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Charter Day

The first Session of the Legislative Assembly of the newly created Province of Alberta was a busy one. Not only was there a need to confirm the validity of certain laws which were in existence in the days of the Territorial Government, there was a need to pass new legislation befitting the status of one of the newest members of the Canadian federal family.

Typical of most frontier societies, education, especially higher education, was seen as a priority and a mark of the maturity and sophistication of the new province. Therefore, in presenting the government's legislative agenda to the assembled members, the Lieutenant Governor declared that "...a Bill making provisions for the establishment at such time as the growth of the Province warrants of a Provincial University…" would be submitted to them. Such legislation would allow the government to incorporate a university for the Province of Alberta to meet the needs of its citizens for higher education. Perhaps sensing that the province had grown sufficiently to warrant such a university, the Legislative Assembly approved the measure, similar to one previously passed by the North-West Territories Assembly in 1903. On May 9, 1906 the Act to Establish and Incorporate a University for the Province of Alberta received Royal Assent.

As might have been expected, the next several months were spent planning for and developing the foundation for a great university. A site had to be selected, staff hired, a curriculum developed, and processes established. While the 1906 Act set up the Office of Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Senate, and Convocation, it required an amendment to the Act in 1907 to create the Office of President.

By 1908, the University had established a Senate and a Convocation of Graduates from Canadian and British universities resident in the province. It had selected a building site and hired a president and senior academic staff. The first meeting of the Senate, held at the end of March 1908, established an Executive Committee to manage the affairs of the University between the meetings of the whole Senate. Similarly, a council of faculty was established. Much had been accomplished in such a short time.

Yet in spite of a controversy over the selection of Strathcona rather than Calgary for its site, the University was very conscious of the importance of its origins. At the fifteenth meeting of the Faculty, on January 18, 1909, Professor William Hardy Alexander moved, and Professor E.K. Broadus seconded, a motion that " … the Faculty recommend to the Senate of the University the setting aside of May 9 as an annual holiday to be known as Charter Day or Foundation Day and to be commemorated with appropriate public exercises… " The motion was carried.

The motion was reviewed by the Executive Committee of the Senate, which, at the forth meeting of the full Senate on June 10, 1909, recommended that May 9 each year be adopted as "Charter Day". The motion was carried. The Senate left the choice of fitting celebrations to the faculty. Charter Day has been designated ever since in the University Calendar.

Thus, it is only fitting on this, the 100th Anniversary of the signing into law of the first University Act, that the University of Alberta celebrate Charter Day. And what better way to show its rededication to the traditions of this great institution and in memory of the foresight of its founders than by the production of this facsimile of the original Act and the minutes of the Faculty and the Senate.

Bryan Corbett, BA (Hons), MA, CSP
University Archivist