Introduction

THE GENESIS OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE OF THE SCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

BRITISH COLUMBIA CAN BE TRACED BACK TO 2008, WHEN A HANDFUL OF FACULTY AND STAFF BEGAN TO MAKE PLANS TO WELCOME THE SCHOOL’S FIRST GRADUATES TO A 60TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION IN THE SPRING OF

2009. ALTHOUGH A PROJECT OF THIS NATURE HAD BEEN DISCUSSED BEFORE, IT HAD BECOME APPARENT THAT IF MEANINGFUL DETAILS AND ANECDOTES FROM FORMER FACULTY AND STUDENTS WERE TO BE CAPTURED FOR

POSTERITY, THE TASK WOULD NOT ONLY BE A MAJOR UNDERTAKING, BUT ALSO A RACE AGAINST TIME.

UBC’s first gymnasium opened in 1929. It served as the headquarters of the Department of Physical Education from 1946 until the completion of War Memorial Gym in 1951, and later as the “Women’s Gymnasium” until it was dismantled in 1970 to make way for expansion of the Buchanan Building.

And while the coincidence is more one of happenstance than design, the publication of this book appropriately concurs with the 70th anniversary of the school’s inauguration. Anniversaries and milestones aside, its long awaited appearance at this particular juncture can be attributed to three primary factors noted by a small editorial group that began meeting for the purpose of this project in the fall of 2010.

The first was a desire to recognize the duration and extent to which the school and its people have contributed to the study and science of human movement; to the development of physical education teacher training in British Columbia, and to an increasingly wide and integrated spectrum of learning and research that has figured prominently in the social and cultural evolution of Canada. On each of these scores, the School of Kinesiology (formerly the School of Physical Education, and later, the School of Human Kinetics) has played a stronger role in shaping the social and cultural destiny of region, province and nation than is generally known.

The second factor was the aforementioned inference that much of the school’s history remains oral, and hence fleeting in nature. Although written accounts have shed sufficient light on the administrative origins and evolution of physical education at UBC, there is precious little in print that has made any attempt to portray the human experiences of some three generations of students, both during and after their time on Point Grey. Moreover, there is nothing that substantially points to the contributions of the school’s graduates, teachers and researchers to their communities, to the well-being of future generations, or toward the advancement of the civil and sustainable society that is at the heart of the university’s modern vision. Thankfully, many of the school’s pioneers remain alive and well today, and eagerly provided reliable first-hand accounts of the earliest days.

The final rationale for producing a publication of this nature is an overdue need to provide the school’s alumni with a means to retrace important footsteps; to be reminded of friendly places, faces and names; to rekindle a sense of pride in their university; and to be transported—if only in mind—to a time of important memories and transitional influences.

The need for brevity in painting such a vast portrait requires the broadest of brush strokes, even for a publication that makes no attempt at a scholarly treatise of history. While every effort has been made to capture accurately as many details as possible concerning events, circumstances and people, there will be gaps that are as regrettable as they are inevitable. In order to minimize omissions, a great many people were consulted and asked to contribute to this publication by way of

Professor Doug Whittle and members of the first-ever Physical Education graduating class listen to the reading of a congratulatory telegram from the National Council of Physical Fitness on May 13, 1949.

anecdotes, facts, guidance and photographs. To attempt to list them all would be to tempt fate, however, they must again be reassured that their time and input are greatly appreciated.

At the same time, there are those who must be acknowledged in name, beginning with the school’s previous director, Dr. Bob Sparks, who expressed back in 2008 his belief that no further time should be lost in recording the stories of people who ushered the school from its primary origins as a training ground for physical education teachers and coaches to the comprehensive hub of interdisciplinary learning and research that exists today. Critical support was also provided at the time by senior associate director, Dr. David Sanderson and alumni relations coordinator, Lindsey Smith. Those who generously lent valuable insight include Professor Patricia Vertinsky, former faculty members May Brown, Jack Kelso, Nestor Korchinsky, Dick Mosher, Jack and Marilyn Pomfret, Ted Rhodes, Bim Schrodt and Jack Taunton; former directors Peter Crocker, Bob Morford and Bob Schutz; and a great many alumni, including Hugh Marshall of the Class of 1950, whose energy for preserving memories and unity among classmates truly served to inspire the completion of this work.

Finally it must be noted that what follows is so much not intended to be a chronological depiction of academic history, as it is intended to be a simple tribute to the thousands of men and women who shaped the UBC School of Kinesiology through their participation in over six decades of learning, teaching and research. When all has been said, they are the school—and the school is them.