United Colleges - Vox Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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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.

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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 year 1964-65 marked the first year of United’s independence from the farm on the student level. It was also the year in which United’s University students became independ¬ ent members of CUS, the Canadian Union of Students. The road to membership was a long one, but it covered a lot of miles too— all the way from Victoria, site of the CUS Western Regional Conference, to Laval University in “la belle province”, and back to York University in Toronto for the 1964 CUS Congress. A motley United crew made it to Victoria in early May, 1964, to make an impression on CUS. In spite of meeting us the Western Region Conference re¬ commended that United be granted membership. At Laval University, the subject was Bilingualism. United delegates found out that the French Problem was more than just whether to order vin rouge or vin blanc with your crepes suzettes. At York University, United formally became a member of CUS. Three Que¬ bec Universities left CUS to form their own Quebec student union. The Congress also saw Jean Bazin, of Laval University, take office as National President. CUS 1964-65 programs ranged from a nation-wide study of student finances and preparation of briefs to the Bladen Commission and various levels of government, to a program of information and action regarding South Africa, and the establishment of a Student Government Research Service. This pro¬ vides an information pool so that each campus can benefit from the best inno¬ vations and ideas on other campuses. This year was an ambitious one for CUS—it was also a very profitable one for United in her first year as a member of CUS. OUR DELEGATION TO VICTORIA. GIFT S ' E BEAUT ' BARBE SHOE ‘ VALET DINING ROOM CORONET ROOM • COFFEE SHOP B NEWS STAND TROPICAL GARDEN 24