Queen's University

Queen's University, generally referred to simply as Queen's, is a coeducational, non-sectarian, research intensive, public university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. In 2008, Queen's maintained its status as the second-ranked university in Canada by the Maclean's University Rankings of the Medical-Doctoral category.^[6]

The Kirk of Scotland established Queen's College at Kingston, Ontario in 1841 with a royal charter from Queen Victoria.^[7] The institution was founded on October 16, 1841, pre-dating the founding of Canada by 26 years.^[2] The first classes were held March 7, 1842 with 13 students and 2 professors.^[1] Queen's was the first degree-granting institution in the United Province of Canada and the first university west of the maritime provinces to admit women, and to form a student government.^[1] In 1883, a women's college for medical education was established affiliated with Queen's University. In 1888, Queen's University began offering extension courses.

Queen's University founders modeled their nascent college after the University of Edinburgh for the Scottish university's tradition of academic freedom, authority, and moral responsibility.^[8] Beyond the Kingston campus, the university has an International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, England, formerly the home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Institution

Queen's currently has approximately 13,500 full-time undergraduate students and 2,900 graduate students.^[9] The average entrance grade for 2007 was 88.3%, the second highest in Canada.^[9] Queen's University requires applicants to submit a Personal Statement of Experience (PSE) with their grades. Queen's today has 18 faculties and schools,^[10] listed below:

• The Queen’s Faculty of Arts and Science that, in addition to offering a wide variety of social sciences, humanities, natural and physical sciences, languages, and fine arts, hosts the following schools:
  • The Queen's School of Music
  • The Queen's School of Kinesiology and Health Studies
  • The Queen's School of Computing
  • The Queen's School of Environmental Studies
  • The Queen's School of English
• The Faculty of Applied Science. Students can choose to specialize in the following disciplines: Chemical Engineering, Engineering Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Geological Engineering, Mathematics and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Mining Engineering.^[11]
• The Faculty of Health Sciences which is divided into:
  • The Queen's School of Medicine
  • The Queen's School of Nursing
  • The Queen's School of Rehabilitation Therapy
• The Faculty of Law
• The Faculty of Education

Theological Hall

Queen's features three schools that are, in effect, full faculties through their relative autonomy:

• Queen's School of Business
• Queen's School of Graduate Studies and Research, which includes the School of Policy Studies and the School of Urban and Regional Planning
• Queen's Theological College (affiliate)

Prominent student organisations at Queen's include the Alma Mater Society, the oldest student government in Canada which hires over 500 Queen's students; the Society of Graduate and Professional Students; the Queen's Bands, the largest and oldest student marching band in Canada; the Queen's Journal, one of the oldest student newspapers in Canada and the oldest current publication at Queen's; Golden Words, a weekly humour newspaper; the Queen's Tricolour Yearbook, founded in 1928, is one of Canada's remaining annual university yearbooks covering all faculties and schools;^[1] Queen's First Aid; and the Queen's Players, a unique improvisational sketch comedy troupe.^[12] There are over 300 more student clubs, organisations, and societies at Queen's.

Students and faculty

Queen's University commerce students during Frosh Week

As of 2007, Queen's had 13,583 undergraduate students and 2,900 graduate students. The student population additionally includes 400 medical students and 500 law students.^[9][13] The Queen's student body represents 98 different countries, with students from every Canadian province and territory. Alumni reside in 158 different countries.^[10] The Queen's physics department is one of the largest groups involved in the international Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Institute. The Institute manages the world-famous SNO experiment, which demonstrated that the solution to the solar neutrino problem was that neutrinos change flavour (type) as they propagate through the Sun. While the actual experiment is located 2 km below the Earth's surface in an active CVRD Inco mine in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, the Queen's collaborators do much of their work in Queen's Stirling Hall (a lab noted for its circular design and the large Foucault pendulum in its main atrium). Queen's physicist and SNO director Art McDonald has won both the Herzberg Prize, Canada's top science honour, and the American Physical Society's Tom W. Bonner Prize for nuclear physics.

History

Plaque unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen to commemorate the granting of Queen's University's Royal Charter.

Queen's University, established at Kingston, Ontario in 1841 was generally modelled on the democratic ideals of the older Scottish universities. Queen's University was founded on October 16, 1841, when its first principal, Thomas Liddell, arrived in Kingston from Scotland carrying the Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, which established 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.

Queen's First Principal Rev. Dr. Thomas Liddell.

The first student government in Canada was established at Queen's in 1858 in the form of the Dialectic Society, which is known today as the Alma Mater Society.

The governance was modelled on that of the Scottish universities Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a Principal, Board of Trustees, and a Senate. Consolidation was a way to strengthen this small and financially insecure institution. By withdrawing financial support, the Ontario government pressured its denominational universities to consider co-operation with the public sector in 1868. The university became a secular institution in 1912 and, in that year, Principal Daniel Miner Gordon oversaw the drafting of a new university constitution.^[2] 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.^[2]

In 1922, Queen's University established the first university-operated educational radio station in Canada.

The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.^[14]

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. The Prince of Wales presented a replica of the 1841 Royal Charter granted by Queen Victoria, which had established the university; the replica is displayed in the John Deutsch University Centre.^[1]

Book publishing

McGill-Queen's University Press began as McGill in 1963 and amalgamated with Queen's in 1969. McGill-Queen's University Press focuses on Canadian studies and publishes the Canadian Public Administration Series.^[14]

Campus

Much of the the Queen's campus consists of old picturesque limestone buildings and unique Romanesque Revival and neo-gothic architecture.^[15],^[16] Indeed, several buildings are over a century old, including Summerhill (1839), Old Medical (1858), Etherington House (1879), Theological Hall, (1880), Carruthers Hall (1890), Victoria School (1892), Ontario Hall (1903), Kingston Hall (1903), Grant Hall (1905), and Kathleen Ryan Hall (1907).^[17] The main campus contains most of the teaching and administrative buildings packed into a relatively small space; walking time from one end of campus to the other is approximately 15 minutes.

Douglas Library

Adjacent to the campus, and within the same walking distance, is the Kingston General Hospital which is affiliated with Queen's, and is a designated National Historic Site as it served as the location of the first parliament of the Province of Canada in 1841. There is also a smaller expansion known as "West Campus" which is approximately 1 km west of the main campus limits. The West Campus holds additional student residences, Duncan McArthur Hall (which houses the Faculty of Education), and Richardson Memorial Stadium (home of the Queen's Golden Gaels). Leonard Hall (1959) and Leonard Field are named in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel Reuben Wells Leonard on land given by him to Queen's in 1923.^[18]

On 11 September 2007, Queen's announced the purchase of the former Federal Prison for Women, a 3.3 hectare (8.1 acre) parcel of land that served as a correctional facility from 1934 to 2000 and was then sold by the Canada Lands Corporation.^[19] Although plans have not been officially announced, it is expected that the Prison for Women site will ultimately house the Queens University Archives, currently stored on main campus in Kathleen Ryan Hall. Using funds donated by notable alumnus Dr. Alfred Bader to build a performing arts centre, Queen's has also purchased the 1.2 hectare (3 acre) J K Tett Centre, a waterfront property with historical buildings home to many artistic and community organisations.^[20] Although the campus is relatively small and the buildings densely packed, there are many open green spaces and deciduous trees that create a park-like atmosphere.

The campus is on the shore of Lake Ontario and has easy access to two lake-front parks, favourite locations for students to relax and unwind. The campus is also located approximately 10 minutes' walk from the city's downtown.

Queen's University Main Campus, behind Gordon Hall

About 50 km north of Kingston, the Queen's University Biological Station provides research facilities for faculty, students, and visiting scholars. The 2,650 hectare campus on Lake Opinicon consists of 35 buildings including several laboratories, conference rooms, guest rooms, and a library.^[21]

Libraries

At present, the Queen's library collections contain over six million individual items.^[22]

Libraries on the Queen's campus include:

• Bracken Health Sciences Library
• Douglas Library
  • Engineering and Science Library
  • W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library
• Education Library
• Lederman Law Library
• Stauffer Library
  • Adaptive Technology Centre
  • Art Collection
  • MADGIC-Maps, Data and Government Information Centre
  • Map and Air Photo Collection
  • Social Science Data Centre

Additional library locations:

• Queen's Biological Station
• International Study Centre

Centres

Innovation Park at Queen's University

Queen’s has completed an agreement with Novelis Inc. to acquire a 20 hectare (49 acre) property adjacent to the company’s research and development centre in Kingston.^[23] The agreement is part of the plan to establish an innovative technology park located at the corner of Princess and Concession streets, which is to be called Innovation Park at Queen’s University. The property was acquired for $5.3 million, a portion of the $21 million grant Queen’s received from the Ontario government last spring to pioneer this innovative new regional R&D “co-location” model.^[23]

Queen’s has also reached an agreement to lease approximately 7,900 square metres of the Novelis R&D facilities to accommodate both faculty-led research projects that have industrial partners and small and medium-size companies with a research focus and a desire to interact with Queen’s researchers.^[23] The remainder of the government funds will go toward further development of the technology park to transform the property into a welcoming and dynamic site for business expansion and relocation.

International Study Centre

The International Study Centre (ISC) is housed in Herstmonceux Castle, which was donated to Queen's in 1993 by alumnus Alfred Bader.^[24] Herstmonceux Castle is in southern England and provides a base for field studies by its students throughout Northern England, and the European continent. The courses available range from English Literature to Geography to Mathematics, with many of the courses specially designed to take advantage of the location of the ISC. Instructors and students are not exclusively from Queen's, but attend from across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Europe, Japan, China, Scandinavia and elsewhere.

Students attend classes Monday through Thursday and are encouraged to use their three day weekend to experience Europe. Field trips are required for all courses, although some are more field trip heavy than others (e.g. history and art history). There are also two non course-specific field trips that are included in the programme fees. In the past, the first semester trip has been to Scotland and Northern England, while the second semester trip has been to Paris, Brussels and Bruges.

Herstmonceux Castle is famous for its gardens and grounds, as well as its proximity to the old Royal Observatory but students at the ISC can also enjoy a small gymnasium and a student pub within the Castle called the Headless Drummer.

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 more than 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 Kinesiology and Health Studies (formerly School of Physical and Health Education).

The university has also unveiled a slogan for the centre: "Where mind, body and spirit come together".

The project will be completed in three phases, the earliest of which is scheduled for completion in September 2009. This first phase will include the new Varsity Gymnasium, Aquatic Centre, Fitness and Weight Centre and School of Kinesiology and Health Studies.

Biowall in Beamish-Munro Hall, Applied Science building

The development of the Queen's Centre marks the largest construction project in the university's history,^[25] however it remains highly controversial with both current students and alumni. Much of the controversy surrounding the project is a result of financial difficulties as well as a perceived lack of administrative foresight.^[26]

The Centre, which remains in its first phase of construction, had an initial budget of $230 million but has already exceeded this amount by $41 million. In an effort to cope with the large costs involved in the groundbreaking project, the university has developed an intensive fundraising campaign, lead by David Mitchell, vice-principal of advancement, which will aim to attract "million-dollar-plus"^[27] donations from alumni and large corporations. The campaign target is set at $132 million, making it one of the most ambitious fundraising campaigns in the history of Canadian universities.^[28] Queen's university's student government has already made an historic contribution to the campaign, pledging "$25.5 million in fees over nine years from student surcharges",^[29] the largest sum ever donated to a university by its students.^[30]

Despite these historic precedents, fundraising has been more difficult than anticipated with only $15-million in alumni donations collected thus far and unresolved issues surrounding the proposed $4.5 million contribution by the institution's Graduate student body remaining.^[31]

Other Queen's-affiliated centres include:

• Centre for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
• Centre for International Relations
• High Performance Computing Consortium (HPCVL)
• Fuel Cell Research Centre
• GeoEngineering Centre

Rankings

National rankings/figures

Queen's was ranked second in Canada in the Medical-Doctoral category of the Maclean's University Rankings (2008 edition) despite refusing to participate in the latest survey along with twenty-three other universities, over concerns with the data collection and analysis. Queen's also maintained the highest level of student retention and had the highest graduation rates out of any Canadian institution at 88.5%. Maclean's completed the survey using Access to Information requests, ranking Queen's below only McGill University.^[6][32] Additionally, Queen's was ranked 117 internationally by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).^[33], and 201-302 by Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2008.

Queen's School of Business

A Queen's School of Business press release mentions that "Queen’s MBA has been ranked #1 for the second time in a row by BusinessWeek magazine’s influential biannual ranking of MBA programmes outside the US, with five Canadian schools dominating the top ten."

Sports, clubs, and traditions

Alumni

The Queen's University Alumni Association was founded in 1926 and the following year began publishing its magazine, the Queen's Alumni Review.^[1] Initially the publication appeared nine times each year, but today it is a 64-page Time-sized quarterly with a circulation of 103,000.

The university has developed firm links between Alumni and prominent business leaders. Queen's 'NetworQ' won the 2006 Harris Connect Achievement Award for "Best Career Advisor Network."

Debating

The Queen's Debating Union was formed in 1843, and has operated continuously since that time. It was the primary ancestor of the Alma Mater Society, which began in 1858.

Football

Queen's football played its first game in 1882, and has competed continuously since then, celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2007. The first organized university football league in Canada, the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU), was founded in Kingston in November, 1897, with charter members Queen's, McGill University, and the University of Toronto.^[34]

The Golden Gaels won three consecutive Grey Cups in 1922, 1923 and 1924.^[35] The Golden Gaels also won the Vanier Cup as the top university football team in CIS in 1968, 1978, and 1992.^[36]

Richardson Memorial Stadium

Basketball

Queen's hosted McGill University in December 1902, in the first-ever Canadian interuniversity basketball game; McGill won 10-6.

Graduate Student Societies

The Society of Graduate and Professional Students at Queen's University, or the SGPS, is the central graduate student society and a member of the Canadian Federation of Students Local 27. The SGPS Council is the main decision-making body of the Society and is made up of graduate/professional student representatives from every department or school, the SGPS Executive and aboriginal and international student representatives.

Hockey

The ladies' hockey team, in full skirts, in 1917.

In 1886, Queen's challenged the Royal Military College of Canada to a game played on the frozen Kingston harbour; the two schools play annually for the Carr-Harris Cup, to continue the world's oldest hockey rivalry.

Queen's donated the Queen's Cup for annual Ontario University Athletics competition in 1898.

In the early days of hockey competition, the Queen's hockey team was a regular in Stanley Cup Challenge Games by challenging in 1895,^[37] 1899 and 1906. In 1926, Queen's was the Eastern Canadian Champions, but lost the Memorial Cup series to the Calgary Canadians for the national championship.

The varsity team will play at the Kingston Memorial Centre following the demolition of the Jock Harty arena while the new arena (part of the Queen's Centre project) is being constructed.

Chess

Chess players associated with the newly-formed Queen's University played in 1841 for the Kingston side in a correspondence chess game by mail against Quebec City; this game, won by Quebec, is the oldest recorded game in Canadian chess history. Queen's hosted the Canadian Open Chess Championship with several top international players in 1966, and the Canadian Chess Championship for the top Canadians only in 1992.

Radio

Main article: CFRC-FM

CFRC, the Queen's University radio station, is the second longest running radio station in the world, surpassed only by the Marconi companies. The first public broadcast of the station was on October 27, 1923 when 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.

Queen's jackets

Each faculty at Queen's sports its own distinctive jacket, the unique colour of which is determined by the programme type. The material is almost exclusively leather, though historically there were times when the jackets were made of other materials such as nylon. Students often sew distinctive bars or patches onto their Queen's jackets to make them more distinctive and individual. Patches include major of study and faculty society mottos, as well as the official school crest with university motto and other assorted symbols. However, according to tradition, additions may not be made until the completion of the first year of study.

As of 2007, the jacket colours are:^[38]

• Arts & Science: maroon
• Applied Science (Engineering): gold (usually dyed purple to varying degrees)
• Medicine: blue
• Commerce: burgundy
• Computing: black
• Concurrent Education: midnight blue
• Law: black
• Music: black
• Nursing: Midnight Blue
• Kinesiology and Health Studies: dark blue

In the case of Arts (before expansion as Arts & Science), Applied Science, Medicine, and Commerce, the jacket colour is the same as the toorie on each faculty society tam, the wearing of which was introduced in 1925. In the case of Arts, Science and Medicine, the colours were derived from the University Tricolour of Red, Gold, and Blue.^[39] Before gaining greater autonomy, Commerce was under the Faculty of Arts, and as such its colour was derived as a different shade of the Arts colour. In the relatively newer faculties, however, this colour link is not present.

Students of Applied Science (Engineering) have taken to dying their jackets purple with Gentian violet, a tradition that was originally established to honour the engineers who stayed behind and lost their lives on the Titanic, as their uniform colour was purple.

Military service

US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt speaking at Queen's after receiving his honourary degree

Queen's University from the air 1919

Queen's students served in both the Great War and the Second World War. Approximately 1,500 students participated in the First World War and 187 died.^[1][40] Months before Canada joined the Second World War, US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, came to Queen's to accept an honourary degree and, in a broadcast heard around the world, voiced the American policy of mutual alliance and friendship with Canada.^[1] 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."

– Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking at Queen's, August 1938^[1]

Canada, during the Second World War, had the participation of 2,917 Queen's graduates and the sacrifice of 164.^[1][41] The Victoria Cross was awarded to Major John Weir Foote, Arts '33, Canadian Chaplain Service.^[42][1]

After the Second World War, 151 veterans returned and enrolled in Queen's Applied Science (Engineering) Program. This group did not take summers off, and so they graduated in the Fall of 1948. This class is affectionately known as Sci '48½, and have given back the most endowment support of any other graduating class.

Today, numerous Queen's students serve in Kingston's naval reserve division, HMCS Cataraqui (which administers the University Naval Training Divisions programme for reserve officers), and Kingston's local militia regiment, The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment.^[43]

Notable students, alumni and faculty

Main article: List of Queen's University people

In addition to an illustrious list of alumni, several notable persons have also held administrative positions at the University.

Sir Matthew Regan, Sir Sandford Fleming, former Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden, former Governor General Roland Michener, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, and former Governor of the Bank of Canada David A. Dodge have all served as Chancellor of the university.

Intergroup Dialogue program

The Intergroup Dialogue program, which started in 2008, aims too further the university's "commitments to fostering inclusive residential and campus communities and developing leaders and citizens equipped to live in and contribute to a global society ... (and) aims to create intentional and facilitated opportunities for residents to interact across social identities and to critically discuss and reflect on social difference".^[44] The program hopes to encourage a "tolerant and inclusive environment".^[45]

Six facilitators will be assigned to residences to "enhance (the university's) ability to address issues relating to social identities within residence". This program has gained attention and criticism because the program been perceived as a limitation on freedom of speech, and the facilitators as spies.^[45] Indeed, a story in the Toronto Globe and Mail has the headline: National Conversation Cops Step in to School Students".^[46] Queen's has criticized such reporting.^[45] Vice Principal (Academic) Patrick Deane described the program's criticism as being misinterpreted, the claims exaggerated, and mentioned that there was nothing in the program's guidelines that contains anything about free speech.^[45]

In fiction and pop culture

• Tom Cavanaugh, a Queen's alumnus, frequently wore Queen's University logo clothing during Ed, which had aired on the NBC network from 2000 to 2004.
• Canadian comedian Rick Mercer visited the Queen's University campus in 2004 for two episodes of Rick Mercer's Monday Report which airs on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network.^[47]
• Banting University, a fictional University on the television show Degrassi High, is based upon Queen's University. The university is described to be located in Kingston, Ontario, highly competitive, and of international repute.

See also

• Herstmonceux Castle (Queen's International Study Centre)
• Old Four
• Group of Thirteen (Canadian universities)
• Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
• Queen's University Solar Vehicle Team
• Queen's Players
• Queen's-McGill Rivalry
• Queen's School of Business
• Queen's Faculty of Law
• Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award
• Canadian Ivy League
• Canadian university scientific research organizations
• List of Ontario Universities
• List of colleges and universities named after people
• Ontario Student Assistance Program

Histories of the University

• Frederick W. Gibson, 'Queen's University, Volume 2, 1917-1961: To Serve and Yet Be Free.' Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1983.
• Roberta Hamilton 'Setting the Agenda: Jean Royce and the Shaping of Queen's University' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, September 26, 2002)
• Hilda Neatby 'History of Queen’s University, Vol I' (Montreal:McGill-Queen’s University' Press © December 1, 1978)
• Hilda Neatby 'History of Queen’s University, Vol II' (Montreal:McGill-Queen’s University' Press © 1983)
• George Rawlyk and Quinn Kevin. 'The Redeemed of the Lord Say So: A History of Queen’s Theological College 1912-1972'. (Kingston: Queen’s Theological College, 1980).

References

External links

• Official website
• Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada profile