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Concordia University
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Concordia University is a comprehensive public anglophone university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 2006, Concordia was home to 38,809 students, making it among the largest in Canada.
The university traces its academic roots as far back as the late 19th century through two separate schools, the Jesuit-run Loyola College and the YMCA-based Sir George Williams University. Concordia University was created in 1974 upon the merger of these two institutions.
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Concordia University is a comprehensive public anglophone university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 2006, Concordia was home to 38,809 students, making it among the largest in Canada.
The university traces its academic roots as far back as the late 19th century through two separate schools, the Jesuit-run Loyola College and the YMCA-based Sir George Williams University. Concordia University was created in 1974 upon the merger of these two institutions. The name of the university is derived from Concordia Salus, the motto of the City of Montreal. The motto means Well-being through harmony.
In the 2008 edition of the annual Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, Concordia ranked 20th in Canada and 357th internationally.. According to a worldwide ranking by the École des Mines de Paris, Concordia ranks first among Canadian and 33rd among world universities in terms of graduates occupying the rank of Chief Executive Officer at Fortune 500 companies. The University is also acknowledged as being one of the top engineering schools in the country.
History
Sir George Williams University
In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on De Maisonneuve Boulevard in downtown Montreal. From its early years, it offered evening classes to allow working people in the English-speaking community to pursue their education while working during the day. Concordia has continued this tradition by offering many night classes during the traditional fall and winter semesters, as well as the summer sessions. In 1926, the education program was organized as Sir George Williams College, named after George Williams, founder of the YMCA. In 1934, Sir George Williams College offered the first undergraduate credit course in adult education offered in Canada.
It received a university charter from the provincial government in 1948. The first SGWU building, the Norris Building, was built in 1956. It established a Centre for Human Relations and Community Studies in 1963. The university continued to hold classes in the YMCA building until the construction of the Hall Building in 1966. The university gained international attention in 1969, when a group of students occupied the Hall Building's 9th floor computer lab (see Sir George Williams Computer Riot).
Loyola College
Loyola College was founded on Sherbrooke Street West in 1896 as an English-language program of the Jesuit Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal (since merged into Université du Québec à Montréal). It was originally located at the Sacred Heart Convent in downtown Montreal. The college moved into the present west-end campus in 1916. Although founded as a collège classique (the forerunners of Quebec's CEGEPs), Loyola began granting university degrees through Université Laval as early as 1906. By 1940, collège classique programs were gone and Loyola became a four-year university, although it never obtained its own charter, granting its degrees through Laval or, after 1920, the Université de Montréal.
Concordia University
The merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University was recommended in 1969 by a royal commission, as part of the secularization of Quebec's educational system (see Quiet Revolution).
In August 1974, the two schools would follow the commission's recommendations and merge, thus creating Concordia University.
Concordia University took its name from the motto of the city of Montreal, Concordia salus (meaning 'well-being through harmony').
Today, the school is one of three English-language Universities in the province of Quebec. The other two schools are Bishop's University in the Lennoxville borough of Sherbrooke, and McGill University, also in Montreal.
Logos
Concordia University has changed its logo four times in its history.
Campuses
The university has two campuses, set approximately 7 km apart: Sir George Williams Campus in the downtown core of Montreal, in an area known as Quartier Concordia (at Guy-Concordia Metro station), and Loyola Campus in the residential west-end district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. They are connected by free shuttle-bus service for students, faculty and staff.
New buildings
In 2001, Concordia embarked on a mission to develop and expand the quality of the downtown campus, and to revive the west end in Montreal. The development is set to conclude by 2010 (though construction is currently behind schedule).
The university has also acquired the historic Grey Nuns property near its Sir George Williams Campus, for $18 million. Built in 1879, it would alone double the size of the current downtown campus. From 2007 to 2022, the university will begin occupying the building in 4 separate phases. The large property will house the faculty of Fine Arts and possibly the Concordia School of Cinema, and other departments.
and Guy Street.]]
The Integrated Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex at Saint Catherine Street and Guy Street was opened in September 2005.
Across the street, the 100-year-old TD Canada Trust building was donated to Concordia in 2005 by the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The university had planned to begin using this space in 2006.
Construction of the new John Molson School of Business Building that will be located on the corner of Guy and de Maisonneuve streets began in February 2007. The Quebec Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, Jean-Marc Fournier, on October 30, 2006 announced an investment of $60 million towards the construction of the new building. The minister made the announcement during a ceremony at Concordia. The government’s $60 million represents about half of the total construction costs. Construction started on January 22, 2006 and it is expected to be complete by summer, 2009. The fifteen story building will house the JMSB’s 6,000 full and part-time students under the same roof for the very first time. For the moment, JMSB is located in the GM building on de Maisonneuve street and it is directly connected to the new Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts building.
Future plans call for the expansion of sports facilities at the Loyola Campus. Know as the Loyola Recreation and Athletics Complex. The facility would have a new triple gym, a 25m swimming pool, an indoor track, and a stadium with permanent seating for 5,000. If built the new facilities would enhance and solidify the university's athletic standing in Canada and would economically benefit the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighborhood.
Academic Programs
Concordia has more than 180 undergraduate programs, divided into four faculties:
Students are normally enrolled in one of these Faculties, but they may take courses from any of the others as part of their studies. Many programs also offer a 'co-operative' component, whereby students get work experience while they study.
In addition, the School of Graduate Studies offers about 70 programs leading to Master's and doctoral degrees, as well as graduate diplomas and certificates for professionals seeking to upgrade their knowledge and skills.
In 2008, the Financial Times, ranked the John Molson School of Business' Executive MBA, 87th in the world out of one hundred top EMBA programs. In 2006 it ranked 68th and in 2007, 89th.
Students enter the university in September, or, in some cases, in January or May. An undergraduate degree normally takes three or four years studying full-time to complete, a Master's takes from a year and a half to three years, and a Ph.D. is at least four years long. Certificates and diplomas usually take no longer than a year and a half to complete.
In addition to regular academic programs, Concordia University has five outstanding units (three colleges, one school and one institute), which aim at introducing students to special topics in a more intensive and intimate setting:
Athletics
Varsity athletics
Concordia University's athletic teams are called the Concordia Stingers. They compete with other schools in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and more specifically, in the Quebec Student Sports Federation and the Quebec University Football League. The university has ten varsity teams. In the fall, teams compete in Canadian football, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's rugby union and sport wrestling. There are female and male wrestlers on the team from year to year, however they compete as one team. In the winter, teams compete in men's and women's ice hockey and men's and women's basketball.
Concordia last won a national championship in 1999, when the women's hockey team beat the University of Alberta in the final game of the season.
Rugby
In November 2005, Concordia's rugby team came from behind to beat McGill 20–18 at the Percival Molson Stadium to take the men's rugby provincial championship—the school's first since 2001.
Club athletics
The baseball team, which operates in the fall season under head coach Howie Schwartz, is composed of mostly elite and AA level players from summer leagues and competes at the club level against other schools in Quebec, Ontario and an array of schools from Atlantic Canada for a national championship in late October. The Dalhousie Tigers won in 2005 and Concordia did not make the playoffs. In 2007, the baseball team won their first conference championship in school history over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees advancing to their first CIBA National Championships. They lost 2-0 in the championship final against the University of New Brunswick. In 2008, they lost the playoff title to the newest team in the Northern Division, the Collège Laflèche Dragons in game three of a three-game series.
A new "Spirit Team" was also established in 2005, serving as the University's first ever Dance/Cheer Team, performing at many athletic games, and promoting the Concordia Stingers Athletes on campus. They are also known as the Queen Bees, a play on the University Athlete name, The Stingers.
A new cross-country running team was established in 2004.
Student life
Campus media
Concordia University has student-run media outlets, including newspapers (The Link, The Concordian and L'Organe), radio (CJLO) and TV (CUTV) stations.
The university presses, The Concordian, The Link, and L'Organe are members of CUP.
Bridge Building Competition
The Troitsky Bridge Building Competition brings together engineering students from across Canada and parts of the United States. Teams of students representing their universities must build a 1-metre-long bridge using only regular popsicle sticks, toothpicks, dental floss, and white glue. A panel of judges grades the bridges based on originality and presentation while a hydraulic loading device is used to determine the maximum load and performance.
Fraternities and Sororities
Concordia University is home to local and international fraternities and sororities. These organizations exist under, and intercommunicate through the Interfraternal Council, known as the "IFC". In Greek alphabetical order, they are:
The Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority Beta Pi chapter was founded in 1994 at Concordia University, it is the only sorority at Concordia that is International, i.e., with chapters in both the United States and Canada.
Mu Omicron Zeta fraternity, commonly referred to as MOZ (pronounced like "moes"), was founded in 1992. In addition to Concordia, MOZ fraternity has members from McGill and the Université de Montréal.
The Zeta Tau Omega sorority (ZTO) is one of two sororities at Concordia. Based mainly in Concordia, the sorority was founded in 1968 by six women of Loyola College. It now has a large network of sisters, commonly referred to as ZETs (pronounced as zaytes). As a local sorority, they govern themselves, with a Board of Control outside of their active chapter. In 2008 Zeta tau Omega will be celebrating its 40th anniversary as an active sorority at Concordia.
The Brotherhood of Omicron is another locally based fraternity at Concordia. Their name is based on the Greek letter Omicron. They accept members from Montreal Universities.
Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity has it's Kappa Chi (KX) Chapter at Concordia. TKE has the most active chapters of any fraternity and the only international fraternity at Concordia. Founded in 1965 at Loyola College, KX is the oldest fraternity at Concordia. KX is famous for its annual "Teke-in-a-Box" and "Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction" charity fundraisers. TKE also has it's own scholarship, for which all active Undergraduate members are eligible.
Student Union
Controversies
Student activism
Concordia has made media headlines for issues involving politically active students. The first major incident was SGW Computer Riots in 1969, before the merger that created today's university. Concordia supports a vibrant student and community level civil society including well over 60 academic, environmentalist, socialist, international development, anarchist, feminist, religious, and gay rights organizations, as well as cultural clubs and federal political parties. The level of politicization and activity of student groups is dependent on the group and its purpose, and varies according to changing membership from year to year.
In 1989, Concordia students voted in a referendum to directly fund their PIRG with a fee-levy. With the support of this social-justice organization, which now had stable funding and a staff of paid workers, student activism flourished in the 1990s. A number of organizations that are now based at the university have their origins as QPIRG Concordia Working Groups. These include The People's Potato, a vegan soup-kitchen; Le Frigo Vert, a non-profit natural food co-op; and Right To Move/La Voie Libre, a fully-equipped, volunteer-run bicycle repair workshop. All of these organizations are open to the general public and have strong representations of non-student community members.
Concordia students took an active role in the province-wide student strikes of 1996, which resulted in the renewal of a tuition freeze which was later revoked in 2007.
As the 1990s progressed, student activism became more militant, coming to a head in 1999 with the election of the first in a series of radical slates to the Concordia Student Union. Under the presidency of Rob Green, a referendum regarding of another strike garnered 2,284 votes of support. This was an unusually strong show of support, as student governments at Concordia are often elected on the basis of less than 1000 votes in their favor. The strike lasted from November 3 to 5th and targeted a range of issues, including student representation in the university senate, corporate presence and advertising on campus, and government cuts to education. There were several demonstrations in which both protestors and police were reported to be injured.
Concordia students voted in favor of accreditation of their student union in a referendum in December 2000. As a result, the CSU is now legally accountable only to its student constituents.
Many incidents over the last several years have had their roots in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conflict has been largely represented as a one between two student groups: the pro-Palestinian Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and pro-Israeli Hillel. In general most student activism is conducted at a lower profile level.
Netanyahu protest
On September 9, 2002, a scheduled visit from former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cancelled after protesters clashed with police inside the building.
Before the speech was to take place, protesters inside the building stormed barricades which had been set up to block access to the building's lobby from the inside and were stopped at the escalator leading to the lobby by police in riot gear. Protesters outside the building began banging on the windows. For the duration of the standoff, ticket-holders pushed their way through a thick crowd of protesters outside the building and entered through a secured access point complete with metal detectors, and were then escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place.
Around one hour later, a large exterior window separating the protesters from the police inside shattered, prompting a police officer to immediately discharge pepper spray through the window. The spray entered the building's ventilation system forcing an evacuation. At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side and away from police was broken when protesters threw a metal barricade into it.
The immediate result of the protest and subsequent evacuation was the cancellation of the lecture. The university instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency.
Five demonstrators were arrested, and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under the University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities
Fabrikant Affair
On August 24, 1992, Valery Fabrikant, a Mechanical Engineering professor, shot five colleagues on the ninth floor of the Hall Building.
Civil Engineering professor Matthew McCartney Douglass, Chemistry professor Michael Gorden Hogben and Mechanical Engineering Professor Aaron Jaan Saber died that day while Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair Phoivos Ziogas passed on a month later. Mechanical Engineering secretary Elizabeth Horwood recovered from her injuries.
Fabrikant was convicted of the murders. A memorial to the slain professors (four granite tables) was erected in the Hall Building lobby.
Notable alumni and faculty
Concordia's alumni and faculty have achieved fame for their accomplishments in many fields. Distinguished alumni include, a former governor general (Georges Vanier), a former prime minister of Dominica (Rosie Douglas), internationally renowned authors (E. Annie Proulx, Mordecai Richler, Nino Ricci), political leaders and ministers, academics, scientists, actors and producers (Will Arnett, Rene Balcer, Peter Lenkov), and musicians (Emily Haines).
Awards
See also
Further reading
- Bissonette, L. A. "Loyola of Montreal: A Sociological Analysis of an Educational Institution in Transition between 1969 and 1974." M.A. thesis, Concordia University, 1977.
External links
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