Wilfrid Laurier University
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| Wilfrid Laurier University | |
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| Motto: | Veritas Omnia Vincit (Latin: Truth conquers all) |
| Established: | 1911 |
| Type: | Public |
| Chancellor: | John A. Pollack |
| President: | Max Blouw |
| Faculty: | 493 |
| Undergraduates: | 11,689 |
| Postgraduates: | 705 |
| Location: | Waterloo, Brantford, and Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Sports: | Golden Hawks |
| Colours: | Purple and gold |
| Mascot: | The Golden Hawk |
| Affiliations: | AUCC, IAU, COU, ACU, CIS, CUSID, OUA |
| Website: | www.wlu.ca |
Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, and Kitchener, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada.
Laurier offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of fields. Laurier is one of the fastest-growing universities in Canada (enrolment more than doubled fom 1997 to 2006). The main campus is located in Waterloo, with satellite campuses in Brantford and Kitchener. The City of Waterloo is home to both Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo.
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[edit] History
Wilfrid Laurier University's history dates from 1911, when the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary of Canada [1] opened its doors to students. 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 edge of town, and the second being that most of the Lutherans in Canada at the time resided in the Waterloo and Berlin (now known as Kitchener) area.
In 1914 the Seminary developed non-theological courses under the name of the Waterloo College School. Waterloo College of Arts became affiliated with Western in 1925. Today Wilfred Laurier University emphasizes liberal arts. <re3f>http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008593</ref> In 1924 the Waterloo College of Arts was established, offering post-secondary three-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 1927: maroon and gold were the colours of Waterloo College, but to honour the link with the University of Western Ontario, whose colours were purple and white, maroon was discarded in favour of purple.
The University of Waterloo was originally conceived in 1955 as the Waterloo College Associate Faculties (WCAF), a semi-autonomous entity within Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University). In 1960, Waterloo College ended its affiliation with Western and became a university in its own right: Waterloo Lutheran University. As a church-affiliated institution, Waterloo Lutheran was ineligible for capital funding from the province, and the Lutheran church was in no position to invest heavily in the university. On November 1, 1973, Waterloo Lutheran University dropped its church affiliation and became a public institution, Wilfrid Laurier University. [1]
Laurier opened a second campus, in Brantford, Ontario, in 1999, and in 2006 the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work moved from the Waterloo campus to a campus in downtown Kitchener. The Brantford campus is centred on a number of historic properties in the downtown area which have been restored for university use. They include a former Carnegie library, Brantford's 1880 post office, and 1870 mansion, and a 1950 Odeon Theatre. The Kitchener campus is located in the historic and fully renovated former St. Jerome's high school building.
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary continues to operate in affiliation with the University and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
[edit] What's in a name?
When Waterloo Lutheran University became a public university, a new name was needed. There were 94 proposed names, among them were Beaver University, Louis Riel University and the Iroquois University of Waterloo. Eventually Wilfrid Laurier University was selected in 1973, but not without controversy, as some students at the time charged that Wilfrid Laurier was a politician of "questionable reputation" who had no connection to the school or the region of Waterloo. There has been speculation over the years that the name Wilfrid Laurier University was chosen in order to retain the initials WLU. [2]
[edit] Academics
Laurier has faculties of the Arts, Science, Education, Music, and Social Work, and a School of Business & Economics. Although comparatively small, the university has consistently ranked among Canada's top schools in its category, an honour which is regularly confirmed by Maclean's magazine's annual rankings. The 2007 Macleans rankings placed Laurier sixth overall of the 21 Canadian universities in its category, and ranked it No. 2 in terms of "highest quality." [2]
The university is also home to the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy, the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, the Cold Regions Research Centre, and several other research centres.
Laurier is the current headquarters of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) 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.
Laurier is also a prominent partner in the new Balsillie School of International Affairs, scheduled to open in Waterloo in 2008.
[edit] Laurier School of Business and Economics (SBE)
Laurier is well known for its Business and Economics program, particularly the Honours Bachelor of Business Administration program (BBA), and the Honours Bachelor of Economics program. The BBA program also offers a 5 year double degree format to add either a BSC in computer sciences or a BMath in Mathematics (through University of Waterloo). In contrast, the Economics program offers a 4 year double major format to add either Administration, Accounting, or Financial Management. Laurier's BBA and Honours Economics and Accounting program are quite popular amongst individuals seeking a Chartered Accountant designation as they allow students to include most of the required credits within the program. The university began offering a part-time MBA program in 1976, and recently launched Canada's first fully integrated MBA, which offers both an MBA degree and an accounting designation.
[edit] Laurier Library
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.
[edit] Athletics
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks.
The history of the team name (Golden Hawks) dates back to the 1961. For many years, the Waterloo College teams were called simply the Waterloo College teams, although sometimes they were called the Purple and Gold and other times the Waterloons. In 1950, the college's newspaper mused that a name was needed, and in December 1951 a new name was tested: the Mules. [3]
Subsequently, the hockey team became the Ice Mules and the women's basketball and volleyball teams were known as the Mulettes.
In 1960, with the shift from college to university status, the university student newspaper again lobbied for change. At a meeting that year, somebody suggested Golden Hawks and that was the name adopted. A headline in the January 16, 1961 issue of the newspaper read "From 'Jackass' to 'Bird of Prey'".[4]
In 2007 the women's lacrosse team achieved a dynasty status by winning their fifth OUA Ontario University Athletics gold medal in a row. Also in 2007, the women's hockey team claimed its fourth gold medal in as many years and sixth since 1998. The women's hockey team won its first CIS national championship in 2005.
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 its 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. The Hawks then defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 24-23 to win the 2005 Vanier Cup, their first since 1991.
In 2008 both the men's and women's curling teams won the inagural CIS Championships and will represent Canada in China at the World University Games.
[edit] Fight Song
The original Wilfrid Laurier University fight song was composed by M.A. Magee (BA 1938), with words by W.H. Johns, as "Waterloo We'll Praise Thee Ever" - in reference to Laurier's origins as Waterloo College. It was re-released in 2005 with "Laurier" replacing "Waterloo" in the lyrics to avoid confusion with neighbouring University of Waterloo. The modern lyrics 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!
- OP!
[edit] University people
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008242
- ^ Cote, Kris: "The Cord History: The tie that's bound WLU for 80 years", page 13. Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publication, 2006.
- ^ Laurier Trivia Challenge. The Cord Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ The Golden Hawk - How Laurier's official mascot came to be. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
[edit] External links
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