United Colleges - Vox Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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World War I to 1920 J. S. Woodsworth— founder of the C.C.F.— as senior stick of Wesley College, 1896. The years that followed the outbreak of war were restless, unsettled ones in the college, with small classes and administrative changes. The first Stick, George H. Lee, had come in from a farm near Souris, and held office during that difficult year of transition when Manitoba and Wesley were united as “United College”, and became, despite small numbers, the largest faculty in the University. Vox Wesleyana and the Manitoba College Journal were both dropped, and The Gleam was originated. But the union was to last for one year only. In the summer of 1914 Manitoba College dropped the teaching of Arts, teaching began in the University of Manitoba central campus (the “University” until then had been an examining body only), and the faculty of Manitoba moved to the University. Dr. McLean came from Idaho as the first President. Sticks who followed Lee were Rev. A. W. Keeton, W. A. “Pat” Carrothers, Albert C. Cooke (who later taught History at Wesley and then at U.B.C., after studying in Harvard), and Rev. A. F. Lavender and Rev. William T. Brady (both of whom came out from England among a group of 200 young men whom the father of J. S. Woodsworth was instrumental in bringing out to do missionary work for the Church) who both held office while in Theology. “Vic” N. Riddle, for many years a Winnipeg teacher, was the 1920 Stick. The Golden Era (1921-1939) While the post-Second World War years, and especially the sixties, have been the great years of growth for the College, many older graduates look back to the two decades prior to this as the “golden era”. Certainly these were the years of close, compact student bodies, of distinguished Senior Sticks, of the growth of College solidarity, and of the emergence of Wesley as a strong, individual college in the University family, with the central University campus at Broadway and Osborne. These were the years in which college teaching careers began for O. T. Anderson (1917) (Dean of Arts, 1927-1958), A. R. Cragg (1920), C. W. Halstead (1920), A. L. Phelps (1921), W. Kirkconnell (1922), A. D. Longman (1924), J. D. Murray (1925), G. Pettingell (1926), A. R. M. Lower (1929), E. V. Mills (1930), V. L. Leathers (1931), L. F. S. Ritcey (1931), D. Owen (1932), L. A. Swyers (1934), and I. G. Wilkin¬ son (1936), all of whom were still active in 1955, and some of whom are still serving with distinction in 1965. The first Stick of the period was Gordon M. Churchill, who returned from war service to graduate in 1921, enter teaching, act as Principal in Dauphin, then join the Winnipeg staff at St. John’s, and return to military service in 1939. Since the war he has distinguished himself as an M.P. and Cabinet Minister, and, in addition, gained a degree in Law in the late forties. Rev. Earl Dixon came in from Hamiota to become the Stick of 1922, and in the spring of that year the great election debate broke out. Always those permitted to vote for Senior Stick had been limited to Theology II and Arts 111. In 1922 the candidates were Hoyle Dennison and Howley James, and neither could obtain a majority. A second election also resulted in a tie. Mock Parliament then debated the motion that the vote be extended to the entire student body, and the motion carried. An election was then held on the widened basis, and by a very narrow margin Dennison was elected. But the narrowness of the margin, supporters of the old system argued, suggested the validity of the narrow electorate. And, of course, Student Council had not yet altered the constitution, so no official change had occurred. Harold D. Clement (then, and now, of Brandon, where he is a lawyer in the County Court) was elected on the old basis in 1923, but during his regime the system was revised. Thus, Jack Murray became the first Stick to be elected under an official system in which all students of the College voted. The new system was the now well-known “weighted ballot system”, which gives three votes to members of the years from which the candidates may come, two to members of the years one higher and one lower than the above (that is, to Theology I and III, and to Arts II and IV) and one to all other students (Arts I and Collegiate). Mr. Murray, of course, was a much beloved and effective College teacher until his untimely death early in 1956. Many of the Sticks who followed were to become active, well-known men in Manitoba and Canada. Lloyd Borland (1927) came in from Crandall, chose teaching, has been on the Kelvin staff for many years, and has contributed much to his profession, to Manitoba tennis and curling, and to the Graduates’ Association and Senate of the College. Widely known is Burton T. Richardson (1928), who entered the newspaper world, who has been on the staff (in most cases as editor) of the Winnipeg Free Press, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, the Winnipeg Citizen, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Toronto Telegram. In addition, he was Special Assistant to the Prime Minister in 1963. During his career he has served in Washington and London, and worked with many notable figures. As a student Richardson met “Rj” Staples in Grenfell, Saskat¬ chewan and encouraged him to attend Wesley. Rj arrived with more musical instruments than other belongings, and the Principal, Dr. Riddell, bought him additional ones, such as a drum. He had much to contribute, became Stick for ’30-’31 and has fashioned for himself a brilliant career in Regina, where he has been superintendent of Music for Saskatchewan for many years. Another fine Senior Stick was Neil M. Morrison (’35), now Dean of York University, who joined the CBC and travelled widely in its service. Roderick O. Hunter (’37) went on to graduate in Law, and is presently one of the chief officers of the Great West Life Assurance Company; he has served on the Board of Regents of the College, and has been one of (Continued on page 134)

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THE TRADITION by Dr. Gerald Bedford, Associate Professor of English, Registrar, and former Senior Stick. (With acknowledgement to A. D. Longman, who has known personally almost all the Sticks, and who provided most of the information for the first half of this article). The Beginning to the First World War (1890-1913) “Who is the Senior Stick, and why is he called that?” asked a visiting professor during the meetings of the Sir James Duff Commission 1 in the College in March, 1965. The question is not infrequently asked by outsiders, for the title is indeed a distinctive and peculiar one, and apparently is used in academic circles only in Winnipeg. Nor does anyone seem to know exactly how the term originated. It seems, however, that it came into existence in the University of Toronto, during the late part of the last century, when a group of students were setting out to watch a soccer game and one of their number picked up an old piece of furniture with which to lead the cheering. He became the leader for the day, was called the “Senior Stick” after the stick he carried, and the name simply continued. Peculiarly, it was in Manitoba that the term was to enjoy a tradition among students, for in Toronto the elected leaders of the student body have long been known simply as “Presidents”. Despite the obscurity surrounding the origin of the term, however, the “Senior Stick tradition” took firm root in Winnipeg, in Wesley College in the autumn of 1889 when John D. Hunt, the elected student president, became known as the “Senior Stick”, and an actual stick of office was obtained for him to carry as a symbol of his position. 2 An oddity in that first year was that Miss Berta Earle, the elected “co-ed” president, was considered as holding supreme office jointly with Hunt, and as a result the names of both appear on the first small shield which to this day is attached to the top of the original stick. Thus the tradi¬ tion was born, and always in the years that followed, the student leaders in Wesley and United College have been known as Senior and Lady Sticks. The present Senior Stick, Mr. Ian Parker, is the 77th holder of the office, and when he was officially declared elected on February 12, 1965, it marked the first time that two members of one family had been Sticks; Ian’s grandfather, Mr. B. C. Parrker was the 18th Stick, in 1907, and the beautiful stained glass window which stands at the front of the chapel was placed there in his memory in 1951. Ian is also the only Stick ever to hold office during the final year of the Honours course in Arts 3 (all previous Honours students who were sticks were elected in their Third Year, served during their Fourth, and completed study in their Fifth Year). In this regard it is also interest¬ ing to note that the last candidate to be elected Stick from the Faculty of Theology was the late Rev. William T. Brady, in 1918-19. Over the 77 years the Sticks have entered many different professions, but, as might be expected, teaching and the Christian ministry have been the most frequent choices. Teaching has attracted 24 (University teaching 13, and the Secondary Schools 11) of whom 7 have served in Wesley and United, while 19 have chosen the Church. Other choices have been: Medicine 5, Law 8, Business 2, Politics 2, and Engineering, Radio, Journalism, Bank¬ ing, Social Work, one each. Three sticks have held the high distinction of Rhodes Scholar for Manitoba. From the beginning, in 1889, to the First World War most Sticks entered the church or became Medical doctors. These included Dr. Joseph Little, Stick the year Wesley Hall was being built; Dr. H. W. Wadge, well-known Winnipeg general practitioner for many years, Rev. Samuel Wilkinson, the father of Miss Ida Wilkinson, who served the Church widely as a chaplain overseas and throughout Manitoba; Rev. E. J. Hodgins, chaplain at Fort Saskat¬ chewan, Alberta, for many years; Rev. G. W. Sparling, who went as a missionary to China and who returned to Saskatoon; and Dr. R. G. Ferguson, who spent virtually all his career as Superintendent of the Saskatchewan Sanatorium at Fort Qu’Appelle. More famous, however, and perhaps better known were Dr. W. T. Shipley, for many years Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manitoba, and under whom the current President, Dr. Saunderson, once studied; Rev. J. S. Woodsworth, who founded the C.C.F. Party and represented Winnipeg North in the House of Commons for many years; Mr. B. C. Parker, who practised law in Winnipeg throughout his career; Dean R. Fletcher Argue, who served overseas, and returned to teach English at Wesley and at the “Broad¬ way Site”, and was Dean of Residence and Dean of Junior Men at the two institutions respectively; and Victor Dolmage, the lone Senior Stick to choose Engineering and who played a major role in the destruction of “Ripple Rock” off the British Columbia coast a few years ago. The first Stick, however, J. D. Hunt, chose law, practised in Edmonton, and is the author of several books on the problems of western develop¬ ment, and the last Stick of this opening period, W. T. Crummy, was the son of Dr. Eber Crummy, who became Principal in 1914 after a “carry-on” period had followed the death of Dr. Sparling in 1912. (Continued Next Page) 1. The commission was established to conduct an inquiry into the nature and practice of University Government in Canada and to make a report thereon. It was sponsored jointly by the CUF and the CAUT. 2. A curious error by the engraver, later corrected; caused “Senior Stick” to read “Senior Stock” on the original stick. 3. By the U.C.S.A. Constitution, Senior Stick candidates may be nominated from the Third Year (now Second) Arts and Science and Fourth Year (now Third) Honours in Arts and Science, and from the Second Year of Theology. UniIrii tlnllruf ffiuifrnt Aesnriation r. Jo I

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The usual standard history of the college has been omitted from this historical issue of Vox. The story of The Stick Tradition, as told by Prof. Bedford (see p. 21), incorporates many more interesting facts than could be presented to the stan¬ dard version. Turn also to pages 26 and 27. The Editor.