The Greatest Place On Earth

The Greatest Place on Earth

By Ruth-Ann MacIntyre

Elizabeth (Addison) McGregor Vic 6T0 calls Victoria College “the greatest place on earth” and has a longstanding relationship with the College as a former student, alumna and annual donor. She is also the great niece of Margaret Eleanor Theodora Addison. (Margaret Addison was the sixth woman to graduate from Victoria College in 1889. She was the first dean of Annesley Hall residence in 1903 and the dean of women at Victoria University from 1920-1931.)

Elizabeth is too young to remember her famous aunt but tells me that all the Addisons had cottages situated next to each other, near Midland, Ontario. Margaret Addison’s cottage, before Elizabeth’s time, often had been filled with international scholarship students, all of whom had a wonderful experience. “My Aunt Margaret was a great source of spiritual and intellectual guidance for international students,” says Elizabeth. “Her sympathetic outreach toward students made it easier for them to meet people at university.”

As the third female Addison to attend Victoria College, Elizabeth shares with me the university connections that she, too, made at Vic. (Her mother, Esther Addison, also attended Vic.)

Driving from her hometown of Timmins, Ontario, to Toronto to attend Victoria College in 1957 was a “wonder” for Elizabeth. She stayed at Addison House on Bloor Street with her roommate, Frances Maine. She and Frances discovered that their mothers had been housemates at Annesley Hall exactly 30 years before. They both moved into the newly built Margaret Addison Hall in 1959 and have been lifelong friends ever since.

Elizabeth had a wonderful social time at Vic and was a member of the Blue and White Committee at the University of Toronto; she was the representative for Victoria College and enjoyed the floats, parades and bands.

She and other students attended Vic Chapel every morning from 9:50 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. “Northrop Frye occasionally led chapel,” says Elizabeth. “It was a great way to begin the day before classes started.”

Elizabeth majored in psychology at Victoria College and then attended the Ontario College of Education (OCE). She taught in Dryden, Ontario, where she met her husband, John McGregor— also a teacher. They later taught English and French in Antigua and Africa. “Acquiring a high standard of education at Vic, and being able to apply it overseas, really felt as though I was ‘giving back’,” says Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s advice to current and incoming Vic students is to take advantage of all the things that are offered at the University and to be open to opportunities to meet people. She attended many guest lectures as a student, which she describes as an enriching experience.

After Elizabeth’s father Peter Addison died, in addition to his annual support for Victoria College, he left a generous bequest to the College’s scholarship fund. Her father’s generosity, and the special connections that Elizabeth made at Vic, inspires her to give annually to the Vic Annual Fund.

“Once you have your education, you have a whole world of opportunities,” says Elizabeth. “It’s a wonderful gift to be able to give—to help support someone who could otherwise not afford an education. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

On behalf of the Office of Alumni Affairs & Advancement, Ruth-Ann MacIntyre expresses her thanks to Elizabeth McGregor and to all of Vic’s annual donors for their generosity and commitment to students. Your donations support the many things that make Victoria College so special, particularly being a warm, welcoming and inspiring community where special connections are made.

Where There’s A Will . . . Planning Your Legacy

Whether it is recognizing the impact of your education on your life and career, expressing gratitude for your experiences inside and outside the classroom, or paying forward the help you received in the form of a bursary or scholarship, there are many reasons for choosing to remember Victoria University in your estate plan.

Charitable bequests and other forms of planned gifts can help you plan your legacy, while providing financial and other benefits. Planned gifts provide support for scholarships and bursaries, academic and co-curricular programs.

For information on gift and estate planning and the five steps you can take to plan your legacy, to receive a free estate planning primer and workbook; or to inform the University that you have made a provision for Victoria or Emmanuel in your estate plan and enrol in the Heritage Society, please contact Sharon Gregory, Associate Director, Gift Planning, at 416-813-4050, or sharon.gregory@utoronto.ca.

If you are considering a bequest in your Will to Victoria or Emmanuel, here is suggested wording:

I give and bequeath to the Board of Regents of Victoria University, Toronto, Ontario, the sum of  $     or  %      of shares of my estate.