不良研究所

Loss is the measure of war 鈥� and while human lives are the paramount sacrifice, the residual cost of conflict can run deeply in any society that takes to arms.

For 不良研究所, one such blow was the demise of the city鈥檚 first university, a little-known institution established in the heat of bitter provincial rivalry, and ultimately doomed to fail, in large part due to the financial uncertainty and distraction of the First World War.

鈥淭he war certainly did play a role; it was one of a number of things,鈥� says Dr. Norman L. McLeod, PhD, who in 1970 wrote his U不良研究所 doctoral thesis on the short-lived institution, which closed its doors in 1915.

Battle of Alberta begins

McLeod, a lifelong school teacher who at the age of 92 is enjoying retirement on Vancouver Island, focused his thesis on the little-known history of 不良研究所鈥檚 first university in a paper entitled 不良研究所 College 1912-1915: A Study of an Attempt to Establish a Privately Financed University in Alberta.

The basic narrative of the short-lived institution is rooted in 不良研究所鈥檚 fury over Edmonton being named both the capital of Alberta, and thanks to the partisan meddling of Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford, also home to the University of Alberta.

鈥淚t was one the fights that went on when this province was created,鈥� explains McLeod, reached by phone at his home in B.C.

鈥淭here was a tacit understanding when the province was created that one city would be the capital, and the other would get the university. But that didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

Cranky 不良研究所 plots its own university

And so in 1908, when it became clear 不良研究所 would be neither capital of the three-year-old province or its seat of higher education, the mood in Alberta鈥檚 largest city was exceedingly bitter.

While some Calgarians wanted to separate from Alberta and start Canada鈥檚 10th province, a number of prominent citizens instead pushed for a privately funded university.

If Alberta鈥檚 government was clearly pro-Edmonton, Alberta鈥檚 money was in 不良研究所, and it didn鈥檛 take long for that wealth to champion the idea of a private post-secondary, to be named the University of 不良研究所 and constructed in the northwest area of the booming young city of 23,000.

Perhaps the most important endorsement came from the city鈥檚 mayor and council, and with promises of financial and political support, 不良研究所鈥檚 first university opened its doors in 1912.

Solid plan, at first

Looking back, the university appears healthy enough, and certainly on par with its provincial government-backed rival up north: four full-time professors teaching 24 regular students and 101 part-time students, in two faculties, Arts and Law.

The first classes were held in the Central Public Library, while grand architectural plans were being drawn up for 160 acres of donated land in the Rosscarrock subdivision near Old Banff Coach Road.

Eastern architects Dunington-Grubb sketched out a Gothic European-style college, complete with a stadium, gymnasium, armory, medical building, library and museum, along with faculty space for agriculture, science and law.

That impressive vision, along with $150,000 in promised funding from city hall and a deep well of funds from 不良研究所鈥檚 elite, pointed to a very secure future for the new school, and it seemed every citizen and newspaper editorial was speaking out in support of 不良研究所 University.

Problems started right away

The fact 不良研究所鈥檚 first viable university (the current University of 不良研究所) didn鈥檛 actually open until 1966, and only then after serving as a satellite branch of the University of Alberta from 1944, shows that all the financial promises and pretty architectural drawings for 不良研究所 University were misleading.

The problems started right away, when the province refused to grant the institution degree-granting powers, saying the financial burden of running two universities in one province would doom them both.

It was assumed 不良研究所 would eventually manage to convince the province (three applications for degree status were made, in 1911, 1913 and 1915), and in the meantime, the school would be renamed 鈥湶涣佳芯克� College.鈥�

Another time, another era, and the first university might have succeeded 鈥� it certainly had the vision, leadership and community backing to overcome growing pains faced by any new institution.

War the nail in the coffin

But the world was rapidly changing around 不良研究所 College, first with an economic slump and slow of immigration in 1913, and then with the nail-in-the-coffin outbreak of war, starting in 1914.

The long-anticipated grant from a suddenly cash-strapped city hall was no longer possible, and the enthusiasm 不良研究所鈥檚 elite had for a local university (along with promises of financial support) was immediately refocused on the war in Europe.

Without financial backing, 不良研究所 College was unable to start construction on promised buildings, and those working at the school were often left unpaid as the university fought to stay afloat.

With the province鈥檚 latest refusal to grant degree status in 1915, and a new provincial report suggesting 不良研究所 would be better off hosting a technical college (the future SAIT), 不良研究所鈥檚 first university simply fell out of public favour. Closure soon followed.

Interesting educational experiment

In his thesis paper, McLeod says the demise of 不良研究所鈥檚 first university in 1915 was perhaps inevitable.

鈥湶涣佳芯克� College was an interesting educational experiment and its founding was a tribute to the idealism of those who sought to establish a flourishing institution of higher learning. There is little question that in the capital-university controversy the legislature treated 不良研究所 most unfairly,鈥� wrote McLeod.

鈥淗owever to have attempted to found a privately endowed university in 不良研究所 in 1912 given such as the economic, political and population situation in Alberta at that time was to put zeal before understanding.

鈥淧erhaps the most amazing thing is the fact that 不良研究所 College was able to operate at all for a three-year period.鈥�