Green College, University of British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Green College is a centre for interdisciplinary scholarship and a community of scholars at the University of British Columbia
founded by Cecil Howard Green
and Ida Green.
The college consists of a residential community of 92 graduate students, postdoctoral researcher
s, visiting scholars and professors, and non-resident affiliated faculty and academic programming. Green College is one of only three graduate residential colleges in Canada, the other two being St. John's College, University of British Columbia
and Massey College
at the University of Toronto. Green College has formal ties with both institutions as well as with Green College, Oxford
, which similarly owes its inception to the generosity of Cecil H. Green.
The College is located at the North end of the UBC
campus, near the Faculty of Law, Museum of Anthropology, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Buchanan complex. Cecil Green Park House is an oceanfront mansion adjoining the College property. Dining together is an integral part of the Green College experience. The college is home to the Green College Dining Society which provides ten meals a week to residents and guests in Graham House's Great Hall.
features two cougars grasping a flagpole above a shield, and includes the college's motto "Ideas and Friendship". It was registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority
on January 15, 1996.
Building on the motto of 'Ideas and Friendship,' the college
"strives to blend quality and prestige on the one hand, and enrichment of the campus on the other, while avoiding elitism or imitation. It is organized to reflect the vision of Dr. Green that it be an intellectual community for the generation of new ideas. It is committed to the belief that new ideas are best fostered by interdisciplinary activities involving graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty. "
Members of the college are selected through a membership committee and are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, interest and commitment to interdisciplinarity, commitment to community involvement and "the need to achieve a diverse community." The college has a reputation for academic excellence and hosts SSHRC Scholars, NSERC Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, Trudeau Foundation Scholars, Vanier Canada Scholars, Fulbright Scholars and Commonwealth Scholars.
, arrived in 1972, more than 180 distinguished scholars have participated in the program. Visiting professors, nominated by a UBC faculty member, are selected by the College's Academic Committee on the basis of academic excellence and appeal to a broad audience. A major goal of the Visiting Professorship program is to enhance the intellectual environment of Green College and to provide opportunities for graduate students and faculty at UBC to interact with outstanding scholars from other institutions.
through the College’s academic programming for the UBC community and beyond. Writer Gary Geddes reflected on his time at Green College as a “highlight of [his] literary career”. Past writers in residence have included: Merilyn Simonds
, Lynn Coady
, Roo Borson
, Wade Compton, Karen Connelly
, Nalo Hopkinson
, Kevin Kerr
, Andrea Spalding, and Patricia Robertson.
The Honourable Mr. Justice Charles Gonthier
(2001),
The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin
(Chief Justice
of Canada) (2002),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci
(2003),
The Honourable Mr. Justice W. Ian Binnie
(2004),
The Honourable Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella (2006),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein
(2007),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Robert Singley (2009).
The College's "stimulating program" earned a Peter Larkin Graduate Program Award from UBC in 1998. In 2008, the College continues to host a wide range of programming and events, with 14 interdisciplinary series in addition to visiting professors, special performances and guests.
Green College is located on the University of British Columbia
's main campus on the northern side of the peninsula, dangling precariously above Tower Beach and Wreck Beach
. Located on Cecil Green Park Road, just off of North West Marine Drive, the college is adjacent to Cecil Green Park House, the Departments of Anthropology and Sociology, the Chan Shun Concert Hall and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
. Green College is located at http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?412 and 49°16′15.53"N 123°15′21.77"W
and is situated in the University Endowment Lands
which are slightly west of the city of Vancouver
.
Green College consists of two heritage buildings: the Coach House and Graham House, both dating to 1935, a series of residential blocks, guest house accommodations, Green Commons, a shared kitchen complex, gardens and a patio. The architectural style reflects the College's west coast location and is integrated with the forested oceanside landscape.
The Coach House is home to a number of lecture series and conferences, while Graham House is the site of resident meals, galas and special events. Both buildings are also available for rental with catering providing by the Green College Dining Society. As of August 2007, Green Commons is home to the university's Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme.
Green College was established in 1993 thanks to a $7 million gift by Cecil H. Green
and Ida Green, which was matched by the Province of British Columbia. This gift provided a home to the Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professorship program, launched by the Greens in 1972.
In 1935, the Grand Campus Washout eroded a deep ravine across the east end of the grounds. After several days of erosion, the Gardener's shed collapsed into the ravine. Afterwards, the gully was filled with debris from a nearby landslide. The shed was not rebuilt. The landslide area can be identified today by the younger trees on the fill area and a sudden decrease in elevation where the fill has compacted.
The following year the campus drainage system was constructed, terminating in a spiral drain at the southwest end of the Cecil Green Park Road parking lot associated with the college. Two more minor erosion events occurred in the summer of 1995 and 1997 when the drainage system overloaded and flooded the parking lot. A berm was constructed to prevent a recurrence of these events. Slope stability and controlling further erosion continues to be a significant issue for all of the north end of campus including the college grounds.
(APEC) meeting was held in Vancouver, with the final gathering at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
. Great controversy arose when politicians instructed RCMP
officers to use force and pepper spray
against non-violent protesters. Green College was located near the Museum of Anthropology, directly adjacent to the official motorcade route to the APEC venue there. Green College resident and Law student Craig Jones was arrested and held for 14 hours when he displayed signs reading simply "Free Speech", "Democracy", and "Human Rights" on College property. Green College residents displayed protest banners from the windows and walls of the College. Green College residents were among those doused by pepper spray by the RCMP. Also, starting six months before the APEC summit, Green College provided event space and logistical support for an "APEC-University Forum", to discuss both sides of issues raised.
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
founded by Cecil Howard Green
Cecil Howard Green
Cecil Howard Green was a British-born American geophysicist who trained at the University of British Columbia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
and Ida Green.
The college consists of a residential community of 92 graduate students, postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral research is scholarly research conducted by a person who has recently completed doctoral studies, normally within the previous five years. It is intended to further deepen expertise in a specialist subject, including acquiring novel skills and methods...
s, visiting scholars and professors, and non-resident affiliated faculty and academic programming. Green College is one of only three graduate residential colleges in Canada, the other two being St. John's College, University of British Columbia
St. John's College, University of British Columbia
St. John's College is one of two residential colleges at the University of British Columbia, the other being Green College. It provides a community for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with an international focus....
and Massey College
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
at the University of Toronto. Green College has formal ties with both institutions as well as with Green College, Oxford
Green College, Oxford
Green College was a graduate college of the University of Oxford in England. It was centred around an architecturally appealing 18th century building: the Radcliffe Observatory, which is modelled after the ancient "Tower of the Winds" in Athens....
, which similarly owes its inception to the generosity of Cecil H. Green.
The College is located at the North end of the UBC
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
campus, near the Faculty of Law, Museum of Anthropology, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Buchanan complex. Cecil Green Park House is an oceanfront mansion adjoining the College property. Dining together is an integral part of the Green College experience. The college is home to the Green College Dining Society which provides ten meals a week to residents and guests in Graham House's Great Hall.
Mandate and Motto
The College's coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
features two cougars grasping a flagpole above a shield, and includes the college's motto "Ideas and Friendship". It was registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority
Canadian Heraldic Authority
The Canadian Heraldic Authority is part of the Canadian honours system under the Queen of Canada, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General. The Authority is responsible for the creation and granting of new coats of arms , flags and badges for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and...
on January 15, 1996.
Building on the motto of 'Ideas and Friendship,' the college
"strives to blend quality and prestige on the one hand, and enrichment of the campus on the other, while avoiding elitism or imitation. It is organized to reflect the vision of Dr. Green that it be an intellectual community for the generation of new ideas. It is committed to the belief that new ideas are best fostered by interdisciplinary activities involving graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty. "
Members of the college are selected through a membership committee and are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, interest and commitment to interdisciplinarity, commitment to community involvement and "the need to achieve a diverse community." The college has a reputation for academic excellence and hosts SSHRC Scholars, NSERC Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, Trudeau Foundation Scholars, Vanier Canada Scholars, Fulbright Scholars and Commonwealth Scholars.
Activities
Cecil H. Ida Green Visiting Professorships
Since the first Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor, Nobel Laureate Gerhard HerzbergGerhard Herzberg
Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg, was a pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals". Herzberg's main work concerned...
, arrived in 1972, more than 180 distinguished scholars have participated in the program. Visiting professors, nominated by a UBC faculty member, are selected by the College's Academic Committee on the basis of academic excellence and appeal to a broad audience. A major goal of the Visiting Professorship program is to enhance the intellectual environment of Green College and to provide opportunities for graduate students and faculty at UBC to interact with outstanding scholars from other institutions.
Academic Lectures and Interdisciplinary Groups
Academic programming highlighting interdisciplinary research and topics is determined each academic year by the College's Academic Committee. Regular programming includes the Green College Principal's Series each Tuesday featuring special guests, the Green College Members' Series each Monday featuring presentations from resident members of the College, and the Green College Writer-in-Residence and Justice-in-Residence series. In the 2008/09 academic year, other interdisciplinary series at the College include: Cosmology, Genomics and Society; Law and Society; Modernism and Its Discontents; Nature, History, and Society; Play Chthonics: Contemporary Canadian Readings; Policy Issues in Postsecondary Education; Post-Colonial Research Cluster; Religion in the 21st Century; and Science and Society.Writers-in-Residence
Since 2000 this programme has welcomed Canadian writers of all genres. The Writer-in-Residence works with the Green College community through consultations and workshops, and coordinates a reading seriesthrough the College’s academic programming for the UBC community and beyond. Writer Gary Geddes reflected on his time at Green College as a “highlight of [his] literary career”. Past writers in residence have included: Merilyn Simonds
Merilyn Simonds
Merilyn Simonds is a Canadian writer.- Biography :Merilyn Simonds spent her childhood in Brazil, and returned to Canada as a teenager, where she was educated at the University of Western Ontario. She subsequently worked as a freelance writer, and was an editor of Harrowsmith.Her most famous book...
, Lynn Coady
Lynn Coady
-Life and career:Coady grew up in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. After high school, she attended Carleton University in Ottawa; after graduating, she moved to New Brunswick, where she worked at odd jobs for several years and began a career as a playwright...
, Roo Borson
Roo Borson
Ruth Elizabeth Borson, who writes under the name Roo Borson is a Canadian poet who lives in Toronto. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia....
, Wade Compton, Karen Connelly
Karen Connelly
Karen Marie Connelly is a Canadian writer and poet who has written extensively about her experiences living in Greece, Thailand and Canada.-Life and work:...
, Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican science fiction and fantasy writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.Hopkinson has...
, Kevin Kerr
Kevin Kerr
Kevin Kerr is a Canadian playwright, actor, director and founding member of Electric Company Theatre. From 2007 to 2010, he was Lee Playwright in Residence at University of Alberta....
, Andrea Spalding, and Patricia Robertson.
Justices-in-Residence
Initiated in 2001, the Justice-in-Residence program brings Justices to the College, where they participate in college life and make formal and informal presentations. Past Justices-in-Residence:The Honourable Mr. Justice Charles Gonthier
Charles Gonthier
Charles Doherty Gonthier, was a Puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Canada from February 1, 1989 to August 1, 2003. He was replaced by Morris Fish.-Early life:...
(2001),
The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin
Beverley McLachlin
Beverley McLachlin, PC is the Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold this position. She also serves as a Deputy of the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:...
(Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of Canada) (2002),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci
Frank Iacobucci
Frank Iacobucci, CC was a Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2004 when he retired from the bench. He is an expert in business and tax law.-Early career:...
(2003),
The Honourable Mr. Justice W. Ian Binnie
Ian Binnie
William Ian Corneil Binnie was a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, serving from 1998 to 2011. Of the justices appointed to the Supreme Court in recent years, he is one of the few to have never sat as a judge prior to his appointment.- Personal life and career as lawyer :Binnie was...
(2004),
The Honourable Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella (2006),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein
Marshall Rothstein
Marshall Rothstein, QC, B.Comm, LLB is a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.-Early life:Born in Winnipeg to Jewish parents who immigrated from Eastern Europe, he received a Bachelor of Commerce in 1962 and an LL.B. in 1966 from the University of Manitoba...
(2007),
The Honourable Mr. Justice Robert Singley (2009).
Social and Community Activities
In addition to formal academic programming, a diverse array of resident groups and committees are active at the college. Associations include: Arts Committee, Environment Committee, Garden Committee, Green College Choir, Outreach Committee, Social Committee, Sports Committee, GreenNoir Cinematheque, FORAGE Community Dining, the Quiddich Club, and French, Spanish and Klingon conversation groups. The resident community produces one publication, the tri-annual Randles' Rants Magazine, which was founded in 2008. In recent years the College has initiated a Graduate Student Mental Health Wellness Program called "Movember," raising more than $2000 to date for the UBC Wellness Centre, has held international women's week events raising awareness and funds for local and international groups, and has put on theatrical performances to raise funds for community health initiatives. A recent proposal concerning expansion of the community garden has generated significant debate. While some residents herald its potential to attract trespassers, cause property damage, and fuel green chat debates, others are concerned that if not run properly, it may offset national carbon emissions, end global hunger, and attract mystical woodland creatures.Adjudication
In 1997, Green College was evaluated as "[surpassing] goals" by an independent review committee. Then-Principal Richard Ericson singled out "the creativity and enthusiasm of the Dining Society", a resident-led non-profit society which runs the meal program, for praise. Over eight months of that year, the College served up almost 200 separate events—two or three a day—including seminar hosted by the college, nine interdisciplinary study groups, lectures by a distinguished visiting professors, artistic performances, or receptions.The College's "stimulating program" earned a Peter Larkin Graduate Program Award from UBC in 1998. In 2008, the College continues to host a wide range of programming and events, with 14 interdisciplinary series in addition to visiting professors, special performances and guests.
Location and Facilities
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
's main campus on the northern side of the peninsula, dangling precariously above Tower Beach and Wreck Beach
Wreck Beach
Wreck Beach is a popular clothing-optional beach located in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which is in turn part of the University Endowment Lands just west of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
. Located on Cecil Green Park Road, just off of North West Marine Drive, the college is adjacent to Cecil Green Park House, the Departments of Anthropology and Sociology, the Chan Shun Concert Hall and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Museum of Anthropology at UBC
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations...
. Green College is located at http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?412 and 49°16′15.53"N 123°15′21.77"W
and is situated in the University Endowment Lands
University Endowment Lands
The University Endowment Lands is an unincorporated area that lies to the west of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada surrounding the University of British Columbia...
which are slightly west of the city of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
Green College consists of two heritage buildings: the Coach House and Graham House, both dating to 1935, a series of residential blocks, guest house accommodations, Green Commons, a shared kitchen complex, gardens and a patio. The architectural style reflects the College's west coast location and is integrated with the forested oceanside landscape.
The Coach House is home to a number of lecture series and conferences, while Graham House is the site of resident meals, galas and special events. Both buildings are also available for rental with catering providing by the Green College Dining Society. As of August 2007, Green Commons is home to the university's Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme.
Organization
The college is a unit of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The head of the college is the College Principal who is responsible to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Management of the college is guided through an Advisory Board consisting of faculty, community leaders, college residents, and representatives from parallel institutions. Academic components of the college are managed through a variety of joint faculty – resident committees.History
Cecil Howard Green
Cecil Howard Green was a British-born American geophysicist who trained at the University of British Columbia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
and Ida Green, which was matched by the Province of British Columbia. This gift provided a home to the Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professorship program, launched by the Greens in 1972.
History Prior to 1993
The facilities of the college campus existed prior to the founding of the college.In 1935, the Grand Campus Washout eroded a deep ravine across the east end of the grounds. After several days of erosion, the Gardener's shed collapsed into the ravine. Afterwards, the gully was filled with debris from a nearby landslide. The shed was not rebuilt. The landslide area can be identified today by the younger trees on the fill area and a sudden decrease in elevation where the fill has compacted.
The following year the campus drainage system was constructed, terminating in a spiral drain at the southwest end of the Cecil Green Park Road parking lot associated with the college. Two more minor erosion events occurred in the summer of 1995 and 1997 when the drainage system overloaded and flooded the parking lot. A berm was constructed to prevent a recurrence of these events. Slope stability and controlling further erosion continues to be a significant issue for all of the north end of campus including the college grounds.
Green College role in APEC meeting, 1997
In November, 1997, the Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region...
(APEC) meeting was held in Vancouver, with the final gathering at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Museum of Anthropology at UBC
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations...
. Great controversy arose when politicians instructed RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
officers to use force and pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
against non-violent protesters. Green College was located near the Museum of Anthropology, directly adjacent to the official motorcade route to the APEC venue there. Green College resident and Law student Craig Jones was arrested and held for 14 hours when he displayed signs reading simply "Free Speech", "Democracy", and "Human Rights" on College property. Green College residents displayed protest banners from the windows and walls of the College. Green College residents were among those doused by pepper spray by the RCMP. Also, starting six months before the APEC summit, Green College provided event space and logistical support for an "APEC-University Forum", to discuss both sides of issues raised.
Housing Contract controversy, 2006
In order to pay for mounting maintenance costs, the college entered into an agreement with UBC Housing and Conferences during the 2005-2006 term for Housing to take over some of the administration of Green College. On 28 July 2006, residents received a new contract with terms that many residents found objectionable, with the order to sign the contract by 1 August 2006. Many residents did not sign the new contract. The deadline was pushed back several times, but eviction notices were given on 28 August to at least twenty-three of the residents.