Wilfrid Laurier University - History

History

The history of Wilfrid Laurier University, a non-denominational university at Waterloo, Ontario dates from 1911, when the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary of Canada opened its doors to students. Waterloo was selected as the location because of the land granted by the citizens and the town administration on the edge of the town, and the fact that Waterloo and Berlin, Ontario (now known as Kitchener) had very large Lutheran populations.

In 1914 the Seminary developed non-theological courses under the name of the Waterloo College School. Waterloo College of Arts became affiliated with Western in 1925.

In 1924 the Waterloo College of Arts was established, offering post-secondary three-year programs.

Laurier's school colours of purple and gold originated in 1927: maroon and gold were the colours of Waterloo College, but to honour the link with the University of Western Ontario, whose colours were purple and white, maroon was discarded in favour of purple.

The Waterloo College Chapel features several stained glass windows including `Light of the world` (1941) and `Christ in the garden` (1940) by Robert McCausland Limited.

The University of Waterloo was originally conceived in 1955 as the Waterloo College Associate Faculties (WCAF), a semi-autonomous entity within Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University).

It became Waterloo Lutheran University in 1959 and Wilfrid Laurier University in 1973.

In 1960, Lutheran church relinquished its sponsorship of the Wilfrid Laurier University. The Lutheran church maintained control of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, which federated with Wilfrid Laurier University.

Waterloo College ended its affiliation with Western and became a university in its own right: Waterloo Lutheran University. Wilfrid Laurier University was established by Wilfrid Laurier University Act 1973, which was amended in 2001. As a church-affiliated institution, Waterloo Lutheran was ineligible for capital funding from the province, and the Lutheran church was in no position to invest heavily in the university. On November 1, 1973, Waterloo Lutheran University dropped its church affiliation and became a public institution, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Laurier opened a second campus, in Brantford, Ontario, in 1999, and in 2006 the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work moved from the Waterloo campus to a campus in downtown Kitchener. The Brantford campus is centred on a number of historic properties in the downtown area which have been restored for university use. They include a former Carnegie library, Brantford's 1880 post office, and 1870 mansion, and a 1950 Odeon Theatre. The Kitchener campus is located in the historic and fully renovated former St. Jerome's high school building.

In October 2008, the University was named one of Waterloo Area's Top Employers and featured in the Waterloo Region Record and Guelph Mercury newspapers.

Waterloo Lutheran Seminary continues to operate in affiliation with the University and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.