New College, Toronto
New College is one of the constituent Colleges of the University of Toronto in Canada. One of the larger colleges with 4000 students, it stands on Huron Street in the historic campus' west-end, nestled alongside the major Science research buildings.
Historical Context
Founded in 1962, New College was the first college to be created within the University of Toronto since the federation with Victoria, Trinity and St. Michael's Colleges. The name of the College was initially to be "New King's College," an homage to University College, which had been known as King's College before receiving new royal charter.
Namesake Cousins
New College shares with Trinity College, St. Hilda's College, and University College, the distinction of being Dominion cousins to namesakes in the UK. It is named after New College at the University of Oxford, in Britain, upon which the College system at the University of Toronto is itself modelled.
Character
Designed under the "multi-faculty" concept, 3500 of its students are from the Faculty of Arts & Science with the rest drawn from Applied Science/Engineering and Pharmacy. In fact, what is now known as Innis College, the second "multi-faculty" college, was originally designed as another wing onto New College before it was built separately in 1964.
Housed in an integrated "serpentine" design, New College consists of three halls -- Wilson Hall, Wetmore Hall, and a new hall aptly named New Building built in 2003. Employing an integrated approach to living, 857 living units are built in the upper floors; the lower floors include the library and reading room, computer labs, staff offices and lecture theatres, dining halls, and recreation lounges. The New Building also has the William Doo Auditorium and a mini-gym.
New College is most attractive to students who wish to live near many of the central facilities of University of Toronto such as Robarts Library, Sidney Smith Hall, the Athletic Centre, the Lash-Miller chemical laboratories, and the Microsoft sponsored Bancroft Hall building. Wetmore and Wilson Halls, like many architectural ideas of the 1960's, have lost some of their sheen, neither matching the timeless dignity of the older colleges, or the sleek post-modernist look adopted for many of the University's building renewal programme. Recently, with the newly finished New College Residence Hall garnering design awards for its red-bricked nod to chic "new urbanism", the College is an attractive home to university life in the campus' west-end.
Student Life
As New College boasts an extremely multi-cultural student body, both the Residence Student's Council (serving students who live at the college) and the College Student's Council (serving both residents and commuters) plan activities which highlight the college's diversity. A highlight of the year, usually held in the winter term, is Mosaic. Mosaic is an evening of music, dance and performance, featuring multi-ethnic themes. The Student's Council generally uses the William Doo Auditorium for Mosaic, and also for other events such as movie nights, musical concerts, and miscellaneous themed nights such as Casino Night. For students in residence at New College, their social life is aided by their floor residence council. The floor residence council organizes restaurant trips, movie nights, field trips (trapeze training, rock climbing, bowling etc) and other activities. Each residence floor is benefited by its don. New College dons are graduate students who live with the undergraduates and provide advice and support to the students.
Residence student life is also anchored larely around the college's cafeteria, whose food services are run by the privately owned Aramark company. The dining area is quite large, with a number of different foods available at each mealtime. Vegetarian, Vegan and Halal (though not Kosher) meals are offered, though students may need to request these items at each meal.
Specialization
The College maintains its connections with the field of engineering. Many of its early officers were from science backgrounds, including Wilson from Engineering and Ivey from Medicine. Today, like many of the Colleges, it co-ordinates a number of academic degree programmes, Human Biology being an especially prominent program for aspiring MD's. New College is also home to an Aid Centre for Mathematics, Statistics and Economics/Finance. In recent years, the College has developed new programmes in area studies (South Asia, Africa, Caribbean), Equity, Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, Chicano Studies, and Zoological Studies.