Commemoration involves many aspects, not the least of which is questioning what is being remembered and why. The 2015-2016 academic year will be celebrated as the University of British Columbia’s Centennial, honouring the first class of UBC students, some of whom had already begun their studies on the Vancouver campus of McGill University College of BC. The provincial University Act was passed in 1908 and construction of the Point Grey campus buildings began in 1914. However, in large part due to the impact of WWI on the province and country, UBC held classes in temporary classrooms in the Fairview neighbourhood for almost a decade prior to the official opening of the campus in 1925.
So, the 2015-2016 Centennial is about students. Is this where a university’s history begins?