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The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Canadian public research university with campuses in Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Vancouver campus is located on Point Grey, a peninsula about 10 km from downtown Vancouver. While the originating legislation created UBC on March 7, 1908, the first day of lectures was September 30, 1915. On September 22, 1925, lectures began on the new Point Grey campus.
UBC was ranked as the fourth best university (Medical Doctoral Rankings) in Canada by Maclean's Magazine in 2008.
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Encyclopedia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Canadian public research university with campuses in Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Vancouver campus is located on Point Grey, a peninsula about 10 km from downtown Vancouver. While the originating legislation created UBC on March 7, 1908, the first day of lectures was September 30, 1915. On September 22, 1925, lectures began on the new Point Grey campus.
UBC was ranked as the fourth best university (Medical Doctoral Rankings) in Canada by Maclean's Magazine in 2008. In 2006, Newsweek magazine ranked UBC second in Canada and 27th in the world. In 2007, the Times Higher Education Supplement ranked UBC as second in Canada and 33rd in the world.
The UBC library, which comprises 4.7 million books and journals, is the second largest research library in Canada.
History
Early history
The University of British Columbia, a single, public provincial university created in 1908 was modelled on the American state university system, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research.
The University of British Columbia is a non-denominational undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution. A provincial university was first called into being by the British Columbia University Act of 1908, although its location was not yet specified.
The governance was modelled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906 which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the 2 bodies and to perform institutional leadership. The Act constituted a twenty-one member senate with Francis Carter-Cotton of Vancouver as Chancellor. Before the University Act, there had been several attempts at establishing a degree-granting university with assistance from the Universities of Toronto and McGill. Columbian College in New Westminster, through its affiliation with Victoria College of the University of Toronto, began to offer university-level credit at the turn-of-the-century, but it was McGill that would come to dominate higher education in the early 1900s.
Building on a successful affiliation between Vancouver and Victoria high schools with McGill University, Henry Marshall Tory helped to establish the McGill University College of British Columbia. From 1906 to 1915, McGill BC (as it was called) operated as a private institution providing the first few years toward a degree at McGill University or elsewhere. The Henry Marshall Tory Medal was established in 1941 by Henry Marshall Tory (1864-1947), FRSC, founding President of the University of Alberta and of the National Research Council of Canada, and a co-founder of Carlton University.
In the meantime appeals were again made to the government to revive the earlier legislation for a provincial institution, leading to the University Endowment Act in 1907, and The University Act in 1908. In 1910 the Point Grey site was chosen, and the government appointed Dr. Frank Fairchild Wesbrook as President in 1913. A declining economy and the outbreak of war in August, 1914 compelled the University to postpone plans for building at Point Grey, and instead the former McGill University College site at Fairview became home to the University until 1925. The first day of lectures was September 30, 1915, the new university absorbing McGill University College. University of British Columbia awarded its first degrees in 1916.
World War I dominated campus life, and the student body was "decimated" by enlistments for active service, with three hundred UBC students in Company "D" alone. By the end of the war, 697 members of the University had enlisted. A total of 109 students graduated in the three war-time congregations, all but one in the Faculty of Arts and Science.
By 1920, the university had only three faculties: Arts, Applied Science, and Agriculture (with Departments of Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Horticulture and Poultry). It only awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (B.S.A.). There were 576 male students and 386 female students in the 1920-21 winter session, but only 64 academic staff, including 6 women.
In the early part of the twentieth century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. UBC provided no degrees in these areas, but was beginning to offer degrees in new professional areas such as engineering, agriculture, nursing, and school teaching. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced, with students completing M.A. degrees in natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
In 1922 the now twelve-hundred-strong student body embarked on a "Build the University" campaign. Students marched in the streets of Vancouver to draw attention to their plight, enlist popular support, and embarrass the government. 56,000 signatures were presented at legislature in support, and on September 22, 1925, lectures began on the new Point Grey campus.
Except for the Library, Science and Power House buildings, all the campus buildings were temporary constructions. Two playing fields were built by the students themselves, but the University had no dormitories and no social centre. Still, the University continued to grow steadily.
Soon, however, the effects of the depression began to be felt. The provincial government, upon which the University depended heavily, cut the annual grant severely. In 1932-33 salaries were cut by up to 23%. Posts remained vacant, and a few faculty lost their jobs. Most graduate courses were dropped. In 1935, the University established the Department of Extension. Just as things began to improve, World War II broke out.
Canada declared war on September 10, 1939. Soon afterwards, University President Klinck wrote:
From the day of the declaration of war, the University has been prepared to put at the disposal of the Government all possible assistance by way of laboratories, equipment and trained personnel, insofar as such action is consistent with the maintenance of reasonably efficient instructional standards. To do less would be unthinkable.
Heavy rains and melting snowfall eroded a deep ravine across the north end of the campus, in the Grand Campus Washout of 1935. The campus did not yet have storm drains, and surface runoff went down a ravine to the beach. When the University carved a ditch to drain flooding on University Avenue, the rush of water steepened the ravine and eroded it back as fast as per hour. The resulting gully eventually consumed , two bridges, and buildings near Graham House. The University was closed for 4½ days. Afterwards, the gully was filled with debris from a nearby landslide, and only traces are visible today.
Military training on the campus became popular, then mandatory. WWII marked the first provision of money from the federal government to the University for research purposes. By the end of the war, it became clear that the facilities at Point Grey had become totally inadequate to cater to the huge influx of veterans returning to their studies. The University needed new staff, new courses, new faculties, and new buildings for teaching and accommodation. The student population rose from 2,974 in 1944-45 to 9,374 in 1947-48.
Surplus Army and Air Force camps were used for both classrooms and accommodation. Fifteen complete camps were taken over by the University in the course of the 1945-46 session alone, with a sixteenth camp situated on Little Mountain in Vancouver, converted into suites for married students. Most of the camps were dismantled and carried by barge or truck to the University where the huts were scattered across the campus. (A few huts remain in place today!)
The University of British Columbia launched its program in architecture in 1947.
Student numbers hit 9,374 in 1948; more than 53% of the students were war veterans in 1947-67. Between 1947 and 1951 twenty new permanent buildings were erected.
In 1957, the first Canadian graduate program in adult education was established at the University of British Columbia.
The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society. In 1961, the first doctoral program in adult education in Canada was introduced by the University of British Columbia.
The single-university policy in the West was changed as existing colleges of the provincial universities gained autonomy as universities — the University of Victoria was established in 1963.
The university today
UBC's current president is Dr. Stephen Toope, appointed on July 1, 2006. He succeeds Dr. Martha Piper, who was the University's first female president and the first non-Canadian born president.
The Provost and Vice-President (VP) Academic, is currently Dr. David H. Farrar. The Vice-President Students is Brian Sullivan; VP External and Legal is Stephen Owen, VP Research is John Hepburn and VP Finance and Administration is Terry Sumner.
The Chancellor of the University, who acts as the University's ceremonial head and sits on the academic Senate and the Board of Governors, is Sarah Morgan-Silvester (as of July 1, 2008).
The UBC Okanagan campus is led by Dr. Doug Owram, Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
In 2003, UBC had 3,167 full-time Faculty, and 4,612 non-faculty full-time employees. It had over forty thousand students (33,566 undergraduate students and 7,379 graduate students), and more than 180,000 alumni in 120 countries. Enrollment continues to grow. The founding of the new Okanagan campus will increase these numbers dramatically. The university is one of only two Canadian universities to have membership in Universitas 21, an international association of research-led institutions (McGill University is the other).
Buildings on the Vancouver campus currently occupy 1,091,997 m² gross, located on 1.7 km² of maintained land.
The Vancouver campus' street plan is mostly in a grid of malls (for driving and pedestrian-only). Lower Mall and West Mall are in the southwestern part of the peninsula, with Main, East, and Wesbrook Malls northeast of them.
Wireless internet access is available at no charge to students, faculty, and staff inside and outside of most buildings at both campuses.
Coat of arms
The Coat of Arms of UBC has the second longest history of all the post-secondary institutions of British Columbia, dating back to 1915.
Book publishing
The University of British Columbia Press, which was founded in 1971, deals with Canadian affairs and Pacific studies.
Tuition
In 2001-02, UBC had one of the lowest undergraduate tuition rates in Canada, at an average of $2,181 CAD per year for a full-time programme. This was due to a government-instituted tuition freeze.
In 2001, however, the BC Liberal party defeated the NDP in British Columbia and lifted the tuition freeze. In 2002-03 undergraduate and graduate tuition rose by an average of 30%, and by up to 40% in some faculties. This has led to better facilities, but also to student unrest and contributed to a teaching assistant union strike.
UBC again increased tuition by 30% in the 2003-04 year, again by approximately 15% in the 2004-05 season, and 2% in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 years. Increases were lower than expected because, in the 2005 Speech from the Throne, the government announced that tuition increases would be capped to inflation.
Despite these increases, UBC's tuition remains below the national average and below other universities in the regions. In 2006-07, the Canadian average undergraduate tuition fee was $4347 and the BC average was $4960. UBC tuition for 2007-2008 is $4,257 for a Canadian student in a basic 30-unit program, though various programs cost from $3,406 to $9,640. Medicine tuition fees are $14,566. The faculty of Dentistry charges $14,566 for tuition and a clinic fee in excess of $25,000. Tuition for international students is roughly four times as much.
Finances
For 2006-2007, UBC had expected a $36 million deficit. With various cost cutting measures, the University posted a small surplus of $1.92 million. For example, the discontinuation of credit card payments for domestic students is estimated to save $2.5 million per year.
As of March 2007, UBC had assets of $3.2 billion and liabilities of $1.8 billion. Total revenue for 2006-2007 was $1.59 billion, of which 36% came from the provincial government, 11% from the federal government, 17% from "sales of goods and services", 18% from tuition, and 18% from all other sources. Total expenses were $1.50 billion, of which salaries, wages, benefits, and honoraria were 59%, office supplies and expenses were 12%, amortization was 9%, and all other expenses were 20%. Less than 1% of expenses went to fundraising.
Campuses
Vancouver
The Vancouver campus is located at Point Grey, a twenty-minute drive from downtown Vancouver. It is near several beaches and has views of the North Shore mountains. The 7.63 km² Pacific Spirit Regional Park serves as a green-belt between the campus and the city. The campus, along with Pacific Spirit Regional Park, the University Endowment Lands, and the residential community of University Hill, is not within Vancouver's city limits. As a result, UBC is policed by the RCMP rather than the Vancouver Police Department. However, the Vancouver Fire Department does provide service to UBC under a contract. Also, all postage sent to any building on campus includes Vancouver in the address. The Army Huts on the Vancouver campus are on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada UBC Vancouver also has two satellite campuses within the City of Vancouver: a campus at Vancouver General Hospital for the medical sciences, and UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver for part-time credit and non-credit programmes. Moreover, UBC is also a partner in the consortium backing Great Northern Way Campus Ltd. The University of British Columbia is affiliated with a group of adjacent tehological colleges, which include the Vancouver Theological School, Regent College, Carey College and the Corpus Christi College.
Kelowna
The Kelowna campus, known as UBC Okanagan, is located on the former North Kelowna Campus of Okanagan University College, adjacent to the international airport on the north-east side of Kelowna, British Columbia. This campus offers undergraduate degrees in Arts, Science, Nursing, Education, Management and Engineering as well as graduate degrees in most of these disciplines. The Okanagan campus is experiencing a rapid expansion with construction of several new residential, teaching and research buildings now underway.
Features
Gardens
- UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research: the first UBC department, it holds a collection of over 8000 different kinds of plants used for research, conservation and education
- Nitobe Memorial Garden: built to honour Japanese scholar Inazo Nitobe, the garden has been the subject of more than fifteen years' study by a UBC professor, who believes that its construction hides a number of impressive features, including references to Japanese philosophy and mythology, shadow bridges visible only at certain times of year, and positioning of a lantern that is filled with light at the exact date and time of Nitobe's death each year. The garden is behind the university's Asian Centre, whose roof features a glass and wood structure from Japan's exhibit at Tokyo Expo.
Museums and galleries
Performance arts theatres
Libraries
The UBC Library, which comprises 4.7 million books and journals, 5.0 million microforms, over 800,000 maps, videos and other multimedia materials and over 46,700 subscriptions, is the second largest research library in Canada. The library has twenty-six branches and divisions at UBC and at other locations, including three branches at teaching hospitals (Saint Paul's Hospital, Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, BC Children's Hospital), one at UBC's Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver, and one at the new UBC Okanagan campus. Plans are also under way to establish a library at the Great Northern Way Campus on the Finning Lands.
The former Main Library has undergone construction and has been renamed the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The new library incorporates the centre heritage block of the old Main Library with two new expansion wings and features an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), the first of its kind in Canada.
Major General Victor Odlum CB, CMG, DSO, VD donated his personal library of 10,000 books, which has been housed in "the Rockwoods Centre Library" of the UBC library since 1963.
The Koerner Library has appeared in Al Pacino's movie "88 Minutes."
Academics
UBC's academic activity is primarily organized into 12 "Faculties", and some "Schools". There are also "Institutes", some "Colleges" which are research organizations, and some "residential colleges" which are residence-focussed academic communities.
A few of the faculties and schools are:
Quality of education
UBC consistently ranks as one of the top three Canadian universities by Research InfoSource and ranks as second in Canada and thirty-sixth in the world in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. In 2006, Newsweek magazine ranked the University of British Columbia second in Canada and 27th in the world. The Times Higher Education Supplement of the UK ranked UBC as second in Canada and thirty-third in the world in 2007. According to Maclean's University Rankings, UBC has the highest percentage of Ph. D level professors among all public universities in North America (92%). It has received widespread recognition by Maclean's and Newsweek magazines for its foreign language program; the Chinese program is North America's largest, and the Japanese program is North America's second largest (after the University of Hawaii).The Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Theory has been recognized consistently for the world-class artists who teach there. In 2003 the National Post stated UBC had the highest entrance requirements for undergraduate admission out of all universities in Canada.
Programs
The Faculty of Agricultural Studies: Food, Nutrition & Health has an accredited dietetic program. The university is accredited by a professional organization such as the Dietitians of Canada and the university's graduates may subsequently become registered dietitians. List of universities with accredited dietetic programs
The Faculty of Forestry is part of the AUFSC and has accredited baccalaureate of science programs with specializations in Natural Resource Conservation; Forest Science; Forest Resources Management; Major Forest Operations; International Forestry; Wood Products Processing; and International Forestry.
Aboriginal
The UBC’s Longhouse is a dedicated space for Aboriginal institutions, a “zone of comfort” for Aboriginal students and a focus for Aboriginal culture and activities on campus. At UBC, Aboriginal staff particularly in academic positions, signal the institution’s commitment to success for Aboriginal students. UBC, for example has an Associate Dean of Indigenous Education. UBC offers degrees in First Nations Studies through a dedicated program in the Arts Faculty. UBC provides services to Aboriginal people in more remote communities. The UBC’s First Nations Forestry Initiatives was developed in partnership with specific Aboriginal communities to meet specific needs within Aboriginal communities. The UBC also offers a Chinook Diploma Program in the Sauder School of Business. The UBC reaches into Aboriginal communities to talk to potential students at a much younger age through Chinook Summer Biz Camp, which fosters entrepreneurship among young First Nations and Métis students. The UBC hosts a Bridge Through Sport Program, Summer Science Program, Native Youth Program, and Cedar Day Camp and Afterschool Program. The UBC has had success in recruiting and retaining Aboriginal faculty. UBC developed governing board and senate policies as well as Aboriginal governed councils within the university structure.
Student life
Student representation
UBC Vancouver students are represented by the Alma Mater Society, or AMS. The society's mandate is to improve the quality of educational, social, and personal lives of UBC students. The executive - composed of the President; Vice President, External Affairs; Vice President, Administration; Vice President, Finance; and Vice President, Academic and University Affairs - are responsible for lobbying the UBC administration on behalf of the student body, providing services, such as the AMS/GSS Health and Dental Plan, supporting and administering student clubs, and maintaining the Student Union Building (aka SUB) and the services it houses.
UBC Okanagan students are represented by The University of British Columbia Students' Union - Okanagan.
Student clubs
UBC has a lively campus community with over three hundred student run clubs.
Greek organizations
UBC has a small but vibrant Greek community. The NPC sororities on campus are Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. All sororities have a chapter room in the Panhellenic House on Wesbrook Mall; the building also offers housing for 72 college women, with preference given to sorority members. The first Greek organization on campus was Alpha Delta Phi fraternity in 1832, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, and Kappa Sigma; all except Alpha Epsilon Pi have a house. Fraternity Rush and Sorority Recruitment occur during the first weeks of school in September.
Other facilities
* The Student Union Building (SUB): offices of many clubs, half a dozen restaurants and cafés, a pub ("The Gallery"), a nightclub ("The Pit"), the inexpensive 425-seat Norman Bouchard Memorial Theatre ("The Norm Theatre"), several shops and a post office. The majority of the outlets and shops in the SUB are run by the AMS, however the addition of major corporate outlets in recent years by UBC Food Services has generated some controversy. The SUB Art Gallery contains mostly students' work. Beside the SUB, there is a small mound called The Grassy Knoll, which was constructed from the contents of the open pool dug near the Aquatic Centre. The Grassy Knoll is slated to be removed for the planned construction of an underground bus loop, a plan that is unpopular with some students.
- The Ladha Science Student Centre: Home of the Science Undergraduate Society . Funded through a donation from Abdul Ladha, a levy from all Science undergraduate students, the VP Students, and the Dean of Science, this new building on East Mall just north of University Boulevard is now open and provides space for Science undergraduates to meet, to study, and to have fun. (http://www.sus.ubc.ca/ladha.cfm)
- Totem Park: A residence primarily for first and second year undergraduate students (houses 1163). It consists of 6 dormitory buildings (Nootka, Dene, Haida, Salish, Kwakiutl, and Shuswap Houses), and a Commons Block (Coquihalla). It is considered by some to be the "loudest" of the residences.
- All houses, except Shuswap, are co-ed, with alternating men's and women's floors.
- Shuswap house is currently the only house at Totem with co-ed floors (that is, men and women are allowed to live on the same floor).
- Place Vanier: A residence primarily for first and second year undergraduate students (houses 1370). It consists of 12 blocks constructed in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1968, with two (Tec de Monterrey and Korea House) of the twelve houses constructed in 2002 and 2003. The buildings vary from Male and Female only, to alternating gender floors, as well as fully mixed floors. The residences have both single and double rooms, with each floor having a lounge and communal bathrooms.
- Gage Towers: A residence consisting of three 17-floor towers (North, South and East) primarily for second, third, and fourth year undergraduate students. Gage houses the most students and is closest to the Pit Pub. It consists of three interconnected towers (North, South, and East) as well as single student housing (both studio, and apartment) in a separate adjacent building. The towers are composed of "quads" which consist of 4 separate pods, each consisting of 6 individual bedrooms, a bathroom and a communal kitching/dining area.
- Fairview Crescent: A residence primarily for second and third year undergraduate students. Also houses many graduate students. Consists of an L-Shaped pedestrian-only street lined with 4, 5 & 6 student (a mix of single-sex and co-ed) townhouses. The Beanery is nestled in the middle of the residence.
- Thunderbird: A residence primarily for graduate students and fourth year undergraduate students.
- Ritsumeikan-UBC House: A residence with a Japanese cultural setting, named for Ritsumeikan University. Houses Japanese exchange students and Canadian students, who participate in unique inter cultural programmes. The residence's tatami room is used for practice sessions by the UBC Urasenke Japanese tea ceremony club. Two Canadian students are typically paired with two Japanese exchange students.
- Marine Drive Residence: A new residence on the west side of campus. The first phase, consisting of Building 1 (an 18-floor tower) and Building 2 (a 5 floor building commonly called the "Podium") opened Fall 2005, and is the most expensive residence on campus. In February 2006, the Board of Governors approved plans for the second phase of Marine Drive, finally putting an end to the debacle caused by concerns over the view of Wreck beach (Phase I's Building 1 was reduced from 20 floors to 18 because of this). Phase II consists of Buildings 4 through 6 (two towers and another "Podium", respectively), and also the Commonsblock. Buildings 4 through 6 were all open to students as of September 2008. A separate Commonsblock (the current Front Desk being located in building 1) is expected to be completed in 2009, and will contain similar services to the Commonsblocks of other residences, such as an exercise room and a small store. The Commonsblock will mark the completion of the Marine Drive Residence, which will be one of the most populous residences on campus.
- St. Andrews Hall A residential college for Theology and UBC students
- Green College: A residential college for graduate students with an interdisciplinary focus.
- St. John's College: A residential college for graduate students with an international focus.
- The Beanery: A coffee shop located in the Fairview residence. It has study areas popular with students. There are numerous other coffee outlets on campus, including a Blenz, four Starbucks (The University Village Marketplace, the SUB, in the Forest Sciences Centre, and in the Fred Kaiser Building [Applied Sciences] next to the engineering cairn), two Tim Hortons, and a locally-owned shop called The Boulevard (on University Boulevard.)
- A new Tim Hortons in the Forestry building that opened up in the winter of 2006, to replace the Bread Garden that was there before.
- UBC operates the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on Vancouver Island for research biologists, ecologists and oceanographers. As a founding member of the Western Canadian Universities Marine Sciences Society, UBC maintains this field station on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC.
- The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies is an interdisciplinary research institute.
- The UBC Farm: This 24 hectare learning and research farm located in UBC's South Campus area is the only working farmland within the city of Vancouver. The farm features Saturday Farm Markets from early June until early October, selling organic produce and eggs to the community.
Athletics
UBC is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the UBC Thunderbirds. UBC is considering joining the NCAA Division II .
  - Aquatic Centre: offers swimming pools indoors and outdoors. At designated times students can use the facility for free.
- Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre: during final exam periods (December and April), hundreds of chairs and tables are placed inside for students to take examinations. The Centre is currently torn down, and is being restructured for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
- In between Main and Koerner Libraries is an artificial 6-metre deep valley, whose massive amount of dirt was transported to a bog in the Pacific Spirit Park decades ago, now being criticized as an anti-environmental act. The valley was intended as a student gathering place for eating lunches, meeting and relaxing, but it is mostly unused due to its lack of visibility and dangerously slippery muddy grass.
- There is a rock-climbing wall in the SUB, hidden behind the movie theatre screen, which is operated by the UBC Varsity Outdoor Club.
- The UBC Bike Hub, which houses the AMS Bike Co-op and the Bike Kitchen. The Bike Kitchen is a full service student-run non-profit bike shop, which also runs workshops and provides one-on-one instruction.
- The UBC Croquet Society plays friendlies during the week on various lawns and in front of Koerner's library. Tournaments are held twice a semester.
- The UBC Debating Society is the only debating team in Canada that is a part of a university's varsity athletics programme. In late 2006 it hosted the World Universities Debating Championships.
- The Student Recreation Centre houses a gymnasium, sports equipment shop, dojo, and climbing wall, in addition to rooms for special exercise programmes.
- The neighbouring Pacific Spirit Regional Park has an extensive network of running trails. On the coast to the west of campus, the park includes Wreck Beach, one of the largest clothing-optional beaches in the world.
Fight song
Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement and convocation, and athletic games are: "Hail, U.B.C" with words and music by Harold King and "High on Olympus" with words by D.C. Morton and music by J.C.F. Haeffner.
Campus events
A small number of large-scale, campus-wide events occur annually at UBC.
- Imagine UBC, an orientation day and pep rally for first-year undergraduate students, replaces the first day of September classes at UBC Vancouver.
- Storm the Wall is an intramural relay race put on by UBC REC in April, culminating in the climbing of a wall. It is one of the largest intramural events to take place regularly in Canada.
- Arts County Fair was an annual concert and party on the last day of classes in April, put on by the Arts Undergraduate Society and occurring at Thunderbird Stadium. Past headliners have included Sam Roberts, The New Pornographers, and Metric. Due to increasing financial difficulties (mostly resulting from mounting security and related costs) the AUS announced they would not continue the event in 2008. In its place, the Alma Mater Society of UBC hosted the AMS Block Party to celebrate the end of classes.
Additionally, a number of unofficial 'traditions,' exist at UBC: jumping from the UBC Aquatic Centre's outdoor 10-metre diving board late at night; and frequent repainting of the Engineering cairn, refashioning its large red-and-white 'E' into other letters representative of other faculties, clubs, and groups.
Student media
- The Ubyssey, a twice-weekly student newspaper that serves the Vancouver campus. Established in 1918.
- "The Phoenix" is a biweekly student newspaper that serves the Okanagan campus. Established in 1989 at Okanagan University College.
- The Graduate, a monthly magazine of news, opinion, and humour, by graduate students.
- Discorder ("That magazine from CiTR"), a music and entertainment magazine produced by the campus radio station.
- CiTR "Thunderbird Radio", the campus radio station.
- "The Knoll" is an alternative, politically progressive student publication that serves the Vancouver campus. Established in 2006.
- The Point, a weekly student paper of athletics, clubs, and what's happening at UBC.
- The Underground, a satirical newspaper of the Arts Undergraduate Society with a vibrant arts and culture section, The Grounder.
- The 432 , a satirical, biweekly publication of the Science Undergraduate Society. Established 1987.
- The Cavalier , the official humour and events paper of the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS).
- The nEUSpaper , a humorous, biweekly publication of the Engineering Undergraduate Society, or EUS.
- Perspectives , British Columbia's first English-Chinese student newspaper.
- PRISM international , a quarterly literary magazine published by graduate students in the UBC Creative Writing Program.
Notable people
Recipients of honorary degrees
Notable faculty (former and current)
- Joel Bakan, creator of The Corporation
- Neil Bartlett, prepared the first known noble gas compound
- Sara Davis Buechner, pianist, recording artist, Koch International
- Kim Campbell, former Canadian Prime Minister
- Meryn Cadell, writer and performance artist
- Hans G. Dehmelt, Nobel laureate in Physics in 1989
- Steven Galloway, novelist and playwright
- Michael Ignatieff, academic and Canadian politician
- Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences in 2002
- Dale Kinkade, linguist and specialist on Salishan languages
- Har Gobind Khorana, Nobel laureate in Medicine in 1968, left UBC in 1960 because of racial discrimination.
- Larissa Lai, Canadian writer
- Ken Lum, Noted Canadian artist. Represented Canada at the Sydney Biennale, the São Paulo Art Biennial, the Shanghai Biennale and at Documenta XI
- Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
- Daniel Pauly, fisheries scientist
- Richard J. Pearson, archaeologist and gardener
- Michael Smith, Nobel laureate in Chemistry in 1993,
- George F.G. Stanley, Canadian historian, designer of Canadian flag, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
- David Suzuki, biologist
- Bill Unruh, physicist, discoverer of the Unruh effect
- Erich Vogt, physicist
- Rudolf Vrba, Holocaust survivor and pharmacologist
- Jeff Wall, Noted photographer. Tate Gallery Retrospective, MOMA, Hasselblad Award, key figure in the photoconceptualist Vancouver School
- Carl E. Wieman, Nobel laureate in Physics in 2001
Chancellors and presidents
See also
External links
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