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Wilfrid Laurier University
On September 23, 2011, the Ontario Heritage Trust and Wilfrid Laurier University unveiled a provincial plaque at the Wilfrid Laurier University campus in Waterloo, Ontario, to commemorate Wilfrid Laurier University.
The bilingual plaque reads as follows:
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY
- Founded in 1911 as the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada, and situated on land donated by the Board of Trade of Waterloo, this institution was originally established to train homegrown Lutheran pastors. It was expanded in 1914 with the creation of Waterloo College School, which included faculties for pre-theological education. In 1924, Waterloo College of Arts was established and the following year it became affiliated with the University of Western Ontario, thus offering its students the opportunity to attain arts degrees. This affiliation ended in 1960 when Waterloo College obtained degree-granting powers of its own and was renamed Waterloo Lutheran University. On November 1, 1973, it became a secular, provincially assisted university under the name Wilfrid Laurier University. In the ensuing decades, the university has grown to include multiple campuses and a diverse, international student body. Waterloo Lutheran Seminary remains an affiliate of the non-denominational university.
L’UNIVERSITÉ WILFRID LAURIER
- Fondé en 1911 en tant que Séminaire luthérien évangélique du Canada et situé sur un terrain gracieusement cédé par la chambre de commerce de Waterloo, cet établissement a pour fonction initiale de former les pasteurs luthériens de la région. Il est agrandi en 1914 avec la création du Waterloo College School, qui comprend des facultés d’éducation pré-théologique. Le Waterloo College of Arts est fondé en 1924, puis affilié l’année suivante à l’Université Western Ontario, offrant ainsi l’occasion à ses étudiants d’obtenir des diplômes d’art. L’affiliation cesse en 1960, lorsque le Waterloo College obtient le droit de conférer des grades universitaires et est renommé Waterloo Lutheran University. Le 1er novembre 1973, l’établissement devient une université non confessionnelle financée par les fonds publics sous le nom d’Université Wilfrid Laurier. Durant les décennies suivantes, l’université se développe sur plusieurs campus et accueille des étudiants étrangers de divers pays. Le Séminaire luthérien de Waterloo est toujours affilié à l’université non confessionnelle.
Historical background
The early years of Ontario’s Lutheran community
The history of Wilfrid Laurier University is characterized by dedication, cooperation, ingenuity and growth. It is through these qualities that this institution, established by a small but determined minority community, developed into one of Ontario’s leading universities. It is a history that is representative of the transformation of Ontario itself — from a collection of largely segregated communities struggling to establish themselves to an integrated whole that is diverse, inclusive and dynamic.
The Lutheran community in 19th-century Ontario can be traced back to the Palatine Germans who left the Rhine Valley in the early 18th century to escape both poverty and repeated invasions by the French. Many of them travelled across the Atlantic and settled on a 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch in New York State known as the German Flats. When land was allotted in Upper Canada to the Loyalists after the American Revolution, Dundas County was granted to members of the Palatine Loyalists who had served in the British forces.1
While loyal to the British Crown, they also remained loyal to their German Lutheran roots. They were, therefore, a religious minority in a province composed of mostly Protestants and Catholics with British roots. Throughout the 19th century, they were joined by an increasing number of German immigrants escaping poverty in Europe. In 1837, 16 Lutheran families settled in Waterloo and established the area's first Lutheran congregation. With a congregation in place, Waterloo became a magnet for Lutherans and the community grew exponentially, becoming the largest denomination in Waterloo by the 1850s.
A seminary is planned
The Lutheran inhabitants, however, were faced with an acute shortage of Lutheran ministers to serve their communities.2 To rectify the situation, they turned to the United States and Germany for ministerial recruits, advertising in newspapers and appealing to Lutheran communities abroad. These efforts, however, were largely unsuccessful. Many of the recruits were poorly trained and had to be relieved of their duties soon after arriving in Ontario; others transferred their loyalties to larger Protestant congregations within the province. Despite recruitment efforts, the shortage of Lutheran ministers persisted. The idea was raised of a Lutheran seminary in Canada that could provide the community with a body of homegrown religious leaders.
The Evangelische Lutherische Synod appointed a special committee in 1879 to report on the matter. By the following year, $1,000 had been collected for the venture. Plans were made to request aid from the governor general of Canada and to petition the German kaiser and royalty for additional financial support. A plan soon developed for the establishment of a college in Berlin (later Kitchener), which could prepare young men for study in Lutheran seminaries abroad.3 That college, however, never materialized and few Canadian Lutheran students received the type and quality of education necessary for the pursuit of formal clerical training.
By the dawn of the 20th century, both the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Canada and the newly formed Synod of Central Canada realized that if the Lutheran religion were to thrive in Canada, it must act immediately to develop an institution for the training of homegrown clergy.4 The two ecclesiastical bodies assembled to discuss the matter in June and July 1910, and agreed to establish a seminary in Toronto. On March 28, 1911, however, the Board of Trade of Waterloo, on behalf of the people of Waterloo, offered two hectares (five acres) of land to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Canada for the purpose of establishing a seminary located in Waterloo County.5 This offer was both lucrative and logical, given that Waterloo County was home to the largest Lutheran community in Ontario. Both the Canada Synod and the Synod of Central Canada agreed to abandon plans for the Toronto seminary and instead locate the proposed seminary in Waterloo.
The foundational years: 1911-1914
On the afternoon of October 30, 1911, after a short service at St. John’s Church in Waterloo, the deed to the land was officially handed over to the Seminary Board of Directors by Mayor W.G. Weichel and the President of the Board of Trade, J. Charles Mueller.6 The board members then walked to the corner of Albert and Bricker streets, where a crowd of 1,500 people had gathered outside the large white brick house that was now home to the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada, and celebrated the opening of the institution.7
The following day, the first classes were held. Four students (Nils Willison, C.F. Christensen, H. Rembe and W. Bitzer), two part-time professors (Rev. Robert Durst and Rev. P.C. Wike) and one full-time dean (Rev. O. Lincke) would see the seminary through its first days. Willison would be the institution’s first graduate in the spring of 1914. He would later serve the school as president of the Board of Governors.8
In 1913, "An Act to Incorporate the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada" was passed by the Ontario legislature. It granted full powers to the Board of Governors to establish colleges, schools and seminaries, but fell short of providing it with degree-granting powers.9 Offering primarily preparatory courses for the ministry, a new institution of higher education in Ontario was born. A Women’s Auxiliary was organized in 1913, adding to the otherwise all-male institution. Composed of Lutheran church women who worked in supp of the seminary, they would continue to play an important role in the history and development of higher education in the Waterloo region.
The Waterloo College School years: 1914-1924
As the need to better prepare students for entry into the seminary arose, the Seminary Board established Waterloo College School in 1914. With a curriculum covering four years, it had the status of a high school and acted as a feeder for the seminary.10 In 1915, a new building was opened. Known to the students of the time as “Old Main,” this later became Willison Hall. In addition to classrooms, the building contained accommodation for the students and a dining hall.11
In 1918, Willison was appointed principal of Waterloo College School. Under his leadership, the school experienced phenomenal growth, and plans were initiated to introduce courses that would lead to the completion of a full arts program. The college offered a three-year high school program and a one-year arts course. In 1923, an additional year of arts work was added to the college courses. That same year, Rev. S.W. Hirtle, Rev. H. Schorten, R.J.E. Hirtle and Alex O. Potter were hired as professors.12 Given such rapid growth, it seemed an opportune time to expand again. In April 1924, Willison and Potter proposed a reorganization of the program that would lead to the establishment of a full four-year arts program. After several meetings between the faculty and the Board of Governors, the board approved the plans. On May 30, 1924, a Faculty of Arts was established and Waterloo College came into being.13
The Waterloo College of Arts years: 1924-1959
On September 17, 1924, registration for the Faculty of Arts took place. Dr. Potter was appointed dean and professors were hired to teach courses in philosophy, social sciences, science, mathematics, Latin, Greek, modern languages, English and biblical studies. An extra wing was added to Willison Hall, which doubled its capacity and added laboratories, a gymnasium, a library and a chapel.14 The faculty was thereafter known as Waterloo College, while the high school retained the name Waterloo College School.
In December 1924, a committee was appointed by the Board of Governors to enter into negotiations for affiliation with the University of Western Ontario. After several rounds of discussion and deliberation, Dean W. Sherwood Fox of the University of Western Ontario notified Dr. Potter that the Articles of Affiliation had been approved.15 The relationship offered Waterloo College students the opportunity to attain degrees.
In the years following affiliation, Waterloo College, like many traditional church colleges, concentrated on conferring upon its students a general liberal arts education. Students were, for the most part, drawn to the institution as a step toward the Lutheran ministry. Eventually, new courses were added and departments such as Business and Music became faculties of their own.16 The student body expanded after this, and the lay population of the institution grew. This growth led to a burgeoning student life, but it also strained the school’s resources. In May 1929, it made headlines: due to rising enrolment and rising costs, Waterloo College needed a $150,000 injection of funds or it would cease to exist. The funds were eventually raised, and the college averted its first major crisis.17 It would make headlines again, on a more positive note, when later that year it enrolled its first female student, Louise Kathleen Twietmeyer, who graduated in 1931 with a Bachelor of Arts.
Tough times also brought the students, faculty and community together in a spirit of determination. During the Depression of the 1930s, faculty members would often agree to go months without any pay. Students formed the Boarding Club, providing rooms, food and laundry for minimal fees. Run by the students themselves, they organized and planned all cooking and cleaning duties. The community of Waterloo also assisted, along with church congregations, donating vegetables, fruits, potatoes and other staple items.18
Despite the poverties and hardships of the Great Depression and the Second World War, the size of the institution steadily grew.19 Through successful fundraising and careful fiscal planning, Waterloo College was able to rid itself of debt in the 1940s. This allowed it to prepare for the coming influx of war veterans, who began flooding Ontario’s university campuses in the years after the Second World War. New teaching and administration buildings were erected throughout the 1950s reflecting steady growth in both revenues and student enrolment.20 In another reflection of the times, a non-denominational Board of Governors was organized for the purpose of expanding the science program. It would become known as the Associated Faculties. For two years, Waterloo College provided the Associated Faculties with the facilities needed to run its programs.21
The Waterloo Lutheran University years: 1959-1973
By the late 1950s, Waterloo College was a thriving, self-sufficient institution of higher education. Early in 1959, the Associated Faculties applied to the provincial legislature for a university charter. It was granted, and the University of Waterloo came into being on a nearby campus.22 At the same time, the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada applied for a revision of its charter, which would provide it with degree-granting rights of its own. It was renamed Waterloo Lutheran University, and began operation on July 1, 1960, ending its affiliation with the University of Western Ontario.23
The 1960s would prove to be a fruitful decade for Ontario’s new university. The wave of Canadian youth known collectively as the “baby boomers” made great demands for spaces in Canada’s colleges and universities, which forced university and political leaders to enter into an era of expansion in higher education.24 Indeed, the 1960s witnessed incredible activity for Waterloo Lutheran University. Sixteen major building projects were completed, the student population quadrupled, the Board of Governors was reorganized and affiliation agreements were made with Winnipeg’s Mennonite Brethren College of Arts (the relationship would last for 10 years).25 Campus life was electrified by the spirit of the 1960s. Students formed feminist groups, social activist organizations and new student political associations, infusing the university with the counter-culture spirit of their generation.
By the dawn of the 1970s, Waterloo Lutheran University had emerged as one of Ontario’s leading institutions of higher education. In order to better meet the needs of a growing student body, and to position the institution to face the social and economic realities of the time, Waterloo Lutheran University leaders looked to hand over the university to the province and make it one of Ontario’s publicly assisted universities. The first steps were taken in the spring of 1972, when the executive of the Board of Governors met to discuss the criteria established by the province for the university to receive full government financial support and status.26 While there was some opposition to the proposed changes, in particular to the end of the affiliation with the Lutheran Church,27 by the fall of 1972, virtual consensus had been reached. Plans for a new era, along with a new name for the university, were underway.28 Formal negotiations continued in the spring of 1973, and on June 12, 1973, the name of the new university was announced; Wilfrid Laurier University was the top choice in polls conducted among the public, students and alumni. Not only did it honour the former prime minister, but it also allowed the university to keep the initials W.L.U., which had already become its colloquial name.29 The official status change was marked at the fall convocation on November 1, 1973.30
Wilfrid Laurier University: 1973-present
Since its inception in 1973, Wilfrid Laurier University has been a central component of Ontario’s provincial university network. It has expanded its course offerings, and provides a full range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts and sciences, management, economics, music, music therapy and social work. Waterloo Lutheran Seminary also continues to thrive as an affiliate of the university. To meet the demands of an ever-growing student population, Wilfrid Laurier University opened a campus in Brantford, Ontario in September 1999. The future could see the university expand elsewhere; plans for a Milton, Ontario campus are underway.31
Sports life has also flourished at the university. The "Golden Hawks," whose name can be traced back to 1961, have continually formed some of the most competitive teams in the country. The men’s football program has become one of the premier programs in the nation, winning Vanier Cups in both 1991 and 2005. The women’s varsity hockey program has also become a source of university pride, winning the Ontario championships for the first time in 1999 and for five consecutive years from 2003 to 2008. The women also won a national title in 2005. Indeed, Wilfrid Laurier University has been distinguished for its commitment to fostering personal growth through a balance of academic life and extracurricular activities. Laurier was the first university in Canada to formally recognize volunteer and leadership activities by offering students a co-curricular record, an institutionally recognized chronicle of student engagement and student leadership involvement.32
The history of Wilfrid Laurier University, from its roots as a Lutheran seminary to its most recent expansions, is unique. It belongs to this institution alone and it makes the university what it is today. But its trajectory is familiar to Ontarians. As with the province at large, the university’s development has depended upon fostering community cooperation, creating partnerships, adapting to new circumstances and acting upon vision. As the province’s Lutheran inhabitants recognized a century ago, one of the most important generators of growth is education. One wonders whether the crowd that gathered outside the white brick building on the corner of Albert and Bricker streets on October 30, 1911, could have imagined such a century of growth.
The Ontario Heritage Trust gratefully acknowledges the research of Anthony Di Mascio, PhD, in preparing this paper.
© Ontario Heritage Trust, 2011, 2012
1 John Webster Grant, A Profusion of Spires: Religion in Nineteenth-Century Ontario (Toronto: University of Toronto Press), 1998.
2 Welf H. Heick, “Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s Pre-History.” Wilfrid Laurier University Archives (hereafter WLUA), Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 9.8.4.1.
3 Welf H. Heick, “Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s Pre-History.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 9.8.4.1.
4 “75 Years at Wilfrid Laurier University.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U142, 9.8.4.1.
5 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years: Waterloo Lutheran University. Waterloo: Waterloo Lutheran University Press, 1971.
6 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
7 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
8 Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, “Self-Study of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary,” Volume 1 Report, 1981, p. 11. WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 6.4.
9 “An Act to Incorporate Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada,” Government of Ontario Bill No. 4, 1913. (WLUA, Official University Documents, U142F3).
10 Welf H. Heick, “Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s Pre-History.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 9.8.4.1; and Oscar L. Arnal, Toward an Indigenous Lutheran Ministry in Canada: The Seventy-Five Year Pilgrimage of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (1911-1986). Waterloo: Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, 1988.
11 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
12 “75 Years at Wilfrid Laurier University.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U142, 9.8.4.1; and, Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
13 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
14 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
15 “Agreement of Affiliation between University of Western Ontario and Waterloo College,” March 19, 1925. WLUA, U142 F11; “75 Years at Wilfrid Laurier University.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U142, 9.8.4.1.
16 “75 Years at Wilfrid Laurier University.” WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U142, 9.8.4.1.
17 College Cord 23 May 1929, in Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
18 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
19 Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, “Self-Study of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary,” Volume 1 Report, 1981, p. 12. WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 6.4.
20 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
21 “The Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada and Waterloo College Associate Faculties Agreement for Affiliation,” 21 June 1956. WLUA, U142 F14.
22 “An Act Respecting the University of Waterloo.” Government of Ontario Bill No. Pr13, 1959. WLUA, Official University Documents, U142, F6.
23 “An Act Respecting the Waterloo Lutheran University.” Government of Ontario Bill No. Pr14, 1959. WLUA, Official University Documents, U142, F7; “Resolution of the Board of Governors of the University of Western Ontario to Terminate Affiliation Agreement with Waterloo University College,” 30 June 1960. WLUA, U142, F20; Flory Roy, Recollections of Waterloo Lutheran University, 1960-1973 (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006); Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
24 L.H. Schaus, Dean, Waterloo University College, “The Crowd is Great but the Door is Narrow,” presented at the Conference on higher education at Waterloo University College, August 24, 1960. WLUA, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Fonds, U151, 9.5.
25 Barry Lyon, Erich Schultz, et. al. The First Sixty Years.
26 Waterloo Lutheran University News Release, April 25, 1972. WLUA, News From Waterloo Lutheran University Collection, 021-1972.
27 Opposition came primarily from the Committee for an Independent Waterloo Lutheran University. Committee reports, correspondence and news releases can be found at WLUA, U142, F28. There were also economic and political arguments for maintaining a private university; see “Ontario needs a private university,” The Toronto Star, February 9, 1972.
28 Waterloo Lutheran University News Release, October 3, 1972. WLUA, News from Waterloo Lutheran University Collection, 065-1972; Waterloo Lutheran University News Release, October 16, 1972. WLUA, News From Waterloo Lutheran University Collection, 069-1972.
29 Waterloo Lutheran University News Release, June 12, 1973. WLUA, News from Waterloo Lutheran University Collection, 034-1973.
30 See also, “An Act Respecting Wilfrid Laurier University.” Government of Ontario Bill No. 178, 1973. WLUA, Official University Documents, U142, F10.
31 “Laurier explores opportunity to create a university campus in Milton,” Wilfrid Laurier University News Release, March 31, 2008 and “New MOU supports continued exploration of Milton campus,” Wilfrid Laurier University News Release, January 24, 2011.
32 Wilfrid Laurier University Profile, The Directory of Canadian Universities, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.