the journal
Queen’s University
Vol. 144, Issue 9
F r i day , O c t o b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 6
since
1873
HOMECOMING
Football at the centre of an evolving tradition
A 90-year history of Queen’s Homecoming games Spencer Belyea Staff Writer
PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN
A first-year Queen’s engineering student holds a photo of his previous home in Zamalka, Syria.
A journey from a war-torn home Story on page 5
Queen’s receives $31.7-million investment towards Innovation and Wellness Centre Government of Canada donation will support two capital projects on campus Blake Canning Assistant News Editor As the first member of Queen’s administration stepped up to the podium on Tuesday, a hush fell over the crowd of attendees that had been invited to hear the latest funding announcement from Queen’s.
In attendance at the announcement, which took place in the atrium of Beamish-Munro Hall, were Principal Daniel Woolf, MP Mark Gerretsen and MPP Sophie Kiwala. In the wake of several substantial monetary announcements since Sept. 1, the high-profile individuals announced that Queen’s received a $31.7-million investment from the Canadian government, to support two major capital projects — a new Innovation and Wellness Centre and revitalized research facilities. Interior construction on the proposed Wellness Centre began
at the site of the existing Physical Education Centre (PEC) at the beginning of September and is expected to be completed by spring of 2018. The decision was made to move forward with the Wellness Centre — which was part of a set of mental health recommendations made in 2012 — as well as the revitalization of Queen’s research facilities during a July 14 meeting of the Queen’s Board of Trustees. However, with a total cost of approximately $119 million, the two projects relied on securing the proper funding and capital to move forward. The first of the two projects,
the Wellness Centre, will include portions of the faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, exam accommodation spaces, Athletics and Recreation and a replacement of the existing wellness clinic currently in the LaSalle building. The wellness services included will be focused on delivering aid across the spectrum of wellness services including health, counselling, sexual assault and mental health-related services. Aside from the funding and artist renderings of the building, no further details were given during the announcement of how space
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
See LaSalle on page 4
This year’s Homecoming will look and feel very different from the first edition of the vaunted Queen’s tradition, held 90 years ago in 1926. The size of the school, the number of people in attendance and the schedule of events will be many degrees away from the first alumni reunion. But one thing hasn’t changed. Even after 90 years the Saturday afternoon football game is still the centrepiece of Homecoming weekend. According to Queen’s historian Duncan McDowall, Homecoming was started as a meeting to bring alumni back together. As students started moving further afield after they graduated, there was a desire to reconnect with their school and peers, and a weekend modelled after what American schools had already put in place was conceived. It was a busy weekend, with banquets and year gatherings, but McDowall unequivocally stated that the football game became the “pinnacle” of the weekend, an intense spectacle full of tradition and pride. It was in the early years of Homecoming that the much-loved and now-altered alumni parade started, and other aspects of Queen’s lore, such as the grease pole, emerged out of the pageantry of the weekend. 1955 provided one of the great moments in Homecoming history when a long-suffering Queen’s team found instant success with the mysterious arrival of a talented See Tracing on page 10
Opinions
Loss of halftime parade distances alumni page 7
News
Arts
Lifestyle
page 2
page 9
page 13
Clown sighting in University district causes online concern Online:
queensjournal.ca
@queensjournal
Creative Expressions bridges the art world and the classroom facebook.com/queensjournal
A outfit lookbook for upcoming Homecoming celebrations
instagram.com/queensjournal
qjlongform.com
Postscript
A 36-hour, father-daughter roadtrip across the Canadian landscape page 15