University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College (USMC), often referred to as St. Michael's or St. Mike's, is a federated college in the University of Toronto. It is one of two Roman Catholic colleges within the university (the other being Regis College) and the only one at the undergraduate level. There are three divisions within USMC: St. Michael’s College (undergraduate division, within the Faculty of Arts and Science of the University of Toronto), the Faculty of Theology (graduate division, a founder member of the Toronto School of Theology) and Continuing Education (offering lifelong learning opportunities for personal and professional enrichment). In 2006, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, formerly a division of USMC, became an independent though affiliated body.
With an enrolment of about 4,500 students, St. Michael's College is the largest of the three divisions at USMC. Its students can enrol in courses and programs in every department in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto, from Aboriginal Studies to Zoology, and are awarded degrees from the University of Toronto upon graduation. Within the Faculty of Arts and Science, St. Michael’s make a distinctive contribution through four College sponsored programs: Book and Media Studies, Celtic Studies, Christianity and Culture, and Mediaeval Studies.
History
St. Michael’s College was established in 1852 by the Basilian Fathers. On December 8, 1910, it was declared a federated college in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto. Under the arrangement, St. Michael's College students continued to take classes at the college from St. Michael's College faculty, and were awarded degrees from the University of Toronto upon graduation.
In 1911, Sir Robert Falconer, President of the University of Toronto, recognized the wish of St. Joseph's College and Loretto College to affiliate with the University. This lead to their affiliation as member institutions of St. Michael's College in 1912, thereby allowing their female students to receive University of Toronto degrees.
With the opening of the Institute of Mediaeval Studies in 1929, St Michael’s expanded further into graduate teaching and research. Ten years later, Pope Pius XI signed a papal charter creating the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS), and empowering it to grant degrees. PIMS held its first Convocation for the conferring of degrees on June 5, 1940.
In 1946, Marshall McLuhan was one of the first laypeople hired to teach at St. Michael's. McLuhan taught English at the College until his death in 1980, during which time he became famous for his books The Mechanical Bride (1951), The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), and Understanding Media (1964) and for his oft-quoted aphorisms on communications and the media, such as "the medium is the message".
1952 saw the end of lectures for women at Loretto and St. Joseph's Colleges; thereafter all teaching for men and women was conducted coeducationally in the classrooms of St. Michael's College.
The Ontario Legislature passed an amendment in 1954 to the original St Michael’s College Act of 1855, giving the College the right to grant degrees in theology. His Eminence James C. Cardinal McGuigan became St Michael’s first Chancellor.
The Toronto School of Theology (TST) was incorporated in 1970. The TST is an ecumenical consortium of the Catholic and Protestant theological colleges of the University of Toronto, including among its founder members the Faculty of Theology of the USMC.
In May 1974, along with the other federated universities, Trinity and Victoria, USMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Toronto, establishing the terms of their new relationship with the Faculty of Arts and Science. Through all these changes, there has been vigorous debate, including among alumni, concerning the Catholic identity and academic integrity of St Michael’s.
The Division of Continuing Education was established in 1986.
In September 1996, for the first time, academic departments (French and German) of the University of Toronto took up residence on the St Michael’s Campus. They were followed, in September 2000, by the Departments of Italian and Slavic Studies.
The high school program administered by the college became St. Michael's College School, a private preparatory school. The school maintained its direct affiliation with the college until 1950.
Historically strong in athletics, St. Michael's students were known as the "Fighting Irish of Bay Street", a reference to the Catholic sports powerhouse of the University of Notre Dame in the United States. Toronto's current Ontario Hockey League franchise, the St. Michael's Majors, is the descendant of the College's once elite ice hockey team (the team is now operated by St. Michael's College School). On December 7, 2006, St Mike’s defeated the Faculty of Physical Education 5 goals to 4 to become the undisputed champions of the University of Toronto’s Division 1 hockey league.
Through much of its existence, the College had enjoyed a "living endowment", a system whereby staff and faculty who were members of religious orders would donate their salaries back to the College. With the rise in numbers of lay staff, this source of income has become almost non-existent today, compelling the college to seek new revenue. Through aggressive fundraising and land sales, the College was able to increase its endowment, provide ongoing support for the its programs, and construct a new residence building.
Recently, St. Michael's College drew fire when it accepted a large donation from Imperial Tobacco for a business ethics course. Anti-tobacco activists opposed the donation, and pushed the college to reject it. However, students were mostly indifferent to the cause, and welcomed the donation as a new source of funds. Failing to gather significant student support, the anti-tobacco campaign soon receded.
Kelly Library
The John M. Kelly Library is one of 40 libraries within the University of Toronto. Its present building was opened in 1969 but the collection goes back to the earliest days of the College. The collection has since been developed in support of undergraduate programmes in the Faculty of Arts and Science, graduate programmes in the Faculty of Theology, and programmes of the Continuing Education Division. The book collection numbers some 275,000 volumes. The Library maintains subscriptions to almost 500 journals and magazines.
The collection is particularly strong in the areas of Philosophy, the History of Ireland, Celtic Languages and Literature, Canadian History, English Literature, and the History of the Middle Ages. The theological collection emphasizes patristics, early and medieval church history, Thomism, the Bible (especially Canon, Johannine literature, and the history of criticism), liturgical renewal, religious education, and Catholic missions.
All holdings of the John M. Kelly Library appear in the University of Toronto Libraries' online catalogue.
Undergraduate residence
Within the secular environment of the University of Toronto, the Catholic traditions of St. Michael's are still evident in its College programs, fellows' interests, and student activities. Thus far, the college has largely avoided stirring controversy in its move toward coeducational residences.
Unlike the coeducational residences at other colleges of the university, male and female students at St. Michael's reside on different floors of the residences. Overnight guests of the opposite sex are not permitted. Women students may choose to live at the single-sex Loretto College residence; men are permitted to visit Loretto during designated guest hours.
The dons at Loretto and other residences of St. Michael's College are graduate, senior undergraduate and professional faculty students. The College's dining hall, the Canada Room, has recently been expanded and renovated and its hours have been extended.
Notable faculty and alumni
Former and current faculty
- Joseph Boyle, philosopher, well-known for his works in the theory of Natural law
- Étienne Gilson, philosopher and historian
- Thomas Pangle, political theorist
- Jacques Maritain, philosopher
- Marshall McLuhan, professor of English literature and prominent media critic
Alumni
- Robert Birgeneau, current chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and the 14th president of the University of Toronto
- Morley Callaghan, author
- F. Anthony Comper, president and chief executive officer of the Bank of Montreal
- Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Ontario
- Mark Kingwell, philosopher and professor at the University of Toronto
- Senator Laurier LaPierre, historian
- Paul Martin, 21st Prime Minister of Canada
- Kevin Sullivan, filmmaker
- Dr Emoke Szathmary, president, University oif Manitoba
- Paul Weiler, professor of law at Harvard University
- George Weigel, Roman Catholic theologian, political and social activist
- Peggy R. Williams, president of Ithaca College.
External links
- University of St. Michael's College
- The Mike, the student newspaper at St. Michael's
- John M. Kelly Library
References
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