University of Waterloo

• From the Waterloo Wiki

The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, The 'Loo, or simply Waterloo) is a public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

History

The University of Waterloo originated in the mid-1950s as an academic offshoot of Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University), itself descended from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. In response to provincial funding rules that excluded denominational institutions, Waterloo College established the non-denominational Waterloo College Associate Faculties in 1956. The Associate Faculties admitted their first students in 1957, emphasizing applied science and cooperative education. In 1959, the Government of Ontario formally separated the Associate Faculties from Waterloo College, re-establishing them as the University of Waterloo.

Subsequent negotiations over federation with Waterloo College ultimately failed, primarily over whether Waterloo College would become part of the University of Waterloo and control arts education. The result was that several Waterloo College departments (most notably Mathematics) transferred to the University of Waterloo, which subsequently created its own Faculty of Arts in 1960 and later established a standalone Faculty of Mathematics in 1967.

Campus

Trivia

• The original director of buildings and grounds, Mike Brookes, acquired several peacocks which he hoped would wander the campus (as they do at one of the colleges in Oxford). They didn't last long, although "it was never clear what predator did them in". We've got geese now, so at least that's something.
• In 1968, student protestors announced that they would be burning a dog with napalm to demonstrate the horrors of the Vietnam War. When crowds formed, hot dogs were cooked instead.
• On January 16, 1964, the board of governors approved changing UW's name from "The University of Waterloo" to just "University of Waterloo"
• In 1965, The University was looking for new names to avoid conflict with Waterloo Lutheran University (now Laurier). A proposed name was Churchill University (yes after Winston Churchill)