Introduction 1955-1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 and beyond - Bibliography
Date: 1968 January.
Event: Students David Beard and John Taylor initiate the "Glendon Weekend" to discuss Glendon's ideal of a liberal arts college. The first session, focusing on the Glendon model of a liberal arts college community, is titled "What the hell is going on?".
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York CommuniquJ, February 1968, p.3; York Historical Research Project, "Information Sheet- 1968", p.II;
Date: 1968 February 22.
Event: At a Special meeting of the Senate, final reading is given to the statutory motion presented by the Committee on Professional Studies, "That a Faculty of Environmental Studies be formally established."
Category: Academic Life; Administrative History - Institution.
Source: York University Gazette, July 1968, p.2.
Date: 1968 February 28.
Event: The President's Committee on Rights and Responsibilities is struck. The Chairman is the Honourable Bora Laskin. The committee is composed of 2 members of the Board of Governors, 5 faculty members, and 4 students. The Committee is asked to consider the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students and how personal behaviour is subject to university regulation. Other questions involve the issue of limits to personal expression within the University, and the relationship between the University's code of behaviour and the laws and regulations of governmental authorities.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: Bora Laskin, Freedom and Responsibility in the University, (1970); Globe and Mail, February 15, 1968; York Historical Research Project, "Information Sheet- 1968", p II; York University Gazette, July 1968, p.13.
Date: 1968 January 22.
Event: The Board of Governors appoints the firm of Webb, Zerafa, Menkes as architects for the Physical Sciences Building, no.1. The UPACE group is approved as the architects for the second cluster of Colleges.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: York University Gazette, July 1968, p.13
Date: 1968 February 22.
Event: Senate gives final reading to a statutory motion to establish the Faculty of Environmental Studies. The Faculty of Environmental Studies is publicly announced in a press release on May 9. Dr. Gerald Carrothers will be the first dean of the interdisciplinary faculty, effective July 1, 1968. The Faculty will conduct environmental research and offer graduate level instruction starting in September 1969. The first unit of the Faculty will be the School of Urban and Regional Planning.
It is announced that the Senate Committee on Research will take office on July 1, 1968. The Committee will be responsible for the allocation of University research grants.
Category: Academic Life; Administrative History - Institution.
Source: Globe and Mail, May 10, 1968; York University Gazette, July 1968, p. 2,6.
Date: 1968 March 1.
Event: The Survey Research Centre in the Institute for Behavioural Research opens. Professor C. Michael Lanphier is appointed Acting Director.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York CommuniquJ, February 1968, p.1.
Date: 1968 March 2.
Event: Atkinson College holds a series of five, Saturday on-campus happenings, on "The Expo '67 Conference". The first session, broadcast on CBC-FM, is titled "Images, Idiots and Idols."
Category: Cultural Life - University.
Source: York CommuniquJ, March 1968, p.1
Date: 1968 March 28.
Event: The position of "University Orator" is established. Professor Edgar W. McInnis is named first University Orator for the period ending June 30, 1970.
Category: Cultural Life - University.
Source: York University Gazette, 1968, p.10; Globe and Mail, May 13, 1968.
Date: 1968 March 29.
Event: Official opening ceremonies for Winters College takes place. The Honourable Robert H. Winters gives an opening address, and unfurls the Winters College banner. Some students picket his arrival on campus, protesting against Canada's complicity with the United States in Vietnam.
Source: York University Gazette, July 1968, p.52; Globe and Mail, March 30, 1968.
Date: 1968 April 8.
Event: Dr. Dennis M. Healy's appointment as Vice President (Academic) is announced.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology, 1968. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1968 April 25.
Event: The final reading of a statute in Senate establishes a "Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences" for September. The Faculty of Science is to be separated from the Faculty of Arts and Science to become York's seventh Faculty. (The Faculty's name is shortened to the Faculty of Science in May.)
The Faculty's undergraduate programme is reassessed and revised over the course of the 1968-1969 academic year. The courses in the first two years are increasingly interdisciplinary. Half-year courses are introduced in the upper years. There is a new programme in Liberal Sciences that is oriented to General Education students.
Category: Academic History - Institution.
Sources: Reports to the President 1968-1969, "Faculty of Science", p.10; York University Gazette, July 1968, p.2, 11; "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1968 May.
Event: The plan for a central library is made public. The University decides to start immediately on construction of a Central Library, including a General Library area with space for 250 000 volumes and a Research Library with space for over a million volumes. Over the course of the summer, the York Libraries purchase the book stocks of two bookstores; the Ernest Starr second-hand bookstore in Boston, and the Ducharme bookstore in Montreal. The Starr collection was especially strong in American literature, and the Ducharme collection specialized in French-Canadian history and literature. It had an outstanding pamphlet collection. Altogether these purchases brought in 200 000 pieces to help establish the library's research collection.
Category: Academic Life; Buildings and Property.
Source; Thomas F. O'Connell, "The Creation of a Canadian Research Library", Canadian Library Journal, 1969, 26 (2), pp. 132-135; "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1968 May.
Event: President Ross establishes a Presidential Committee on Glendon to consider the financial viability of the College and recommend a program for its future . Mr. George R. Gardiner is Chairman. Other members include Professor H.S. Crowe, Professor W.S. Tarnopaulsky and Mr. J.A. Becker.
Category: Administrative History - Institution.
Source: George R. Gardiner, Report of the Presidential Committee on Glendon College, p.3.
Date: 1968 May.
Event: There is a competition to design the York University chapel. 47 architects submit designs. First prize is awarded to David Horne, M.Arch., of MRAIC Page and Steele Architects. The design places the chapel in the lagoon. Four brick planes rise out of the water, with an inverted glass triangle forming the roof. The chapel is to be financed by a private donation. Students protest against the chapel. They would prefer that the money be spent on medical research or classrooms.
Category: Buildings and Property; Cultural Life - Students.
Source: York CommuniquJ, May 1968, p.2; Manus 1969-70, p.25.
Date: 1968 May 10.
Event: Senate gives final reading to statutes adopting three degrees hitherto offered by the Osgoode Hall Law School: Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.,) Master of Laws (L.L.M.,) and Doctor of Jurisprudence. (D. Jur.)
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York University Gazette, July 1968, p.10.
Date: 1968 May 13.
Event: Mr. Floyd Sherman Chalmers is appointed Chancellor of York University. He will succeed Air Marshall Wilfrid Curtis on July 1, 1968.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: Globe and Mail, July 18, 1968; York University Gazette, July 1968, p.17.
Date: 1968 May 23.
Event: The Glendon Faculty Council approves new General Honours Programmes in Canadian Studies, International Studies, and Social, Political and Economic Thought at Glendon College. The courses are to be offered to first and second-year students starting in September 1968.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York University Gazette, July 1968, p.11.
Date: 1968 May 31.
Event: The Spring Convocation is held at the Tait McKenzie Physical Education Centre. The first B.Sc. degree in the new science program is awarded. Honorary degrees are conferred on Dr. Hannah Arendt, Dr. Asa Briggs, Dr. Charles Huggins, Mr. W. Kaye Lamb, and Mr. Frank Lawson. Dr. Briggs delivers the Convocation address. Special ceremonies are held in each of the Colleges, following the Convocation. There, College Masters present diplomas to graduating students and recognize award winners.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: Murray G. Ross, President's Report 1967 - 1968, pp.27- 28; York University Gazette, July 1968, p.53.
Date: 1968 July.
Event: The York Alumni Association abolishes its annual membership fee. All York graduates are automatic members. This boosts Alumni membership to 1 500.
Category: Cultural Life - Students.
Source: York CommuniquJ, October 1968; York Historical Research Project, "Information Sheet- 1968", p. III.
Date: 1968 July 1.
Event: York's affiliation with Osgoode Hall Law School comes into effect. The Faculty is to be known as The Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Due to construction delays, occupancy of the new building is deferred to May 1969. The Law School remains on Queen Street for the 1968 -1969 academic session. 690 students are enrolled at Osgoode Law School.
The faculty develops new interdisciplinary courses with the Administrative Studies and Arts and Science Faculties. Law students are represented through the student Literary and Legal Society.
Category: Administrative History - Institution.
Source: "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives; York University Osgoode Hall Law School Calendar for the Academic year 1968/69, p.19, 54.
Date: 1968 September 16.
Event: Lectures begin. The total undergraduate enrolment (full and part-time) tops 10 000 for the first time. Full-time students number approximately 6000, and part-time numbers are slightly higher.
There is partial occupancy of the Humanities and Social Sciences building. Less space is available for the Faculty of Arts faculty than expected. Consequently, a number of faculty members stay on at Colleges as Fellows.
The "5th" College - College "E" (Stong) starts in temporary classrooms. There are problems with government financing, which means that the opening of the Administrative Studies building, the Fine Arts building, and the Atkinson College building, Phase II, is postponed. The Board of Governors arranges to borrow funds to build the "5th" College, and the "2nd" Lecture Hall.
The School of Public Administration in the Faculty of Administrative Studies offers its first courses. Glendon College offers new courses in the Creative Writing Program and the Dramatic Arts Workshop.
The York Student Council arises from the ashes of the Student Representative Council.
The Department of Information and Development is established. "York Activities" the University's internal newsletter is re-named "Daily Bulletin."
Category: Academic Life; Buildings and Property.
Source: Globe and Mail, October 14, 1968; Reports to the President 1968-1969, "Faculty of Arts", pp.7-9; York Historical Research Project, "Information Sheet- 1968", p.III; York CommuniquJ, December 1967, p.4.; "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1968 September 3.
Event: An International Science Symposium on the laboratory measurement of atmospheric processes takes place on the York Campus September 3 and 4. This is York's first international science conference. Approximately 300 scientists in the Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy are attending the meetings. Dr. Harold Schiff and Dr. Ralph Nicholls present two of the thirteen papers.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York CommuniquJ, May 1968, p.4; Reports to the President 1968-1969, "Faculty of Science", p.10.
Date: 1968 September 16.
Event: The Glendon Forum for 1968 -1969 is a yearlong study on the Canadian Indian. Stage I, form September 16 to October 24, is a series of films and lectures informing students about the current situation of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Stages II and III, run from October 25-27. They consists of a weekend seminar with participants from the Indian Affairs Department, the Indian-Eskimo Association, the Canadian Youth Council and a members of the Aboriginal community. Following the seminar is a series of panel discussions on attitudes, trends and tentative conclusions drawn from the weekend.
Category: Cultural Life - Students
Source: York CommuniquJ, May 1968, p.4
Date: 1968 September 21.
Event: The York football team plays its first game, against Laurentian University. The score: an honourable defeat.
Category: Cultural Life - Students.
Source: "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
Date: 1968 September 26.
Event: The Senate gives final reading to three statutory motions establishing The Council of the Faculty of Environmental Studies, the Council of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and the Council for the Faculty of Science.
Category: Administrative History - Institution; Administrative History - Faculty.
Source: York University Gazette, January 1969, p.4.
Date: 1968 September - December.
Event: Students protest against the compulsory course, "Modes of Reasoning." During the Christmas break, a group of students work with faculty to create a new "Modes"course, which becomes an elective subject.
The Faculty of Arts creates "College Tutorials" as part of the undergraduate program. These are ungraded, interdisciplinary classes with small groups of students and faculty members. They are centred within the Colleges, thereby giving the Colleges an academic role as well as a social role in the undergraduate program. Course grading is changed from percentage marks to letter grades.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: Manus, 69-70, p.22; Reports to the President 1968-1969, "Faculty of Arts", pp. 7 -9, Murray G. Ross, Those Ten Years, pp. 13-14.
Date: 1968 fall.
Event: The Petrie Science Building is occupied. It houses the research activities of C.R.E.S.S., the Division of Natural Science and the undergraduate laboratories in physics and chemistry. Its new telescopes become a landmark on the campus.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: Archives and Special Collections Chronology; Reports to the President 1968-1969, "Faculty of Science", p.10.
Date: 1968 October 18.
Event: The Fall Convocation is held in Burton Hall. Floyd S. Chalmers is installed as the second Chancellor of the University. An honorary degree of Doctor of Laws is conferred on Air Marshal W.A. Curtis. The first Master of Science degrees in Biology, Chemistry and Sociology are conferred.
Category: Academic Life.
Source: York University Gazette, January 1969, p.64.
Date: 1968 October 30.
Event: The official opening of McLaughlin College, the fourth College and Residence on the Keele campus, takes place. Colonel R.S. McLaughlin unveils a plaque in his honour, Dr. George Tatham, Master of McLaughlin College, Dr. Murray G. Ross, and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable W. Ross MacDonald participate in the opening ceremonies.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: York University Gazette, January 1969, p. 64.
Date: 1968 November.
Event: There is student unhappiness and unrest regarding student parking. The Executive Committee of the York Student Council conducts a midnight raid and tears down the "Reserved" (for faculty) parking signs. The students involved are charged and tried by a panel of students and faculty. They found guilty and fined. But ultimately, the Administration responds to the protest, and students gain access to parking lots closer to campus at less cost.
Category: Cultural Life - Students.
Source: Manus, 1969-70, p.22 ; Murray G. Ross, Those Ten Years, p.17.
Date: 1968 November 6.
Event: The Frank Gerstein Lecture Series for 1968 "The City and the University" are held over four weeks from November 16 through November 26. The lectures by Chester Rapkin, John F. Collins, Leonard J. Duhl and Martin Meyerson examine the city of the future, how it is to be managed, and the nature of its relationship with its citizens and with the university.
Category: Cultural Life - University.
Source: Murray G. Ross, Those Ten Years, p. 32; York University Gazette, January 1969, pp.64-65.
Date: 1968 November 18.
Event: Mrs. George H. Stedman unveils a plaque and names York's first Lecture Hall "The Stedman Lecture Hall" in memory of her late husband.
Category: Buildings and Property.
Source: York University Gazette, January 1969, p. 65.
Date: 1968 December 10.
Event: The York Hockey Yeomen defeat University of Toronto for the first time.
Category: Cultural Life - Students.
Source: "The York University Board of Governors Dinner to celebrate the first ten years of York and to honour Dr. Murray G. Ross," Chronology. Presidents' papers. York University Archives.
FOUNDERS
Date: 1968 July 1.
People: The Board of Governors, 1968-1969.
- William Pearson Scott, Chairman
- Allen T. Lambert, Vice-Chairman
- Floyd S. Chalmers, Chancellor
- Murray G. Ross, President
- Alex E. Barron
- Mrs. John David Eaton
- Theodore J. Emmert
- George R. Gardiner
- Bertrand Gerstein
- John Morgan Gray
- J. William Horsey
- W.F. James
- Michael Milan Koener
- The Hon. Mr. Justice Bora Laskin
- A.J. Little
- L.G. Lumbers
- William Mahoney
- David B. Mansur
- W.F. McLean
- Alfred Powis
- John S. Proctor
- John H. Taylor
- Edwin H. Walker
- The Hon. Robert H. Winters
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: York University Osgoode Hall Law School Calendar for the Academic Year 1968-69, p.9.
Date: 1968 July 1.
People: University Administration, 1968 - 1969.
- Murray G. Ross, President
- Dennis M. Healy, Vice-President (Academic)
- William W. Small, Vice-President (Administration)
- H. Bruce Parkes, Vice-President (Finance)
- Arthur C. Johnson, Assistant Vice-President
- John T. Saywell, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science
- Harold I. Schiff, Dean of the Faculty of Science
- D. McCormack Smyth, Dean of the Joseph E. Atkinson College
- Frederick Elkin, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (1968 - 1969)
- James M. Gillies, Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Studies
- Gerald E. Le Dain, Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School
- Gerald A.P. Carrothers, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies
Jules Heller, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts
- Escott Reid, Principal of Glendon College
- John J. Conway, Master of Founders College
- C. David Fowle, Master of Vanier College
- D.S. Rickerd, Master Winters College (resigns Sept. 1, 1968)
- T.A. Hockin, Acting Master of Winters College (September, 1968 - )
- George Tatham, Master of McLaughlin College
- WilliamW. Farr, Secretary of Senate
- James L Flynn, Secretary of the Board of Governors
- Thomas F. O'Connell, Director of Library Services
- Bryce M. Taylor, Director of Physical Education and Athletics
- Gordon F. Howarth, Registrar
- A. Ross Dawson, Director of Campus Planning
- John K. Armour, Director of Physical Plant
- Neal McK. Agnew, Director of Psychological Services
- Wilfrid Sanders, Director of Information and Development
- Henry B. M. Best, Director of Student Services
- Arthur F. Knowles, Director of Instructional Aid Resources.
Category: Administrative History - Government.
Source: York University Gazette, January 1969, p. 12; York University Osgoode Hall Law School Calendar for the Academic Year 1968-69, pp.10-11.
Introduction 1955-1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 and beyond - Bibliography