Vanier College
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- For the college at York University in Toronto, see York University.
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| Established | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Location | Montreal, QC, Canada |
| Campus | Urban |
| Sports team | Vanier Cheetahs |
| Website | vaniercollege.qc.ca |
| Brandmark and crest images © Vanier College | |
Vanier College is a Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) (College of General and Vocational Education) located in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language CEGEP in Quebec.
Vanier College offers more than 25 two- and three-year programs leading to university studies or directly to the workforce. With a student population of 5,700 students, Vanier College is the third largest English-language college in the CEGEP system.
Vanier College was named in honour of Georges Vanier, Canada's second native-born Governor General.
The college participates as the Vanier Cheetahs in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, and is known for its men's and women's basketball and football (soccer) teams, men's rugby and Canadian football teams, and women's touch football teams.
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[edit] History
[edit] Before Vanier (1817-1970)
Vanier College today consists of 10 different buildings on a single campus. Each of its buildings was built at a different point in the college's history, and is identified by a letter of the alphabet.
The land that the campus is located on today was first used for the Village de Saint-Laurent chapel, opened in 1817. Thirty years later, a convent, known as the Couvent Notre-Dame-des-Anges, was built nearby by the Sisters of Sainte-Croix. The original Convent building was later expanded into the building known as the "C building" today. [1]
In 1897, the sisters opened the first college on the campus land, on the location of today's "E building". That building was expanded in 1848 and 1857 to become today's "E building".[2] In 1873, a chapel was built that connected the convent and college buildings. That chapel was a forerunner of today's "F building".[3] The "B building" was a further expansion of the convent built on the north side of the "C building" in 1904. It was unclear exactly when the "D building" was built, but it appears to have been at around this same time. The "D building" connected to the rear (east side) of the original "F building" chapel.
Originally, both the "D" and "E" buildings had elaborate balconies on every floor, which were removed in the 1970s. This is why several windows on both buildings today are taller than the rest of the windows in the building - these windows were doors to the balconies in the original building design.[4]
In 1911, the original Village de Saint-Laurent chapel was demolished, to be replaced by a new school for young girls, Académie Saint-Alfred. The cupola at the top of the new building was designed to reflect a similar cupola on the original chapel building. This new building eventually became Vanier's "H building".[5]
In 1933, the Sisters opened the yet another college, Collège Basile-Moreau, within the existing convent buildings. This soon required further expansions to the campus. In the 1940s, the "A building" was built at the north end of the "B building".[6]
In the 1950s, the original "F building" chapel was demolished and replaced with the building that stands as the "F building" today.
[edit] Since Becoming Vanier (1970-Present)
In 1970, the Quebec government purchased the entire property and it was re-opened as Vanier College, Quebec's second English language CÉGEP (after Dawson College that had opened the year previous). Enrollment in its first year was approximately 1,400 students.[7]
By 1973's, Vanier's enrollment had increased to the point that it was too large for the campus. To compensate, Vanier leased some office space in Snowdon, Quebec, and opened this as its second campus. This new campus was knowns as "the Snowdon campus", with the original campus re-dubbed "the Ste-Croix campus".
In 1978, the original campus underwent its first expansion when it built the Sports Complex, or "G building", on the north side of the College. The "G building" features a large indoor pool and several other athletics facilities.
In 1986, the Snowdun campus was closed, and students were moved to a new building, the "N building", on the original campus. The "N building" was built behind the "D-building", in an area that was considered by some at the time to be disturbingly close to the Saint-Laurent cemetery.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Tim Biakabutuka, former NFL player
- Rick Bronson, comedian
- Russell Copeman, politician
- Mirella Dell'Aquila, (Popstars winner) singer
- Otis Grant, one-time boxing world champion
- Robert Libman, politician
- Yolande James, first black woman elected to the provincial legislature
- Jeff Rothpan, comedian
- Arthur Smith, Gemini Award-winning TV producer
- Andrew Walker, actor
- John Moore is a Canadian radio and television broadcaster. He currently works on CFRB
- Christian "Beef" Leblanc, game commentator
- Richard Mercier, former CFL player
[edit] Notable staff
- Keith Henderson, politician, former Equality Party leader
- Dr. Joe, Joe Schwarcz, science popularizer, former Chemistry teacher
- Dr. Ariel Fenster, science popularizer, former Chemistry teacher
- Ross Hodess Ph.D D.O.F.A
- Gregory Oomes Ph.D Zoology & Art History
[edit] See also
English-language CEGEPs:
