• Timeline

• Digital Archives

Student Activities

There were almost two distinct groups of students for the first years following the end of the war: students who had seen action or gave service to the war effort and students who were too young to have been directly involved. This divisive attitude was evident in student initiations. War-weary students separated themselves from the playful and sometimes destructive aspects of freshman initiation rites. As the 1920s progressed, the student body became more cohesive.

Throughout the year, students were engaged in a variety of formal dances, receptions, activities such as the Glee Club, faculty clubs such as the Arts Club, and special student luncheons. Formal dances included the Sophomores’ Reception and Dance, the Junior Prom before Christmas, the Christmas Banquet and Dance, the Med Ball, the Senior Spring Formal, the Under Grad Dance, and the Ag Dance.

Interestingly, participating in the Canadian Officers' Training Corps (COTC) remained a popular activity. Sports figured prominently in the 1920s. An initiative that underlined the importance of campus sports involved students raising funds for a covered ice rink, which was completed in time for the 1927–1928 hockey season.

The University’s debating team competed in regional and national competitions. Visiting Oxford and Cambridge debating teams created headline news on campus.

The Gateway continued to be a widely-read student publication.

Student Council ran into financial difficulties in the early 1920s. The increasing student body made conducting meetings difficult, yet participation and student turnout at meetings was often insufficient to make up a quorum.

Prohibition was still enforced but students, particularly “returning students”, could procure liquor if they had a doctor’s prescription. There were many informal parties and poker games, which, according to Reg Lister, Superintendent of Residences, were often ignored or excused. When Prohibition was lifted in 1923, liquor in the residences increased to the point that drinking problems could not be ignored. The University created regulations regarding liquor in the residences. Using his tremendous common sense, Lister enforced the University’s regulations without sacrificing the friendships and respect of his charges.

The Tuck Shop—a student haunt, where coffee, books, candy, horse race betting, and an odd bottle of whiskey could be found—was begun in 1917 by an ex-Londoner by the name of Bill Smith. Two men, Eyrl and Warren, took over proprietorship of “The Varsity Tuck Shop” in 1919, and then in 1922 and 1924, enlarged it to make room for the growing number of students who embraced the Tuck Shop as the place to be.

Over the years, there were different owners and an expanded menu, but the spirit of the Tuck Shop remained the same—a favourite place to hang out.