006; renovation work has begun at the former St. Jerome's high school on Duke Street East to house the faculty.
The Waterloo Lutheran Seminary continues to operate in affiliation with the University and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. In addition to an Master of Divinity programme, it offers Master of Theology programmes in Homiletics, Christian Ethics, and Pastoral Care and Counselling, a well as a joint Master of Theological Studies/Master of Social Work and diploma/certificate programmes.
What's in a Name?
Originally named Waterloo Lutheran University, it is commonly mistaken that the university was renamed to honour Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The university president however did confirm it had more to do with Laurier's initials matching those of the Waterloo Lutheran University, being WLU. This was considered important because WLU had deep meaning to former Waterloo Lutheran alumni, and by maintaining the same initals the university has been able to hold a connection to both the past and the present students. More commonly now Wilfrid Laurier University is referred to simply as Laurier.
Administration
Wilfrid Laurier University is headed by a Chancellor. The chancellor is the president of the University Senate, which is the academic governing body of the university. The current chancellor is Bob Rae, who has held the post since 2003.
University administration is the responsibility of the Board of Governors, headed by the university president & vice chancellor. This post is current held by Dr. Robert Roseheart.
Presidents and Chancellors
Chancellors
- Chancellor William Daum Euler, 1961
- Chancellor William Ross Macdonald, 1964-1972
- Chancellor Paul Joseph James Martin, 1972-1977
- Chancellor John Black Aird, 1977-1985
- Chancellor Maureen Forrester, 1986-1990
- Chancellor Willard Estey, 1990-1995
- Chancellor John Cleghorn, 1996-2003
- Chancellor Bob Rae, 2003-present
- President William Villaume, 1960-1966
- President Frank C. Peters, 1967-1978
- President Neale Tayler, 1978-1982
- President John Weir, 1982-1992
- President Lorna Marsden, 1992-1997
- President Dr. Robert Rosehart, 1997 to present
Academics
Laurier has faculties of the Arts, Science, Music, and Social Work, and a School of Business & Economics. Although comparatively small, the university has consistently ranked among Canada's top schools, an honour which is regularly confirmed by Maclean's magazine's annual publication.
Laurier began offering a part-time MBA program in 1976, and Laurier School of Business & Economics offered Canada's first full-time one-year MBA program in 1986 and recently launched Canada's first fully integrated MBA to give both the MBA degree at the same time as earning an accounting designation.
Laurier maintains a significant tuition bursary program, with upwards of 30% of tuition collected being returned to students who demonstrate sufficient financial need. The school's enrollment growth and ensuing building boom have, however, limited the institution's ability to offer an ideal level of assistance to its current students.
The school has a unique program in photonics, the only undergraduate program of its kind in Canada. It is also home to the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy (LISPOP).
The university is the current headquarters of the United Nations (ACUNS) Academic Council on the United Nations System which was previously hosted by Yale, Brown and Dartmouth. The ACUNS goal is to strengthen the study of international organizations and to create strong ties between the academic community and diplomats within international organizations.
The Laurier Library holds nearly 1.8 million books and journals in hard copy or microform, and provides access to over 6,000 electronic reference tools and full text electronic journals. In addition, the library is a member of the [TriUniversity Group of Libraries] (University of Waterloo, University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University), through which access to a combined information collection in excess of 6 million print items is available.
Athletics
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. On November 13, 2004, the Golden Hawks football team won the Yates Cup against the McMaster Marauders at University Stadium in front of a record crowd of 8,175. It was the sixth Yates Cup victory for Laurier in their history. The game also ended McMaster's four-year Ontario championship winning streak. The men's football team scored a second successive Yates Cup victory in November, 2005, followed by a victory in the Uteck Bowl against Acadia. They then defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 24-23 in 2005 Vanier Cup, their first since 1991. They were originally the Waterloo Lutheran Mules and changed to the Golden Hawks in 1981.
Fight Song
The Wilfrid Laurier University fight song was originally composed by M.A. Magee with words by W.H. Johns in 1938 as "Waterloo We'll Praise Thee Ever" - in reference to Laurier's founding as Waterloo College. It was re-released in 2005 with "Laurier" replacing "Waterloo" in the lyics to avoid confusion with neighbouring University of Waterloo. The modern lyics are as follows:
- Laurier we'll praise thee ever
- as in the days of old,
- We will always keep on high,
- The purple and the gold, the gold
- Ever will thy sons and daughters
- praise thee day by day
- We will always hold thy name in rev'rence
- Lau-ri-er!
- We will battle on to victory
- As the years roll by,
- Carrying thy standard bravely
- Holding it on high,
- Ever will we sing thy praises
- Praise thee every day
- No one e'er shall bring thy name dishonour
- Lau-ri-er!
Student Clubs
WLU student clubs are an important aspect of the school. For example, [The Link] is a club run by students of the School of Business & Economics that connects past, present and future students through programs such as their annual Leadership in Business Conference. The Wilfrid Laurier Univeristy Students' Union (WLUSU, pronounced wuh-loo-soo) also plays a large role in campus, with over 1,000 volunteers. There are seven departments within the union. The Office of the President is home to First Year Council, the Elections Council, and the Brantford Campus. This office’s main responsibility is the administration of the day-to-day operations of WLUSU through the management of 8 Student Executives and 14 Full Time Staff members. The University Affairs Department has many different purposes but the main one is to represent the interests of both full-time and part-time undergraduate students and promote a high quality environment within the Laurier community. The UA Department ensures that there is adequate student representation on all committees and constituents bodies within the University community. It also endeavours to bring all student representatives across campus, including Student Senators, Student Governors, Faculty and Department Representatives, together to work on issues that concern students. The Student Services department, the largest of all of them, includes Foot Patrol, Emergency Response Team (ERT), Bacchus, Laurier Students for Literacy (LSFL), Legal Resources and Tutorial Resources, and a Student Food Bank, introduced in 2006. The Student Activities department includes Alumni Relations, the Activities Team (A-Team), Medieval Boars Head Dinner, Charity Ball, Fashion n Motion, Laurier University Charity Kouncil (LUCK), Orientation Week (O-team), Shinerama and Winter Carnival. The Marketing Department ensures that the organization's initiatives are promoted to the general student body, and includes Radio Laurier (a campus internet radio station), Graphic Design, Public Relations, the Business Promotions Team, Video Productions, and Market Research.Famous alumni and faculty
- Hon. Sean Conway, former MPP for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke and longest serving MPP in Ontario history.
- Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian ambassador to United Nations.
- Cheryl Pounder, Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion, currently part of the Athletic Department.
- Matte Babel, MuchMusic VJ
- Dave Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber
- Kim Barber, Opera Singer
- Dan Lichti, Opera Singer
- Glenn Buhr, Composer (Winner of a Genie Award in 2006)
- Peter Hatch, Composer
- Noel Edison, Conductor of the Elora Festival Singers
See also
External links
- [Wilfrid Laurier University]
- [Wilfrid Laurier University Students' Union]
- [Wilfrid Laurier University Brantford Campus]
- [Academic Council on the United Nations System]
! style="background:#ccccff" align="center" width="100%" | Ontario universities [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit] ||
|- | align="center" style="font-size: 90%;" colspan="4" | Brock | Carleton | Guelph | Lakehead | Laurentian | Laurier | McMaster | Nipissing | OCAD | Ottawa | Queen's | RMC | Ryerson | Toronto | Trent | UOIT | Waterloo | Western | Windsor | York |- | align="center" style=font-size: 70%;" colspan="4" | ''Colleges
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