Wilfrid Laurier University

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Wilfrid Laurier University
Seal of Wilfrid Laurier University
Motto: Veritas Omnia Vincit
(Latin: Truth conquers all)
Established 1911
Type: Public
Chancellor: Bob Rae
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 Hawk
Website: www.wlu.ca

Wilfrid Laurier University is a public 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. The university is especially well-known for its School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Music, and graduate School of Social Work. Although Laurier is one of the fastest-growing universities in Canada (enrolment more than doubled fom 1997 to 2006) the university has a compact main Waterloo campus, a campus in Brantford clustered around a central core area, and retains a strong sense of friendliness and community. The City of Waterloo (population about 110,000) is home to both Laurier and the University of Waterloo.

Wilfrid Laurier University has an active international component, with partnerships at universities around the world and a growing international student population.

Contents

[edit] History

Wilfrid Laurier University's history dates from 1911, when the Evangelical 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. 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 Western, whose colours were purple and white, maroon was discarded in favour of purple.

The main campus in Waterloo
The main campus in Waterloo

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.

Laurier Brantford's administrative building is a 1904 Carnegie library.
Laurier Brantford's administrative building is a 1904 Carnegie library.

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?

Waterloo Lutheran University needed a new name when it became a public university. Many names were suggested, but eventually Wilfrid Laurier University was chosen, not just to honour Sir Wilfrid Laurier, one of Canada's most beloved and eminent statesmen, but also because the university's initials -- WLU -- would remain the same. There was a strong feeling among staff, students and faculty at the time that the WLU "brand" should be kept, if at all possible.

[edit] Administration

Wilfrid Laurier University is headed by a Chancellor. The role of chancellor is largely ceremonial, and the chancellor has little participation in the day-to-day operations of the university. The current chancellor is The Hon. Bob Rae, a former Ontario premier, who has held the post since 2003.

The university's President and Vice-Chancellor is Dr. Max Blouw.[1]

[edit] Chancellors

[edit] Presidents

[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]

Home of Faculty of Social Work, downtown Kitchener. Formerly St. Jerome's high school.
Home of Faculty of Social Work, downtown Kitchener. Formerly St. Jerome's high school.

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 probably best 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 BSC 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 indivduals 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 the an MBA degree and an accounting designation.

Laurier's graduates from the School of Business and Economics can be found in large numbers on Bay Street, Canada's financial heart, where they work for major companies, banks, investment banking firms, all levels of government and insurance firms. In addition to this, many graduates are trained in marketing and fill many marketing-related positions in large and small corporations all over the Greater Toronto Area.

[edit] Faculty of Music

The Faculty of Music at Laurier is considered one of the best in the country, with programs in performance, music education, composition, music history, church music, theory and music therapy. In addition, Laurier is home to the Penderecki String Quartet - an internationally recognised group playing largely new compositions. The music faculty boasts two performance spaces - the Theatre Auditorium and the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall (named after the famous contralto and former chancellor of WLU).

[edit] Co-op

Laurier has one of the oldest and most prestigious business and economics co-op option in Canada for both undergraduate and graduate students. Admission to co-op is extremely competitive and approximately half of SBE business students are admitted. The employment rate is consistently high. The university also offers co-op in Arts and Sciences.

[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.

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. "From 'Jackass' to 'Bird of Prey'," said the headline in the January 16, 1961 issue of the newspaper.

Whether called the Golden Hawks or just the Hawks, Laurier's sports teams have consistently punched above their weight. 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.

[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] Noted Alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wilfrid Laurier University - Public Affairs - Headlines

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Wilfrid Laurier University

Administration
Bob Rae (Chancellor) • Max Blouw (President)

Academics
Faculty of Arts • School of Business & Economics (SBE) • Faculty of Education • Graduate Studies • Laurier Library • Faculty of Music • Research Office • Faculty of Sciences • Waterloo Lutheran Seminary • Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work

Athletics
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks • Athletic Complex • University Stadium • Alumni Field

Student Life
Wilfrid Laurier University Students' Union • Fred Nichols Campus Centre • Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications • Radio Laurier

Others
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
v • d • e
Post-Secondary Institutions in Ontario
Universities Brock · Carleton · Dominican · Guelph · Lakehead · Laurentian · Laurier · McMaster · Nipissing · OCAD · Ottawa · Queen's · RMC · Ryerson · Toronto · Trent · UOIT · Waterloo · Western · Windsor · York
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Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning Conestoga · Humber · Sheridan
Institutes of Advanced Studies Georgian
Other
Private Funded Degree-Granting Institutions
Established through an Act of the Legislative Assembly		 Emmanuel · ICS · Redeemer · Tyndale
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