The Faculty of Arts is the largest faculty of the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. It is also one of the university's founding faculties, along with

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...

, education,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, graduate studies, science, and physical education. The official establishment of the current Faculty of Arts was in 2010, following the amalgamation of the four former Faculties of Communication and Culture, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. However, the Faculty of Arts can further trace its origins back to 1951 under the Faculty of Arts and Science, as it was originally merged with the university's natural sciences departments. This curious measure of dates makes the Faculty of Arts the second oldest faculty as well as the youngest faculty of the university simultaneously, depending on where one counts. Since then, the Faculty of Arts has expanded to become the university's most comprehensive and interdisciplinary faculty, incorporating fields from the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

s, and

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...

s. Due to its extensive nature, the Faculty of Arts is housed in various buildings throughout the main campus. The Faculty of Arts currently has more than 7,100 undergraduate students with more than 725 graduate students. The student population is overseen by 378 academic faculty members with the aid of 132 administrative and support staff. Since 1966, the Faculty of Arts has produced 10

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

s, 20 fellows of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

, and well over 46,000 alumni throughout the world. The current Dean of the Faculty of Arts is Richard Sigurdson who was appointed on 1 August 2012. Sigurdson holds a doctorate degree in political science from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, where his main topics of research included

Canadian politics The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In pr ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

First Nations peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, and

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

. Prior to becoming Dean to the University of Calgary, Sigurdson was the Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Acting Provost of University College at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.

History

The Faculty of Arts can trace its history back to 1906, when the Calgary Normal School was established as a vocational school for teaching. Initially housed in Central School (later as James Short School), the School later moved in 1908 to the McDougall School to accommodate the growing student body. The School over time, began to offer introductory courses from the arts, sciences, engineering, and commerce. During this early history, the School moved several times: as an occupant of the west wing of the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (then referred simply as ''Tech''), to King Edward School in 1940, and back to the west wing of the Tech campus in 1945. By 1945, the School was replaced with university level courses, operating as an extension of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Faculty of Education. During this time, Calgary had become the largest Canadian city without a home-grown University. Calgarians were determined to change that fact and formed the ''University Committee'' as a vehicle to accelerate the effort to transform the Calgary branch into a full-fledged University. In 1948, the Committee published its first official proposal addressing the need for a "University of Southern Alberta," to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. The name was later rejected due to its acronym, USA, as to prevent confusion with the United States of America. In 1951, the Calgary branch started to offer first-year Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programmes under the newly established Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In the same year, the Arts and Science Society (ASS) was created to address student "grievances" for the newly established Faculty. This organisation would later become the Faculty of Arts Student's Association (FASA). In 1960 the Calgary branch, known then as the University of Alberta in Calgary (UAC), had moved from the west wing of the Tech campus, to its current location near University Heights. The founding buildings of the new campus were the Arts and Education (present-day Administration) and the Science and Engineering (present-day Science A) buildings, providing instructional courses for the " soft and hard sciences" respectively. University of Calgary Craigie Hall

Creation of the University of Calgary

The first wave of construction conducted throughout early 1960s reignited conversations among students and citizens about the future of UAC with respect to the main campus in Edmonton. On 8 November 1963, a massive student protest dubbed "the Great Autonomy Demonstration of '63" occurred during a UAC Board of Governors' meeting, where protesters demanded autonomy for the budding UAC. The demonstration featured a headless mannequin with the words "Give UAC her head" and an engineering cog wheel with the words "Autonomy 196?." This secessionist movement would be realised in 1966, when the ''

Universities Act Universities Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used in Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to universities. List Canada British Columbia * University Act Malaysia *The Universities and U ...

'' was passed, which declared the University of Calgary an autonomous institution from the University of Alberta. The resulting provincial Act granted the university full academic, financial, and administrative independence. In the same year, the Calgary Hall (renamed Craigie Hall) was officially open, which gave space to the university's diverse

and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

departments. Concurrently, the university became a trustee of the Banff School of Fine Arts, previously a satellite to the University of Alberta. The Banff School would remain an affiliated body to the university's

s departments until 1978, when it became an autonomous institution from the university. To pay homage to its past, the university adopted the colours red and yellow – the former from the Calgary Normal School's azure, navy, and red and the latter from the University of Alberta's evergreen and gold. In 1967, the Faculty of Fine Arts was established, incorporating the departments of dance, drama, music, and visual arts. Shortly after, the highly anticipated Social Sciences building reached completion in 1969. The brutalist tower would become home to the university's various

departments. Schematic layout plan of the University of Calgary (1967)

The University experienced a rapid period of growth just five years into autonomy. This led the university into considering ambitious expansion plans for the main campus. According to early schematic plans in 1967, the university desired to create building complexes that represent the major clusters of the present Faculty of Arts: fine arts, humanities, and social sciences. The Humanities Complex would have comprised six buildings of seven to nine stories tall along with a tower of over 13 stories tall, all of which would have been located directly east of present-day Administration – none of these plans materialised. The Social Sciences complex would have comprised the Social Sciences Tower along with several four to seven story tall buildings surrounding present-day Administration – only the Tower was completed. Only the Fine Arts Complex was built in its entirety, however not as originally planned. Due to the unbuilt Humanities Complex, the departments of fine arts have to share their intended space with the university's language, literature, and culture departments. It would take another two decades for the visual arts to obtain their own independent space, albeit reduced from the original plan. The incomplete Social Sciences and Humanities complexes were later abandoned by the mid-1970s for unknown reasons.

Decentralised Period

In 1972, the Earth Sciences building was completed, housing the departments of earth science, including

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, archeology, and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

. University enrolment increased from 3,740 undergraduates in 1966 to 10,864 by a mere decade later. This started to cause administrative problems and efficiency costs for the giant Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This led to the eventual breakup of the Faculty in 1976, resulting into the creation of the University College and three separate faculties: the Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Humanities. In the same year, the interdisciplinary

Arctic Institute of North America The Arctic Institute of North America is a multi-disciplinary research institute and educational organization located in the University of Calgary. It is mandated to study the North American and circumpolar Arctic in the areas of natural scien ...

took up residence on the university campus. In 1981, the University College, whose duties were to register first-year students into general studies,

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

, and

programmes, renamed itself into the Faculty of General Studies. The university would later experience a second wave of growth when it was announced that Calgary (as well as the university) would host the XV Winter Olympic Games. In preparation for the Games, the university undertook several construction projects such as the

Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is North America's first covered speed skating oval; it was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics and opened on September 27, 1987. the Athlete's Village (currently part of Residence), the

Jack Simpson Gymnasium The Jack Simpson Gymnasium is a multipurpose facility on the University of Calgary campus. It opened in 1987 to help host the 1988 XV Olympic Winter Games. It has three full gymnasiums, three basketball courts, five volleyball courts, and an indo ...

, and the Arts Building and Parkade which would house the university's

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

departments. In 1994, the university played host to the Learned Societies Conference, an academic convention of scholars from the social sciences and humanities. The event witnessed about 8,000 delegates from more than 100 academic organisations, discuss and present their research from their respective fields of discipline. In 1998, following the trends of many North American universities, the university flirted with the idea of reorganising and condensing various departments and faculties as a measure to " encourage collaboration while maintaining their separate identities." If realised, this move would have led to the creation of academic strategic clusters or "super-Faculties," which would have merged fine arts, general studies, and humanities into the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, while merging education and social sciences into the Faculty of Education and Social Science. In 2000, the Faculty of General Studies renamed itself again to become the Faculty of Communications and Culture, which better reflected the Faculty's teaching and research activities Social Science Tower UCalgary

Creation of the Faculty of Arts

On 25 June 2009, the University Board of Governors voted to reunify the four separate faculties of Communication and Culture, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences into a single amalgam, the Faculty of Arts. The new streamlined Faculty was finalised on 1 April 2010, and was designed to conform with other Canadian research universities, most of whom "have two or fewer arts and social science-type faculties." The departments of Music, Dance, and Drama would later merge in July 2013 to form the School of Creative and Performing Arts. In the same year, plans were announced that the university would no longer offer 19 undergraduate programmes in the upcoming academic year—10 of which belonged to the Faculty of Arts. Among these suspended programmes included the History and Philosophy of Science programme – the only such programme offered in the province of Alberta. In 2014, it was announced that the departments of Greek and Roman Studies and Religion had merged into a single department of Classics and Religion. Simultaneously, the department of Archaeology and Anthropology had merged in the same year. The year of 2016 was celebrated as the university's semicentennial, marking 50 years of autonomy and academia. On 28 May to 3 June 2016, the university played host again to the 75th

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

, welcoming 8,000 delegates, 70 academic organisations, and more than 5,000 research papers to be housed on the university campus. In June 2016, negotiations for the School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLLC) were finalised as an effort to condense the university's

departments into a single collective entity. SLLLC was officially inaugurated in February 2019.

Student life

The Faculty of Arts is governed from the Office of the Dean of Arts, whose facilities are housed on the 13th floor of the Social Sciences tower. The Faculty however, encourages student participation through the use of department groups such as the Faculty of Arts Students' Association, whose duties include the management of the Arts Lounge found in the 2nd floor of the Social Sciences tower in room SS 217. Arts students have a variety of opportunities provided by the Faculty to supplement their undergraduate and graduate experience. Co-op work experience programmes are made available for students who wish to pursue them. Various student-run clubs exist around campus to cater to the interests of arts students and non-arts students alike. Undergraduate department associations, ranging from archaeology to women's studies, provide services and a sense of community among students of similar programmes. Due to the size of the Arts student population, the Faculty is granted 4 Students' Union representatives, to oversee the affairs of arts students with the University Administration.

Campus Culture

Being the second oldest and largest Faculty, the Arts has contributed a great deal to the history of the university. University of Calgary Social Sciences South Face

University of Calgary Social Sciences South Face

Climbing the Social Sciences building

Completed shortly after autonomy, the building was one of the oldest towers to overlook the current University campus. There is an old myth among arts students that the original architects envisioned a green-ivy-grown southern face, hence the lattice like design. As the myth continues, the architects did not take into account the acidity of the building's exterior structure, which made it unsuitable to support such

climbing plants A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

. However, years of rain exposure has washed the building's exterior to lower acidic levels, giving reason to the minimal plants that grow along the tower's base. Social Sciences would become intertwined with similar campus legend. This time involving a student, who for reasons unknown, attempted to mount an expedition along the southern face of the beige Tower. The event has been said to have occurred during the Bermuda Shorts Day of 1982 or 1983. Former students, university staff, and members of the Faculty have recalled a similar incident, however the event remains unconfirmed. The University Archives and Special Collections do maintain that they have a photograph of two people climbing the building with rock climbing equipment in their collections from April 1985. Strangely enough, students have noticed a mysterious black tennis ball wedged just above the Social Sciences building sign, which used to be visible from the connecting bridge from Social Science to Administration. This ball is no longer visible due to exterior renovations of the Tower in the 2016–2017 academic year. BSDUCalg

Bermuda Shorts Day

Bermuda Shorts Day is a cornerstone event of student life, however this event had more modest origins. In the summer of 1959, arts student Alan Arthur was ridiculed for wearing shorts in public, an apparent uncommon occurrence for men during the time. In the following year, on Thursday, 31 March 1960, Arthur who was the inaugural ''Associate-Editor'' for the newly created student-run newspaper '' the Gauntlet'' at the time, took to the campus advertisement board and wrote in chalk, words of what would become the start of a campus tradition. It is hotly contested what the original words were exactly, but one variant goes that Arthur wrote "''Tomorrow is Bermuda Shorts Day. Everyone wear Bermuda Shorts''." Arthur has stated that he wrote the now immortal words, in part to the arrival of warm spring weather, in jest as a light-hearted

April Fools joke April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which ma ...

, and as an unlikely way to reduce stigma around men donning short-cut trousers. The famed arts alumnus, Maurice Yacowar – who was The Gauntlet's inaugural ''Editor-in-Chief'' at the time – was a contemporary and personal friend of Arthur. Yacowar recalls that many individuals of the UAC's 250 student population stayed true to Arthur's announcement, and wore Bermuda shorts that April Fools of 1960. The first BSD, according to Arthur and Yacowar, was a more innocent affair, featuring a highly competitive marbles tournament. Due to a controversial article entitled ''"Don't Wear a Poppy,"'' Yacowar was abruptly fired from his position as Editor-in-chief just five months in, receiving a ''56.4%'' student-wide favourability rating against his dismissal. He was then succeeded by his friend Arthur, becoming the second Gauntlet Editor-in-chief. The pair would later graduate in 1962 to pursue lives in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. Arthur who received a degree in History would later become a – now retired – Professor of History from

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bears t ...

while Yacowar, who received a degree in English, would become Emeritus Professor of English and future Dean of Humanities here in the University of Calgary. However, little did Arthur know just how powerful those 9 words would become, as the event gained increasing popularly for students to destress before exams. The BSDs of later years would feature pie duels with the University President, musical gatherings in Administration, games of squamish, and a tricycle race between SU representatives. In 1989, the university with the Students' Union introduced the BSD of modern day, with a single area which included the concert grounds and beer gardens. In 2014, the University Administration held its first UCalgaryStrong Festival, which was initially meant to honour the victims of the 2014 Calgary Stabbing. The Festival has since become a wholesome year-end celebration, featuring carnival-style games and crafts. It functions as a non-alcoholic alternative to Bermuda Shorts Day.

Calgary School

There is a prevalent myth among students, alumni, and outsiders alike of the perceived conservative or right-leaning themes that surround factions of the social science departments of the Faculty, particularly in the departments of political science, economics, and history. This is due, in part, by the so-called

Calgary School The ''Calgary School'' is a term coined by Ralph Hedlin in an article in the now defunct ''Alberta Report'' in reference to four political science professors – Tom Flanagan (political scientist), Tom Flanagan, Rainer Knopff, Ted Morton, and ...

, which was a loose, informal collection of former graduates and faculty members who have contributed in some measure, to the modern conservative movement in Alberta and Canada. The existence of the "

School A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

" has become common knowledge among students and members of the Faculty. Several arts graduates and Faculty members have been known to place prominently in the Conservative Party of Canada and have held various notable positions in

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of arts alumnus Stephen Harper. This perception is strengthened by the popular presence of student-run campus clubs representing centre-right political parties on both the provincial and federal level. UCalgary Tunnel

Science A - Administration Tunnel

The existence of tunnels on campus has sparked the imagination of students since the early years of the university. There are, of course, the tunnels that connect the residence buildings with the Dining Centre, as well as the multiple maintenance tunnels which provide central heating and water to every building on campus. However, the oldest of these tunnels is the one that connects the two oldest buildings on campus, Science A with Administration. Then called the Science and Engineering building and the Arts and Education building respectively, this tunnel provided students passage from the harsh prairie winters between 1960 and 1963. This tunnel usage was described by a 1961 editorial from the Gauntlet: "A tunnel between Arts-Education Building and the Science-Engineering Building does exist...but this tunnel more closely resembles a catacomb than a tunnel," only suitable for "troglodytes honever come out in the sun." This tunnel however, also functioned as a central heating tunnel, carrying pipes containing pressurised water, hot steam, and electrical wiring. It was for this reason that they were closed by the Board of Governors, due to the potential hazards that the central heating pipes could have on transiting students. Reactions from students were widely negative, and several attempts to re-open the tunnels continued well into the late 1960s. A 1963 Gauntlet editorial summarised the general student reaction: "The tunnel was closed closed to spare us the danger of being parboiled, and this shows a gratifying concern for our welfare. But I, for one, would prefer to die warm." This tunnel still exists today. The tunnel empties its steam from surface vents that protrude the earth in front of the southwest door of Science A and the west doors of Administration. They can only be accessed from Rooms SA 01V, AD 10A, and AD 39V. This tunnel can be seen the Interactive Room Finder unde
Room SA 01Z

UAC Student Council Election 1964

Prior to the tradition of painting rocks, a curious incident occurred during the 1964 UAC Student's Council election, where Education candidate Francis Somerville brought "Sylvia", a donkey from the

Calgary Zoo The Calgary Zoo is located in Bridgeland, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, just east of the city's downtown and adjacent to the Inglewood and East Village neighborhoods. It is accessible via Calgary's C-Train light rail system, by car via Memorial ...

, as a publicity vehicle for his election campaign. Under the helm of campaign manager Ron Dougan, Sylvia was adorned with a blanket etched onto it "Don't be a jackass vote Francis." Unfortunately, Somerville would lose that election by a handful of votes to his two female opponents. However, in the same year, he would become the President of the Education Undergraduate Society. Ironically, Dougan would have more luck than his client, when in the following year, he would become the UAC Council representative for Education in 1965.

Soft drink dispute

In 1997, the university decided to make

Pepsi Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

Canada Beverages the exclusive supplier of cold drinks on campus, which was a common trend among North American universities. This infuriated some students who regarded the move as undermining institutional independence to a multinational corporation. The rock became a figurative soapbox for "pop soda libertarians", adopting red and white slogans '' Always Coca-Cola''. An underground "anti-Pepsi movement" emerged on campus, advocating for the protection of soft drink alternatives to the Pepsi brand. The "movement" did very little to hurt the university's business relations with the soda giant. However, on certain department floors of Social Science (

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

particularly), vintage Pepsi machines have been known to offer selections of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

products with labels saying ''Always Coca-Cola'' attached to the machine's dispensary hole. The existence of such soda machines is quite curious, but it points to the possibly that some arts students and Faculty members are still continuing the cause for campus-wide soda freedom. In September 2017, the Board of Governor's announced their decision to switch from Pepsi Cola to Coca-Cola, as the former's contract had expired.

"I. M. Hungry" student protest

Strangely enough, this was not the first incident where students took up arms over Campus food. On 28 September 1965, a group of former arts and sciences UAC students, Charles Szuch, Michael "Mike" McEwan, Patrick "Pat" Tivy and Donald "Don" Dewar, along with former engineer UAC student Terrance "Terry" Peressini, staged a fake funeral for the figurative fallen student ''I. M. Hungry'' in front of the Food Centre (now Dining Centre). According to the participants, the event was done to protest "only the quantity of the food, not the quality." The protest featured a shaky rendition of '' Taps'' interpreted by McEwan and a makeshift horn from newspaper. The funeral protest laid to rest the soul of I. M. Hungry, symbolised by the 'body' of former commerce student Stephanie Baker." University of Calgary Leon the Frog

Tale of Leon the Frog

One of the most beloved features among arts students is the saga known as "The Tale of Leon the Frog" which was originally written in the early 1970s on top of the stairwell in Social Sciences. It chronicles the journey of a young frog named Leon, and features overheard conversations of students from the time. Such

existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

musings from the 13-flights-of-stairs long poem include:

''"
What is art What or WHAT may refer to: * What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb * "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism Film and television * ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava * '' Wha ...
? Where is?... am I here? Where is my will power? These are barbaric conditions. Is this the hallmark of my life?"''

Former writer for the now-defunct ''University of Calgary Gazette'', Cathy McLaughlin summarises that "Leon begins, on the basement floor of the Social Sciences stairwell, an existential search for identity and the 'light at the top of the stairs.' He escapes dissection, crucifixion, sexual harassment and an attempt to sell him insurance before hopping, finally, to the 13th floor, where art and a chance to 'express and communicate his experiences to society,' offers some solace." The suspects who knowingly vandalised campus property have consistently claimed the work was done for the art. The five individuals responsible, who have been later identified as arts alumni, were Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Tony Acosta, Robin Laurence, Catherine McAvity, and Rita McKeough. Cardinal-Schubert has stated that the amphibious hero of the poem is a "metaphor for a student...lost in space." The exact dating of this self-termed "happening" has not been entirely confirmed. However McLaughlin, has hypothesised "the sixth floor segment quotes from a Gauntlet article of Oct. 18, 1974, citing "turmoil, confusion and acrimony" in the

department, and narrowing Leon's probable date of authorship.," indicating that the "happening" took place around 1974.

''"I find this particular eventhfloor in a state of turmoil, confusion, and acrimony!*" (Footnote: see the Gauntlet of Thursday Oct. 18/74)''

The main character himself has been a source of debate, particularly the stylistic naming choice of ''Leon'' for an adventurous frog. Campus historians Peter Fortna, Martina King, and Doug McColl have theorised that the name Leon might have been inspired by

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

, Dr. Leon W. Browder. This was partly due to his academic tenure coinciding with the speculated period of the early 1970s. Strangely enough, Browder was fondly remembered for his research on early embryonic development for ''Xenopus laevis'', commonly referred to as the African Clawed Frog. In April 2017, the Tale of Leon the Frog was painted over by the university maintenance for being mistaken for graffiti. To much of the dismay of arts students and alumni, efforts to restore the Tale were undertaken. This effort was completed in May 2017. The Rocks Shrine UCalgary

The campus rocks

The infamous paint-covered boulders that are found throughout the campus, affectionately known as "the Rocks," have become an integral part of campus culture. This is reflected in the University Registrar's phone numbers sometimes ending with the four digits -7625 (ROCK). The original rock has moved about the campus three times, initially placed north of Craigie Hall for a month, and was later moved east of the MacEwan Student Centre (MacHall). It was then moved to its current location adjacent to Swann Mall and the Registrar, to make way for the 2000 expansion of MacHall. The original rock was unearthed in the summer of 1968 during excavation for the future Social Science building. Campus geologists have determined the rock's origins to be of the Jasper National Park region prior to the last glacial age. The rock was scheduled for removal, but was rescued by members of the Arts Faculty who thought it would serve as an "excellent forum for students to voice their opinion." Since that summer, the rock has become a common target for students to paint messages and other graphics, as well as to provide for an unmistakable meeting place for students and faculty alike. Soon messages of congratulation such as "Yay Finally Graduated" to the more political " Lougheed is a bum," began to grace the façade of these no-longer-grey rocks. The Administration accepted this curious trend willingly, as it seemed to remove desire from the students to vandalise other buildings on campus. The rocks are often painted to advertise campus events, signal the start of new semesters, and in protest to current affairs.

Ghost of Earth Science

Rumours of a resident ghost have sprung up by arts students and alumni alike, claiming to have seen sightings of a brown haired woman in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology in Earth Sciences. The Faculty Club was a former cafeteria and bar for the university's staff, originally located on the 7th floor of Earth Sciences in 1973, but permanently moved to the 4th floor of MacHall in 1985. Individuals have noticed strange apparitions regarding a "pleasant looking woman" with medium brown hair. The identity of this brunette, sweater wearing poltergeist is unknown, but several people have speculated it to be the former University Advisor to Women's Studies (1960-1966), Dr. Aileen A. Hackett Fish. Dr. Fish passed away on 3 March 1977, but left a long legacy of civil service, women's rights advocacy, and community involvement In 1973, Dr. Fish was awarded the Order of Canada medal and an honorary degree from the University of Calgary in 1976, both for her outstanding service at the community level. The Beta Sigma Phi Sorority established the Dr. Aileen Fish Memorial Bursary award shortly after her death, due to her strong relations with the sorority.

Notable alumni and faculty

File:Stephen Harper by Remy Steinegger - orig.jpg, Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper , 22nd

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

. ''(BA in Economics, 1985; MA in Economics, 1991)'' File:Pierre Poilievre.jpg, Hon. Pierre Poilievre , Official Opposition Critic for the

Treasury Board The Treasury Board of Canada (french: Conseil du Trésor du Canada) is the Cabinet committee of the Privy Council of Canada which oversees the spending and operation of the Government of Canada and is the principal employer of the core public se ...

. ''(BA in International Relations)'' File:Rob Anders.jpg, Robert Anders , former Member of the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

for

Calgary West Calgary West was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, and from 1979 to 2015. It was in the western part of the City of Calgary. The electoral district was ...

. ''(BA in Political Science)'' File:NRTH4680cutout.jpg,

Blake Richards Blake Richards (born November 8, 1974) is a Canadian politician. He has been a Conservative Member of Parliament since 2008, having been elected to represent the now defunct electoral district (or riding) of Wild Rose in the October 14, 200 ...

, Official Opposition Critic for

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

. ''(BA in Political Science)'' File:Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith.jpg,

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta since October 11, 2022, and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 6, 2022. Smith ent ...

, former Leader of Official Opposition. ''(BA in Economics and English, 1997)'' File:Reg Bibby 33.jpg, Reginald Bibby , Board of Governors Research Chair at the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

. ''(MA in Sociology)'' File:Tom Flanagan.jpg, Thomas Flanagan , Professor Emeritus of Political Science.

References

{{Authority control University of Calgary