McGill University is very close to my heart. I met my wife, Joan, at a McGill social event, and a year later we walked down the aisle – the start of a happy, 63-year marriage. She earned two degrees from McGill and I got my teaching diploma there. Joan passed away in 2018, and as I write this I am 97 years old.
My life would have been quite different had I followed my initial intention of studying dentistry. But money was tight in 1950 for my family of nine, and I didn’t want my parents to have to support me through a lengthy dental school journey. So instead of “doing fillings” I decided to “do something fulfilling,” and jumped into education.
My teaching career progressed quickly, and before long I became a high school principal. One of my early challenges was fights between students from my English school and those from the nearby French one. One day, I visited the other school’s principal and proposed a solution: a student exchange program.
McGill has been there with me since the beginning: from getting an education, to meeting my wife, to helping students realize their dreams.”
Our school placed 20 seventh-grade students in the French school for two weeks, and they sent 20 to us. Instead of fighting, the students embraced each other, and the exchange continued for another 20 years. I often wonder how many of today’s issues between Quebec’s “two solitudes” would persist if there had been an exchange program in every school.
I believe that McGill helped reinforce my core values of inclusiveness, understanding, and cooperation, and gave me the confidence to calmly tackle big problems. Over time, my reputation for being proactive and level-headed caught the eye of influential people in Montreal who needed someone to lead various committees.
First, I was approached to become president of the Montreal Urban Community’s interracial relations committee; I chaired meetings with mayors, councilors and educators from 29 diverse municipalities.
Then I was asked to be chairman of the Montreal Transit Society’s Complaints Committee. I was part of the city’s mass transport experience in its infancy – looking after passengers, solving their problems, and gaining acceptance of public transit by the public.
A few years later, I was asked to chair the Canadian College of Teachers’ 50th Anniversary Conference; I was appointed a Fellow of the Canadian College of Teachers at that event. It just so happened that the dean of McGill’s Centre for Continuing Education was on my conference committee, and he must have appreciated my leadership style, because he asked if I would become the first chairman of a new advisory board to support his faculty.
In that role I learned all about what is now the School of Continuing Studies. I taught English as a Second Language in the School for over 25 years, meeting excellent students who have made a big impact on society. I was also honoured to attend a convocation event, where I hooded the guest speaker in front of 2,000 audience members.
I try to stay positive and say “yes” most of the time. I love the School of Continuing Studies because, like me, they look for ways to say “yes” to the community they support, and work to make McGill’s mission and values tangible and accessible for students from every walk of life.
McGill has been there with me since the beginning: from getting an education, to meeting my wife, to helping students realize their dreams. I am immensely proud of McGill, which is why I am a donor, and have bequeathed an amount in my will to help the University continue its work.
Even though I’m pushing 100 years old, I have never been prouder than I am today to wrap myself in McGill’s colours.