Founders' Day
Dates of ceremonies: 1830-1860s, 1942-1969, 1979, 1980
Origins: Instituted by Edwin Jacob, President of King's College (1829-1859), Founders' Day was originally called Encaenia, and it was an acknowledgement and celebration of the individuals who had helped to create the institution.
History: Founder's Day was an annual event between 1830 and the mid-1860s, at which time the ceremony fell out of favour. At a Senate meeting in 1924 UNB President C.C. Jones suggested a future proposal to once again hold a Founders' Day, but the idea was never followed through with. It was finally revived again in 1942 upon recommendation by UNB students. Founders' Day continued to be observed until 1969, when campus strife over the Strax Affair forced the cancellation of the ceremony. Founders' Day was performed again in 1979 in honour of the one-hundredth anniversary of Lord Beaverbrook's birth, and finally in 1980 at the inauguration of the W. Stewart MacNutt Memorial Lecture Series. The ceremony included an address given by a guest speaker, as well as the Quit Rent payment in honour of the first land grant to the university.
Source(s):
- Montague, Susan. A Pictorial History of the University of New Brunswick. Fredericton: University of New Brunswick, 1992, p. 159.
- Senate Minutes (UA RG 40), Book 4 (1904-1927), p. 562.
- UNB Scrapbook (UA RG 100), February 1946.
- UNB Scrapbook (UA RG 100), 19 February 1957.
- [The Celebration of Founders' Day]
- UA Case 128; Section 2; File 1.
© UNB Archives & Special Collections, 2012