Free Speech & Ontario Universities

Erect More Platforms

From Buck-a-Beer to Buck-a-Thought

     Recently the Ontario Conservatives came up with a good idea that would have looked much, much better if it had come from those on the other side of the aisle. It also would have perhaps been more palatable if it had arrived as a request rather than a mandate - a mandate that imposes a deadline (Jan.1, 2019) and includes a threat (decreased funding). By that date, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities will expect a free speech policy from every Ontario institution of higher education that receives funding from the government.

     I think speeches should be free on campus. I think it is a good thing that administrators and academics will now have to spend some time clarifying a policy about the concept of free speech, even if they have less time to work on documents about disabilities, diversity and indigneity. I hope they end up agreeing with President Chakma who said “It is not our responsibility to shield students from obnoxious views,”

     The deadline should not be a problem; there are many university policies from which to plagiarize. There also are many solutions to the two major problems 1) Campus Security(dealing with the 'Hecklers’ Veto') and 2) determining what constitutes 'Hate Speech’. The American solutions to campus disruptions are numerous and our laws and student conduct codes should suffice to cover many situations. 'Hate Speech' presents a particularly Canadian conundrum and one does not get much assistance from the Criminal Code or the Canadian Human Rights Act. It will be easier to figure out ways to accommodate controversial speakers than to determine if they are likely to say hateful things. (e.g, see a letter in the Gazette from a student: “Ann Coulter was an unacceptable figure to let onto our campus, not because of her political views, but because she has often publicly worked to incite hatred against minorities of colour, race, ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation.”)

     I will include a few sources below for those interested in this issue. I will also provide an article I wrote in 2011 about a free speech kerfuffle on the campus of the University of Western Ontario back in 1953. It shows that Hecklers’ Vetos were exercised even back then and that the problem of freedom of speech has persisted for a very long time. It will be good to have a solution provided.

    More importantly it illustrates that the type of speaker determined to be eligible to speak freely changes over time. At Western in the early ‘50s conservative students didn’t want to listen to a radical talk about world peace and poverty. Some of the the radicals of yesteryear who were kept off campus are now the ones residing on it.  Ideas not permitted on the platform in one decade are perched upon it in another. Speakers, formerly welcomed and cheered, apparently can have a past-due date (Germaine Greer) and as someone once said (I think, but I can’t find it) it is useful to remember that “Today’s underground is tomorrow’s vaudeville”.

Sources:

     The remark from President Chakma is found in "Senate Faces a New PC Government in First Meeting," Martin Allen, The Gazette, Sept. 21, 2018.  See also Mr. Martin's earlier piece: "Western Administration is Grappling With Uncertainty Amid a Mandate to Create a New Campus Speech Policy," Aug. 30, 2018.  For the letters written about Coulter's appearance see the issues of The Gazette at the end of March, 2010. The specific quote is from a letter in the March 25th issue.

The diktat from the Ontario Government: "Ontario Protects Free Speech on Campus"

For an article critical of the new mandate see: "The Theatrics of the Ford Government Regarding Free Speech on Campus," Creso Sa, University Affairs, Sept. 6, 2018.

For a statement from the Council of Ontario Universities see: "Ontario Universities Share Goal of Protecting Free Speech on Campus, Will Work Closely With the Government," Aug. 30, 2018.

FIRE - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

"FIRE’s mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of students and faculty members at America’s colleges and universities." 

Campus Freedom Index

"First published in 2011, the annual Campus Freedom Index provides students, parents, politicians, university administrators, and the public with data about the state of free speech on 60 Canadian public universities."

The Red Dean

[This article appeared in Western News, Feb. 3, 2011 under “Nothing New in Quest for Free Speech,” p.5. It was in reaction to many of the free speech controversies at the time. A few bolded notes are inserted for clarification. I suggest you read at least the prescient comment by Hume Cronyn and the concluding paragraph.]

Dean of Canterbury Heckled Off London Stage by Western Students (1953)

     There have been a number of incidents recently where an individual has been invited to a campus or community to deliver a lecture and either has been unable to speak or found it difficult to do so because of the presence of protesters.  Just a few weeks ago a columnist for a major Canadian newspaper was not allowed to address an audience on a campus to which she had been invited to discuss her new book.*  One can debate whether such incidents are increasing and how much the concept of ‘free speech’ is now threatened, or even to what degree it is actually an alien idea in Canada. Less debatable would be the assertion that in the past polite Canadians or Western students would never have denied someone their right to speak, or disrupted a talk, forcing the lecturer to flee. In London over 50 years ago there was just such an episode and it resembles in some ways the more recent ones in Waterloo and elsewhere in Canada. *[The columnist was Ms Blatchford and the book is Helpless : Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed all of Us.]

     In February, 1953  the Very Reverend, Dr. Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury was forced to leave hurriedly from London, just as did Christie Blatchford from Waterloo. One would have thought it likely that someone with such ecclesiastical credentials would not have been perceived as threatening as Blatchford. Nor might one have expected that the topic of the talk that was not delivered – ‘World Peace’-  would be as provocative  as, say the subject of ‘Islam’ as perceived  by the Very Controversial Mark  Steyn.*  Admittedly, by this time the dean was well-known as the ‘Red Dean’ and it was, after all,  during the Cold War. Apparently the climate for ideas was at least as chilly then as it is now. *Steyn was/is controversial and he spoke about Muslims at Centennial Hall after being refused a platform at the London Convention Centre. His appearance came after Ann Coulter spoke at Western and was critical of a Muslim student who questioned her.]

The speaker who was not allowed to speak, Dr. Johnson, was described later in his obituary in The Times as a “baffling, complex and controversial figure”, but he can be characterised more simply here, with little distortion, as a clergyman who was concerned about the plight of the poor, attracted to the idea of pacifism and, while not a member of the communist party, clearly a ‘fellow traveler’. He had encountered problems earlier when visiting Canada and had been barred for a time from entering the United States.  The London Soviet Friendship Committee was responsible for his visit and no one in attendance would have been surprised that his talk was going to be as much ideological as religious.

Over 600 people paid 50 cents to hear what Dr. Johnson had to say, but “Drowned out by clanging cowbells, exploding paper bags and shouts the dean left the speaker’s rostrum at the Masonic Hall after repeated attempts to make himself heard”. Those bells and bags feature prominently in news accounts (the Associated Press picked up the story) and are exhibited in an article from the New York Times which carries the wonderful headline: “ ‘Red Dean’ Flees Din: Canadian Students  Block Talk by Canterbury Cleric”.  In addition, it is noted that: “The students, from the University of Western Ontario, broke up a meeting of the London Society of Friendship Committee by keeping up a continual din” and that “When Dr. Johnson, on a tour of eastern Canada, dashed out the rear entrance, students surrounded his car. The police cleared a path for the automobile.”

     To be fair, in local accounts there is some disagreement about the composition of the audience and whether the protesters were simply students. In an article in the evening edition of the London Free Press (“Shouting Down of ‘Red Dean’ Stirs Controversy in London”) it is noted that “UWO students -jamming the first 15 rows and others scattered about the hall – refused to budge an inch”. Elsewhere it is reported that, while the President of the university “said he had been told by staff members who attended the meeting that UWO students were not among those who instigated the noise,” it was clear that “many of the spectators who made loud noises wore windbreakers and sweaters marked ‘Western’, and freely admitted they were students at the UWO.” Even if many were Western students, they were not all in opposed to the speech. One student was reported to have jumped on the stage in an attempt to get the audience to cooperate. Another in a letter to the Globe and Mail (“Placing the Blame in London”) indicated that “few if any of us had the intention of deliberately breaking up the meeting”. Still another, Paul D. Fleck, who was later to become Chairman of the UWO Department of English, wrote in Western’s Gazette “I have just come from the most disgusting exhibition of immaturity and downright discourtesy that I have ever seen”. It was also clear that some of the most strident boycotters were not students since the caption to one picture of the protest reads: “A member of the First Canadian Parachute Club, which branded the session as a communist meeting, has a heated argument with an unidentified attendant at Masonic Temple”.

The Free Press reported that “views were divergent today on the failure of Dr. Hewlett Johnson, ‘Red Dean’ of Canterbury to make his scheduled ‘mission of peace’ speech”. Among them, the one held by Dr. E.G. Hall, president of the university was singularly unhelpful. He said, “My only comment on the affair” is that “If citizens of the community don’t like what a speaker is saying, they have a right to heckle haven’t they?” The fatuousness of that remark was matched by the facetiousness of an editorial by students in the Gazette who wondered if the president meant that there should be a ‘Fifth Freedom’, the ‘Freedom of Noise’, to be included along with others such as ‘Freedom of Speech’, ‘Freedom of Religion’, etc. A weightier response was offered by the Rev. George W. Goth of the Metropolitan United Church who attended the event: “It wasn’t the dean who was humiliated last night; it was a thousand years of Anglo-Saxon tradition of freedom and fair play.” “Mr. Goth said he will preach on the matter Sunday night using the title ‘Should We Have Listened to the ‘Red Dean’.”The attitude of the Free Press is discernible from the editorial headline “Reds Only Ones Pleased by Dean’s Reception.” There was also a cartoon by Ting  (which obviously was not banned)* with an illustration of the ‘Red Dean” with a gigantic cork in his mouth. The caption: “A Smaller Cork Might Have Done Just as Well”. [This sarcastic aside was in reference to the fact that cartoons about some religious figures are acceptable; some are not. When the Yale University Press published a book about the Danish cartoons, they were afraid to actually include the cartoons - check for yourself - The Cartoons That Shook the World.]

With an irony that seems to have gone unnoticed and which was clearly not intentional one can also determine the attitude of another prominent Londoner on the subject. A report out of Toronto that was elsewhere in the Free Press on the same day bore the headline” “Loss of Freedom of  Speech in the U.S. Fear of Hume Cronyn”.  In an address to the Canadian Club he said “Today we are in danger of losing our prime freedom – freedom of speech.... It has got so that anyone who dares to have even mildly liberal views nowadays is the object of wild accusations, even those people who are miles away from being even parlor pinks. It is a frightening thing and I am disturbed to hear it is happening in Canada too”.

This episode demonstrates that the recent controversial cases are not new, although admittedly some things have changed. The protesting forces back then were from the ‘regressive right’ whereas now they are just as likely to be from the ‘progressive left’. The arguments over the concept of ‘free speech’ have grown more complex with the arrival of ‘offensive speech’ and ‘hate speech’. The threats may be perceived to be greater in that now those who object to what is said may target for reprisal the innocent as well as the guilty. Still, for the few of us who value free speech or for those of us who think, as a recent columnist in the London Free Press asserted, that Canadians are smart enough to hear divergent views, perhaps it is past time in our ‘free society’ to address the question of whether people really have the right to free expression.* Surely at a university which places a high value on the diversity of the student and faculty population there should be some tolerance for diversity in beliefs and some feeling that the academic freedom recently guaranteed to faculty be extended and expanded to visitors to campus. Provide security for those to those who come to hear a talk and do not simply capitulate to those who do not wish to listen. Offer counselling, if needed, for students and faculty whose feelings are hurt by what is said. Let the Coulters or clerics speak or clearly admit that you are unwilling to allow them to be invited. *[The columnist is Brian MacLeod. See: “Canadians Smart Enough to Hear Galloway, Coulter,”LFP, Nov. 25, 2010. Galloway is a former British Labour MP who is a critic of Israel and a Palestinian sympathizer. Although he had his problems with the Canada Border and Services Agency, he was welcomed on campuses.]

Post Script (the usual bonus bits for premium subscribers)

Book Discussions Can Be Dangerous
     For a recent example of the problems speakers and universities can face see this article: “Wilfrid Laurier Professor Withdraws From Free Speech Task Force in Protest:  Professor David Haskell Stepped Aside After Learning the University is Demanding $5,473 for Unspecified Security Costs  for a Lindsay Shepherd-organized Event,” Christie Blatchford, May 3, 2018 National Post
It shows how one university deals with the issue of security costs (Charge the organizers. Columbia University just chose to cover the costs). It also provides a test case that the university could use once its new policy is in place to see if it works. Try inviting Professor Frances Widdowson to discuss her book and to address the question “Does University Indigenization Threaten Open Inquiry?” Or if it is decided to put an American in danger first, invite Charles Murray.

Under the Radar
     If the University is lucky perhaps some potentially controversial events will go unnoticed. Apparently this one did. This is from a notice that is found in a spring 2011 issue of Western News:  9/11 TRUTHER BRINGS MESSAGE TO CAMPUS
“Niels Harrit, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, will offer a critique of the official account of the destruction of the World Trade Centres on Sept. 11, 2001, focusing on Building 7. Harrit published an article in 2009 about the discovery of nano-thermite, an incendiary and explosive, in the WTC dust. The free lecture takes place 7 p.m. today, March 3 in Social Science Centre, Room 2050. The lecture will be moderated by Dr. Paul McArthur, Western adjunct professor of family medicine.”

I was out of town at the time and only learned of the talk when I returned. As far as I can tell there was no mention at all of the event in the campus or local press. Perhaps believing that 9/11 was mainly fake news is not controversial. I tend to disagree, but am glad Mr. Harrit was allowed to give his talk. There is, by the way, a retired Western professor who also believes that 9/11 is a U.S. government conspiracy. See the book,Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History for details and his identity. To learn more about Mr Harrit see Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

HAVE A NICE DAY

    A clichéd title is appropriate when the subject is a mundane one - the weather. I complain all the time about people who talk about and complain about the weather, which, I suppose makes me one of them. I should be excused for bringing up the topic in this instance, however, since I have now a clearer understanding of what ‘nice days’ are, weatherwise, and where we are most likely to find some of them.
     You might think that there is not much confusion about what constitutes a nice day. As the September solstice approaches, the birds clearly believe that the nicer weather is to be found to the south of Canada and they are soon to be followed by many Canadians who clearly agree. Apart from wanting to be warm we also generally agree that the heat should come without too much humidity, that a light breeze is better than a strong wind and that the sun should not be hidden by too many clouds. We want it to be basically like our living room, but perhaps with a view of some palm trees and water.

    Using such criteria, Brent Brettschneider, a climate scientist, analyzed the data provided from 373 stations around the country (the U.S. not Canada; our weather stations were probably frozen), on an hourly basis for all 365 days over the 20 year period from 1998 to 2018 to determine which places yielded the most nice days over an entire year.

    The results may surprise you. Hawaii doesn’t do so well (high winds and humidity) while Arizona does. If you look at a weather map right now it is likely to be around 85F (30C) in Phoenix or Tucson, but one has to remember that from October to March it is typically sunny, cool and dry. Seattle also does surprisingly well since the wet winter is offset by a fairly dry summer. Anchorage is apparently one of the worst places to be and that is where Mr. Brettschneider resides, proving that just as we can’t control the weather, we often can't choose where to live.

     The article, “What Cities Have the Most Nice Days in America?” by Brian Brettschneider, The Washington Post, August 7, 2018. Here are some of the interesting results:


Other high-scoring cities, which also include several in the Southeast United States, include:
Seattle: 78 nice days per year
Portland: 74 nice days
Charlotte: 74 nice days
San Francisco: 73 nice days
Atlanta: 73 nice days
Jacksonville, Fla.: 71 nice days
Las Vegas: 68 nice days

Other cities that score poorly, many in the Midwest and Northeast, include:
Colorado Springs: 41 nice days per year
Boston: 44 nice days
Omaha: 45 nice days
Washington: 46 nice days
Minneapolis: 46 nice days
Dallas: 46 nice days
Chicago: 47 nice days
Kansas City: 47 nice days
Philadelphia: 48 nice days
Austin: 48 nice days

Post Script

If you are interested in weather history see my post about the periodical, Weatherwise.

DAYS OF THE LONG KNIVES

(Todd Rathner, director of legislative affairs for Knife Rights, browses knives during the Usual Suspect Gathering, where knife and other industry related vendors displayed and sold products last month in Las Vegas. (Bridget Bennett/For The Washington Post) [ If you missed the big knife show and the gathering of "The Usual Suspects", but you can learn about it here.https://www.usngathering.com/]

Something Else to Worry About

     While you have been fretting about guns you may have overlooked the knife problem. Simply put (so I can spoil your day more quickly) the calls for “Knife Rights” in the United States are growing louder. Apparently the Second Amendment indicates the right to carry a switchblade should not be infringed.

     Here is what you need to know from this recent article in the Washington Post. Perhaps it is fake news, but I doubt it:  “Borrowing Strategy From NRA, Activists Quietly Overturn Knife Restrictions Across U.S.” Todd C. Frankel, Sept. 15, 2018. It begins this way:

  He ordered the 20-ounce rib-eye, and so the waitress at the upscale restaurant dropped off a wood-handled serrated steak knife. Doug Ritter ignored it. Instead he pulled out a folding knife, its 3.4-inch blade illegal to carry concealed here in Clark County. He flicked it open with one hand. When the steak arrived, medium-rare, he started cutting.
     The steak dinner came as Ritter was savoring his many successful attempts at repealing the nation’s knife laws. Decades-old restrictions on switchblades, daggers and stilettos have fallen away in state after state in recent years. Much of this is because of Ritter and his little-known Arizona-based advocacy group Knife Rights, which has used tactics borrowed from the National Rifle Association to rack up legislative victories across the nation. And many of the changes have escaped widespread notice, obscured, in part, by the nation’s focus on guns….

     In addition, Ritter, 65, said that knives, like guns, should be considered arms protected by the Second Amendment. He doesn’t support any restriction on knives — not on switchblades or push daggers or even the ballistic knives that shoot like spears from a handle.

That’s become a winning argument. Twenty-one states have repealed or weakened their knife laws since 2010, many of them with bipartisan support, including Colorado, Michigan and Illinois. New York came close to doing the same last year. 

Now, Knife Rights is going after its biggest legislative target: overturning the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act, which bans the interstate shipment or importation of knives that open at the push of a button. It’s a long shot, but Ritter met earlier this month with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
 “We’re trying to frame it as a freedom issue,” Ritter said in Washington, before disappearing into a congressman’s office.

Post Script

     For the Canadian situation see "Knives and Violent Crime in Canada, 2008," by Mia Dauvergne. More recently the CBC reported that knives appear to be a problem in the UK: "Surge in Knife Crime Pushes London's Murder Rate Beyond New York's," Thomson Reuters · Posted: Apr 06, 2018.
See also: "Why is Knife Crime Increasing in England and Wales? Shocking Statistics Show Incidents of Stabbing Have Risen by 22 Per Cent in a Year, With Children as Young as 13 Among the Victims," Lizzie Dearden, Independent, April 27, 2018.

The picture above is from: "Ban on Knives Being Delivered to Shoppers' Doors Proposed by Government," Telegraph, July 18, 2017.

I suppose the Knife Rights people wish Charlton Heston was still around to utter "I Will Give Up My Knife When They Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From Around It."

I suggest that they could alter the other popular slogan to read: "If knives  are outlawed, only outlaws will have knives and we will all have to become vegetarians.”

A Trumpian Aperçu

The insightful remark below is about Trump, of course, not by him. I think the first part is true and the second just about sums up everything that needs to be said.

“Greenwald told me, ‘I don’t think that, once Trump leaves office, we’re going to have a revolution in law where rich and powerful people are going to be held accountable in the way that poor people are.” Trump is a criminal, he said, surrounded by ‘fifth-tier grifters’ who, under normal circumstances, would be ‘generating PowerPoints to defraud pensioners.’”

 
Source: 

“Profiles: The Bane of Their Resistance: Glenn Greenwald’s War on the Democratic Elite,” Ian Parker, The New Yorker, Sept. 3, 2018, p.38.

Libraries and Space

 



     In several posts I have indicated that I am not in agreement with the tendency of  the Western Libraries to increase the space devoted to students and activities while reducing the area allotted  for books and periodicals. I have also pointed out that other university libraries are doing the same thing and another example is provided by the Robarts Library at the University of Toronto. Here is the recent headline in the University of Toronto News (Aug.28, 2018): “Library Spaces for Families, Reflection: Robarts Library is Constantly Finding New Ways to Make its Architecturally Stunning Space Work Better for the People Who Use It.” The article is like many others on this subject.

“Beginning this year, students, staff and faculty now have access to a newly renovated reflection room on the eighth floor. It's meant to be used for religious, spiritual and secular practices – including prayer, meditation, yoga and mindfulness – and comes equipped with yoga mats, prayer mats and meditation cushions and benches. There are even noise-cancelling headphones and iPods loaded with mindfulness meditations available on two-hour loan at the Course Reserves desk on the fourth floor.

Robarts is also home to a family study space – believed to be the first of its kind in Canada. The room, which opened earlier this year on the ninth floor, is designed to make life easier for student parents or faculty and staff with young children. For kids, the sound-proofed room comes stocked with toys like building blocks and plastic dinosaurs, as well as a screen for watching videos. For their parents, there are work stations, child-sized furniture and nearby washrooms with nursing and baby-changing facilities. “

     I suppose you are thinking that, if the ‘flagship’ university library system in the country is going in this direction, perhaps I should fold my tent and get out of the way of progress.  Actually, I don’t mind at all that the U. of T. is providing such space and who could object to making life easier for parents and their children. The space is on the 8th floor of Robarts and there are 43 other libraries in the U. of T. system, including the excellent Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. 

    The libraries at Western are somewhat shorter and fewer in number and some have closed and the bigger ones have been hollowed out. The space that remains should be for scholars and students who are studying, surrounded by the material they need and from which they can learn. Other activities would be better placed in the new Western Health and Wellness Centre which “will serve as "a single point of entry for health and wellness services on our campus." Western Libraries has more to offer than space.

Post Script

  I was pleased to see that the Western Libraries is honouring Barnett and celebrating books. For details see here. 

  I mentioned the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and their website is well-worth visiting.

(One of their recent exhibitions was on: "Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada."

If you are interested in Food History see my recent post on that subject.)

Western University Names

Naming Names

    The slightly odd construction, ‘naming names’, is generally associated with bad behaviour and those so-named are usually implicated in something awful like, for example, a communist conspiracy. Here I will attempt to name some names related to Western University and to do so for a positive purpose. That purpose being: 1) to more clearly identify and define those whose names we see when we visit campus, either physically or electronically, and 2) to propose that a registry be constructed so that they can be easily found.

    Such a project is already underway and provides the impetus for this one. Just recently the folks at Research Western began to place plaques and link them to digital profiles of those who have contributed to the research endeavours of the University (for details see below). That seems like a very good idea to me. There are others who have contributed in other ways and some of their names are already on campus and there are many yet to be identified. Who are these people? Is the name on a building associated with someone who taught within it, or to a person who paid to have it built? Apart from acknowledging the person, a description surely would be useful for the highly transient student population, some of whom probably wonder who Paul Davenport was when they file into ‘his’ theatre.

    I know some of you are thinking that the construction of a biographical name registry is a bad idea and that it is ironic that the one suggesting it ranted, in a year-end post a couple of years ago, that we should abandon the practice of naming buildings and constructing statues for reasons that are now so obvious. As this is being written, the name ‘Trutch” is being removed from a building at UVic and today’s philanthropist could be tomorrow’s felon. As well, even the names of scholars can become suspect if, for example, they wrote something positive about a prime minister, or cranial size and criminality, or even used improper pronouns.

     A Western Biographical Register could get around these problems. As we become more enlightened and censorious we could continue to remove names from buildings and rooms and Chairs, but keep the registry. In it, an alteration could be made to a name that was rendered unsuitable to indicate exactly when we became ‘woke’ and, as well, ‘signal our virtue’.

     Research Western asked for suggestions and nominations related to the research mission of the university. The ones provided below are names that are already somehow associated with Western and some are related to research since they are encountered when using the Western Libraries. Others come from buildings and rooms; still others relate to scholars, donors, lectures and historical figures important to the University. All should be checked.

     In those cases where I easily found information, it is provided. Often information can be found when a naming occurred or a donation was made, but such information needs to be gathered in a central place to be easily located.

The List
[Update - 2021: I noticed that some embedded links no longer work. They are another reason for a more permanent home for them.]

 
3M Centre

(Okay, this is not a personal name, but still one might want to know why the Centre has such a label, other than the fact that  Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company probably wouldn't fit.)

Alexander Charles Spencer Engineering Building
(see also below - Thompson Engineering Building)

The Alexander Norman Collection of Comic Books
(A collection in the Western Libraries)

Alice Munro Chair in Creativity
("The Alice Munro Chair in Creativity will recognize and honour our Nobel laureate, inspire student writers and foster creative expression of all kinds. Alice Munro is counted among the University’s most extraordinary alumni."  For more see here. )

Allyn and Betty Taylor Library
(“The Allyn and Betty Taylor Library was officially opened on November 22, 1991, with the design and construction of the new library funded through the Renaissance Campaign (1989 –1994). At the time of the Library’s opening, Dr. Allyn Taylor (Western’s Chancellor from 1976 to 1980) was quoted as saying: “My long association with Western is very close to my heart. Betty and I are proud and thankful indeed to have our names linked with this fine, new library, and can only say how grateful we are to the anonymous benefactor responsible.” The $11.8 million three floor addition to the north side of the Natural Sciences Building had a total seating capacity of 1,000 in 1991.”)
see also the J. Allyn Taylor Building below.

Arthur & Sonia Labatt Health Sciences Building

The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing
(“Western opens innovative new home for Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, June 8, 2017”
“Arthur and Sonia Labatt, long-time donors to health education at Western University, opened the building Thursday with a ribbon-cutting and tour. They were awarded honorary doctorates from Western in 2012 and Arthur Labatt was Western University chancellor from 2004 to 2008.  Both are well-known philanthropists whose volunteer work includes arts, culture, health care and environmental causes.”)

Beatrice Hitchins Memorial Collection of Aviation History
(A collection in the Western Libraries)

C. B. “ Bud” Johnston Library
(At the time this Library was named, I had some association with it. Assuming that people would want to know who “Bud” was, I created a profile and bibliography. It is no longer available on the Western Libraries website.  I have a copy and it holds up well if you want to borrow it.)

Claudette Mackay-Lassonde Pavilion
“The Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion (CMLP) officially opened its doors on Saturday, October 3, 2009.  It is a 45,000 square-foot, $20-million facility, featuring advanced environmentally sustainable construction technologies and methodologies.  The CMLP houses research geared towards green technologies, processes and materials. This description also has a good link to the Lassonde Family Foundation”.)

Collip Building
(The assumption here is that it was named after Dr. J. Bertram Collip. A good profile of him is
here.)

Conron Hall
Most likely named for Dr. A.B. Conron.

DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies

The D.B. Weldon Library

Dr. Don Rix Clinical Skills Learning Building
The Dr. Don Rix Protein Identification Facility
(“Named after Western medical school graduate Don Rix, who donated $2 million to assist in the construction of the laboratory, the Dr. Don Rix Protein Identification Facility has established Western as a leading proteomics research hub in Ontario.”) For a good account see: "What's in a Name: Dr. Don Rix Clinical Skills Building," Paul Mayne, Western News, Oct. 10, 2013.

Don Wright Faculty of Music
(“The name became the Don Wright Faculty of Music in October 2002 following a generous donation by alumnus, musician and philanthropist Dr. Donald J. Wright.”)

The Dr. Eddy Smet Collection of Comic Books
(A collection in the Western Libraries).

Elborn College

Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Sport Medicine Clinic
(One can find on their site a "History of the Fowler Fellowship".  Another profile and picture of Fowler is found on the site of the JP Metras Sports Museum.)

Fraunhofer Project Centre for Composites
(“The Fraunhofer Project Centre for Composites Research is a joint venture between Western University and the Fraunhofer Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Pfinztal, Germany").

The G. William Stuart Jr. Collection of Milton and Miltoniana
(A collection in the Western Libraries).

Gibbons Lodge

The Gordon J. Mogenson Building

Gregory Clark Piscatorial Collection
(A collection in the Western Libraries).

The Hannah Collection on the History of Science and Medicine
(A collection in the Western Libraries).

Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research
One could start here.

The Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory


(“The observatory was presented by Mrs. Frances Amelia Labatt Cronyn in memory of her husband (Hume Blake Cronyn) who had considerable interest in science even though he worked in the financial world as general manager of the Huron & Erie Savings and Loan Company (later to become the Canada Trust Company), and president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company.” See here. )


Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership
A description is here.

The J. Allyn Taylor Building

 (see the Allyn & Betty Taylor Library above.)

J. Gordon Thompson Recreation and Athletics Centre

The James Alexander and Ellen Rea Benson Special Collections
(“In 1999, Special Collections benefited from an endowment provided through the estate of Lillian Benson, a retired thirty-seven year employee and friend of Western Libraries. Ms. Benson had been Assistant Librarian, Administration, to Western Librarian, Dr. James J. Talman. In recognition of her gift, Special Collections was renamed The James Alexander and Ellen Rea Benson Special Collections in honour of Ms. Benson's parents.”)

The J. J. Talman Regional Collection

Joanne Goodman Lectures

John & Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library

John George Althouse Faculty of Education
(“1965 - The provincial Department of Education opens two new teacher training colleges in Ontario, one in Kingston and the other in London - Althouse College named after John George Althouse.” A good profile and picture are provided here.

John Labatt Visual Arts Centre

Josephine Spencer Niblett Law Building

The Joyce C. Garnett Innovation Fund
(Ms Garnett was  University Librarian from 1998-2013.
The information needed is provided in: “Gift Builds 'Bridge' to the Future,” by Crystal Lamb, Western News, September 14, 2016).

JP Metras Sports Museum
(“The athletic history at The University of Western Ontario covers a wide range of sports spanning well over 100 years. Between 1935-72, Western’s athletes prospered under the guidance of JP Metras as coach and athletic director. To preserve his legacy and Mustang history, the JP Metras Sports Museum opened in Alumni Hall").

J. W. Little Memorial Stadium
See here.

Kresge Building
“Pennsylvania-born businessman Sebastin Kresge met with Western President Ed Hall and Board of Governors member Jack White to discuss a possible donation for the nursing building. The meeting was successful, as Kresge donated $200,000 to the project. In recognition of his generosity, the new building was named the Kresge School of Nursing.”
From this very good link, complete with pictures:

Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management
(“The Lawrence Centre was established in 2002 with a generous gift from Canadian businessman, Jack Lawrence, HBA '56, who was a strong proponent on behalf of business playing an active role in Canadian public policy.”)

The Laurene O. Paterson Building, Western Science Centre

Lawson Hall Residence
Lawson Research Institute

McIntosh Gallery
(Here is the information from: The Art of London, 1830-1980, Nancy Geddes Poole, 1984.
p. 103.
“While the Art Museum opened its doors in the autumn of 1940, the following June the cornerstone was laid for a second art gallery in the city, the McIntosh Memorial Gallery at the University of Western Ontario. Wilhelmina Morris McIntosh, when she died, left a bequest to the University in memory of her husband John Gordon McIntosh. The bequest not only included her personal art collection, but also provided funds to build the “English Renaissance-style” gallery at a cost not exceeding $50,000, as well as an endowment to provide for the upkeep of the building and for additional acquisitions for the collection.”)

McKellar Room

Paul Davenport Theatre
(“Renovations to Talbot Theatre were completed in August 2009 and the hall was renamed in honour of retiring university president Paul Davenport.”)

Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship
A profile of Morrissette is here.

Richard Ivey Building

Robarts Research Institute 

SCHOLARSHIPS
(Named scholarships could be problematic, in that there are probably a large number of them.. I did not quickly find a list of scholarships at the Office of the Registrar. They are often found at the department level; there are for example, at least three Professor Kenneth Hilborn ones listed by the History Department. Perhaps all of the scholarships could be subsumed under that heading and divided by faculty.)

Siebens Drake Research Institute
 (Might also wish to consider “The Haeryfar Lab  [which] is located in the Siebens-Drake Research Institute (SDRI) at Western University, under the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and within the Department of Microbiology & Immunology.”)

Somerville House

Spencer Hall

Stevenson Hall

Stevenson-Lawson Building

The Stiller Centre

Sydenham Hall Residence

TD Waterhouse Stadium

Thompson Engineering Building
(see above Alexander Charles Spencer Engineering Building)

The Valberg Educational Resource Centre (VERC)
(for Dr. Leslie S. Valberg, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine)
See here.

Von Kuster Hall
(Named in honour of Clifford von Kuster, the first dean of the Faculty of Music, the recital hall is located in the Music Building with the entrance off the main lobby.)

William J. Cameron
(The name was attached to the William J. Cameron Reading Room in what used to be known as the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Many of the books once located there show up in the Western Libraries catalogue, with his name attached.)

Sources: 
For information about the Research Western project see: "Plaques Celebrate Rich History of Research," by Paul Mayne, Western News, Nov. 9. 2017.
Information about the Heritage Plaques is found on the Research Western website.
A useful list of Western University buildings is found here. 

For a good example of how such a list could be done for the buildings see UCLA's BuildingName Origins. 

For a better one that honours philanthropists see this example of how the Canadian de Gaspe Beaubien family was featured when they made a large donation to the Baker Library. Click on the entries on the left to see other examples : A Campus Built on Philanthropy. 

Post Script
If Western ever encounters a situation where a donor wishes to have his/her name attached to a building already named they can again look to Harvard for solutions. When Mr. Bloomberg asked to have the name of his father on the Baker Library, he was accommodated. It is now know as the Baker Library/Bloomberg Center.

It seems to me that this would be a good project for those in the Western Libraries, working inter-departmentally with their colleagues over in Advancement Operations. The former have access to the university records and internal contacts with the scholars. The latter would know about the external donors and have access to the cash. Perhaps they could hire a hagiographer to write glowing bios and attract even more donors.

The Affiliates also have some names that could be named as does Fanshawe where one finds, The Lawrence Kinlin School of Business, the Donald J. Smith School of Building Technology and the Norton Wolf School of Aviation Technology.

In re-reading the above, I noticed that I used the word 'we'. I should make clear that, although I studied and worked at Western and retain some affection for the place,  I am now retired and the University is in no way responsible for these ramblings.

Impeachment?

Lock Him Up?

   We gather, from way up here, that many Trump supporters chant loudly, ‘Lock Her Up’, whenever they gather. While it appears that many Americans think Hillary should be in jail, we have heard rumours that the tiny group of Trump opposers think, perhaps the President is the felonious one.  Although he recently attacked Canada, I do think we should stay north of the partisan fray and seek professional advice. Apparently that advice is found in a book that was mentioned in a recent article in the New Yorker.  The book was mentioned, however, the title was not provided. As a public service I will provide it here so you can get the book and determine the degree of his guilt for yourself.

    On the last occasion (well, one of the last) of presidential malfeasance,  “In May, 1974, John Doar, the special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, called the Yale historian C. Vann Woodward into his office and asked him to figure out just how badly Presidents had behaved in the past, and how they had answered accusations against them.” In order to assess how bad Nixon was compared to his predecessors, Woodward assembled fourteen historians who “dropped everything for the project.” They completed the project quickly, but Nixon resigned and the work was not published.

     Woodward, however, decided to produce “A whole book devoted exclusively to the misconduct of American presidents and their responses to charges of misconduct”. It was published, but the political attention span being what it is, it was not much noticed. Apparently the copy in the Widener Library at Harvard has only been signed out twice since 1974.

   All of this information is offered by the historian, Jill Lepore, in the article: “Measuring Presidents’ Misdeeds: During Watergate, Historians Helped Catalogue Accusations Made Against Past Presidents; Their Findings May be Useful Again.” New Yorker, Sept. 3, 2018

   Agreeing with her that such a study would be useful, I went looking for it in the Western Libraries here in London. Since the title was not provided, I searched for the book by author (the C. is for Comer, by the way) and was pleased to find it. If you are really interested in presidential misdeeds see: Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct  (A study undertaken for the Impeachment Inquiry Staff of the House Committee on the Judiciary, with an added intro. Includes bibliographical references.)

Post Script
   The article in the print edition is found under “The Talk of the Town” on p.15. Even if you can grab it for free, you should get a subscription since Conde Nast, like most magazine publishers, is in trouble.
    The book is still in the library (in storage). Having provided the public service, I will leave it up to you to carry on from here.

University Presses

Penn State University Press

     In the neighbouring state across the lake, Penn State has a press and one of the series they publish is called, fittingly enough, "Keystone Books".  There are over 50 different series published ranging, alphabetically, from Africana Religions to World Christianity.  There are books about Chinese thinkers (Collection of Critical Biographies of Chinese Thinkers) and some about one Scottish thinker (Edinburgh Edition of Thomas Reid). The usual serious subjects are covered (e.g. Refiguring Modernism; Re-Reading the Canon) and one on humor is planned (Humor in America).  Keystone Books is chosen here because they" are intended to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania. They are accessible, well-researched explorations into the history, culture, society, and environment of the Keystone State as part of the Middle Atlantic region."  This is, I think, a laudable goal.

Keystone Books

     Rallying the scholars to produce some products for the civilians is not a bad idea. I am not sure how many other university presses may have done this, but I will let you know in future posts on the subject of university publishing if any are found.  You may have noticed that many scholarly books are now unreadable, even if they are covering subjects which we have lived (modern history) or experienced (popular culture).  They are also often only about subjects of concern to those within the academy and, even more frequently, of interest only to those sequestered in the basements of a few humanities departments.  Publishing a few 'practical' books without mentioning once the word 'praxis' should to nothing to reduce the skills of those who produce them and deans should be encouraged to reward such efforts.

     Selected below are some Keystone Books.  Given that Pennsylvania is close by, even the state and regional ones may be of interest and a couple will be useful if you plan to visit.  Many other subjects are covered and some Keystone Books will be found up at Western, should you wish to have a look. At list is provided at the end.

Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth, Edited by Randall M. Miller and William A. Pencak

“From Quaker rule to the devastating decline of the steel industry, Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth chronicles political, cultural, and economic developments that have shaped the Keystone State. Edited by Saint Joseph’s University history professor Randall M. Miller and William Pencak, a historian at Pennsylvania State University, this lucid and comprehensive history includes contributions from archivists, historians and other academics on such subjects as the state’s role in the Underground Railroad and the folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch. The first part of the handsomely illustrated volume is a straightforward chronological history, while the second is divided into thematic chapters on such subjects as the geography, archaeology and literature of the state.” —Publishers Weekly

Pennsylvania Overlooks: A Guide for Sightseers and Outdoor People, Art Michaels

“With descriptions of nearly 50 impressive overlooks in the Keystone State, this book is an invaluable guide for planning spring getaways. For a romantic weekend trip for two, or a quick day trip with the whole family, the locations detailed in Pennsylvania Overlooks yield fantastic opportunities to get out of the house and take in some of the most remarkable sights Pennsylvania has to offer.” —Tribune

The Best Places You've Never Seen:Pennsylvania's Small Museums: A Traveler's Guide,

Therese Boyd

“Although the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with its famous Rocky staircase and Thomas Eakins masterpieces, is a must-see for most Keystone State visitors, the rest of the state’s museums are largely unknown to outsiders. Writer Boyd has visited small museums throughout Pennsylvania and found 42 she says are worth detouring for; she details these little gems in this handy guide organized by region. In the Poconos, visitors should check out the Houdini Tour and Show, where they can see the padlocks the great escapist used, or Yuengling Brewery, dubbed ‘America’s Oldest Brewery.’ While trucking through the Alleghenies, drivers might make a pit stop at Mr. Ed’s Elephant Museum, a nondescript wooden building that features a range of ‘elephantania,’ from plaster elephants to elephant salt and pepper shakers. And in an around Philly, there’s the Mummers Museum, which pays tribute to the city’s version of Mardi Gras; the Shoe Museum (displaying South African clogs and a size 18 shoe); and more. It’s a quirky travel guide that will undoubtedly be a godsend to anyone faced with a long drive on Route 80.” —Publishers Weekly

Gateway to the Majors: Williamsport and Minor League Baseball, James P. Quigel, and Louis E. Hunsinger

“Lou Hunsinger Jr. and Jim Quigel dig deep into baseball’s roots in North-central Pennsylvania and bring to life details of the events and individuals who have kept America’s National Pastime going strong into the 21st century.” —Jim Carpenter, Williamsport Sun-Gazette

American Shad in the Susquehanna River Basin: A Three-Hundred-Year History, Richard Gerstell

“Gerstell employs government reports, deed records, and newspaper accounts to reconstruct the size of the catches, methods employed by fishermen, and legislative attempts to check the inexorable decline of shad after 1830. Estate inventories yield lists of tools related to fishing, adding specificity and interest to this unpretentious but enlightening account of the once-abundant Susquehanna shad.”

Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake, Jack Brubaker

“Captures the charm—and violence—of the Chesapeake Bay’s only indispensable tributary. . . . Doubly welcome, for its own considerable virtues and for filling in so many of the blanks in our knowledge of a river that plays a far larger role in this part of the country than most of us realize. . . . Brubaker’s meticulous and loving description of the river should do much to heighten our appreciation of this secret treasure. . . . University-press publishing at its absolute best.” —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

The Monongahela: River of Dreams, River of Sweat, Arthur Parker

"The Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania, one of three rivers that meet at the Golden Triangle in Pittsburgh, has a rich history associated with the westward expansion of the nation during the colonial era and with the development of America as an industrial power beginning in the nineteenth century."

Twilight of the Hemlocks and Beeches, Tim Palmer

“The noble beech and the mighty hemlock help define the forest I’ve spent my life wandering; that they are now facing ruin is one more sadness in the great sadness settling over the planet. One is enormously grateful to the author for capturing their meaning and beauty; we should do all that we can to keep them healthy.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

 

At Work in Penn's Woods: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Pennsylvania, Joseph M. Speakman

“An excellent study of state history with national themes.” —P. D. Travis, Choice

The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the most popular programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Over the nine years of the program, from 1933 to 1942, over two and one-half million unemployed young men found work on conservation projects across Depression-stricken America. “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” as the CCC men were sometimes called, planted billions of trees, fought forest fires, did historic preservation work, and constructed recreational facilities in state and national parks. At Work in Penn’s Woods offers a rich and compelling portrait of Pennsylvania’s CCC program."

Keystone Books in the Western Libraries

Lair of the Lion : A History of Beaver Stadium , Lee Stout, Harry

“Football is an unmistakable part of the culture of Penn State, though the experience of a Nittany Lions home game—from the crowds and tailgates to the spectacle of the game itself—has changed significantly over the years. This richly illustrated and researched book tells the story of the structure that has evolved along with the university’s celebrated football program: the iconic Beaver Stadium.”

 

Buggy Town : An Era in American Transportation, Charles M.  Snyder.

“Horse and buggy transportation originated in New England and edged westward through Pennsylvania to center later in the Middle West. The buggy was a very light, high-wheeled carriage unique to the United States. This vehicle created a centralized trade concentrated in such towns as Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, identified near and far as "The Buggy Town." This book is an illustrated story of "The Buggy Town," its shops, vehicles, and customs as they reflected an era of transportation in America.”

Holidays : Victorian Women Celebrate in Pennsylvania , Nada Gray.

“Women in rural Pennsylvania played an important role in family celebrations of Christmas and Easter during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book focuses on that role by examining their crafts related to the tree and the egg. Guided by the editors of ladies magazines, they strove for fashionable holiday decorations created from readily available materials.”

Rivers of Pennsylvania, Tim Palmer.

“An introduction to Pennsylvania's usable streams—45,000 miles of them—this book is designed to stimulate interest, enjoyment, and concern. Together with pleasurable reading, information is provided for the active or prospective canoeist, kayaker, boater, or rafter; the hiker or camper; the nature or history buff; the angler or conservationist.”

Other Summers : the Photographs of Horace Engle, Edward Leos ; Foreword by Alan Trachtenberg.

“This rare cache of early photographs, salvaged and printed by the author, reveals an authentic view of life in the late 19th century America with a photographic vision that was fifty years ahead of its time. An unposed, candid record of people and activities in rural areas and towns of Pennsylvania and Virginia in the 1880's, these images have a quality of unstrained honesty and freshness that is in marked contrast to the stilted, formal portraits of the period.”

 A Pennsylvania Album : Picture Postcards, 1900-1930, George Miller.

“The 270 photographs reproduced in this volume constitute a unique view of everyday life in each of Pennsylvania's counties during the period from 1900 until 1930. Taken from picture postcards, each photograph is accompanied by a short, informative caption.”

Seaweeds : A Color-coded, Illustrated Guide to Common Marine Plants of the East Coast of the United States, C. J. Hillson.

“Automobiles, interstate highways, shorter work weeks, longer vacations, and higher salaries have all combined to bring the seashore closer to man. Where once a visit to the shore was only a dream for many, or a once-in-a-lifetime trip for others, the varied oceanic life that has held man's interest for centuries is now just beyond the garage doors of the American family. The same curiosity that stirs the beach combing instincts of coastal dwellers is possessed by inlanders, and now a midwesterner too can do something about that curiosity.”

Sources: 
Penn State University Press

Post Script

    It is interesting that the Penn State University Press is under the auspices of the University Libraries. Here is the full mission statement taken from the Strategic Plan.
1. Mission
"The Pennsylvania State University Press, reporting to the Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, publishes original scholarly, peer-reviewed research (books, journals, and other forms of research) in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for worldwide scholarly   communities. The Press disseminates this research to international libraries, institutions, and scholars at affordable prices and at the highest quality. The Press also serves the citizens of Pennsylvania by publishing on topics related to the history, culture, literature, society, politics, and future of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region."

  It is also interesting that some of the titles are 'unlocked' (i.e. open access).