Transcript for Chapter 3: Where Communities Connect

This is Chapter 3: Where Communities Connect

I’m your host Josie Fomé. I’m a communications professional, journalist and podcaster. I’m also a two-time Concordia grad. Some people jokingly call me the Concordia poster child, since I was very involved in student life during my time at the university. I’m very excited to explore Concordia’s Sir George Williams Campus with you, which has long been a dynamic, urban centre for higher education.

Ready? Let’s begin.

Before we go further, let’s go back to the beginning. Sir George Williams institution grew out of an evening college that was originally run out of Canada’s first YMCA in downtown Montreal. It began granting degrees in 1936 and received its university charter in 1948.

The college was named after the Y’s founder George Williams, a British philanthropist known for founding the world’s largest youth charity.

At the heart of the campus is the Henry F. Hall Building, or Hall Building, named after the Sir George Williams University principal and champion. Hall helped direct the transition of Sir George Williams College into an accredited university.

Opened in 1966 — the same day as the Montreal Metro — the iconic Hall Building has become a hub of student life and learning, where different cultures come together.

Made of prefabricated concrete, the Hall Building is typical of the 1960’s utilitarian, cubic architecture. Most of the floors have undergone extensive renovations over the last decade.

DID YOU KNOW? The ground floor of the Hall Building on De Maisonneuve Boulevard includes four granite picnic tables on the west side of the atrium. Each table honours the memory of an engineering professor — Phoivos Ziogas, Matthew McCartney Douglass, Michael Gorden Hogben and Aaron Jaan Saber – who were tragically killed in 1992. The unconventional memorial offers a place to study, exchange and contemplate.

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Concordia’s Hall Building was also the site of a major Canadian civil-rights struggle. On the ground floor, between the escalators, is a plaque commemorating what was then Canada’s largest student protest against anti-Black racism. The Sir George Williams student protest gained international attention in 1969, after a group of Black students occupied the 9th-floor computer lab in protest of racism.

DID YOU KNOW? In 2022, in response to the President’s Taskforce on Anti-Black Racism, Concordia’s administration issued an apology for the 1969 Sir George Williams student protest that led to the arrest of 97 student protesters. 

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Next, ride the elevator up to the seventh floor — home of the Concordia Student Union, or CSU, which supports more than 130 student clubs.

Founded in 1979 and driven by the values of community, inclusivity and sustainability, the CSU advocates for the university’s undergraduate population of more than 35,000 students.

The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), for its part, represents the collective interests of Concordia’s 10,000-plus graduate students.

Among the student groups housed on the Hall Building’s seventh floor is the People’s Potato. Founded in 1999, the volunteer-run group provides students and community members with free, daily vegetarian meals.

An average of 500 people use the service each term. The People’s Potato also runs an emergency-food basket and collective garden on the Loyola Campus.

The seventh floor is also home to many Concordia student services that provide academic support for our community.

For example, you’ll find the Otsenhákta Student Centre for First Nations, Inuit and Métis students, which was founded in 1992, and the recently-opened NouLa Black Student Centre, which offers services, resources and mentorship to Concordia’s Black student communities.

DID YOU KNOW? The iconic seventh floor Hall Building has changed considerably after major renovations from 2018 to 2019. The site was upgraded to better suit student needs, such as the addition of inclusive washrooms and new, student prayer spaces.

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The 10th floor is home to Concordia’s School of Irish Studies, which offers courses on Ireland’s history, culture and diaspora. The school’s mission is to allow students to study Irish history and culture with a focus on the contributions of the Irish community in Canada. 

DID YOU KNOW? The late, Honourable Brian Mulroney, LLD 05 — Canada’s 18th prime minister, a former member of Concordia’s Board of Governors as well as an honorary degree recipient — was a donor to the School of Irish Studies. In recognition of his family’s Irish-Quebecois heritage, he established a scholarship in his mother’s name.

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Head back down to the Hall Building’s second floor, which is home to Reggie’s Pub and the Hive Café. Both are co-operatives run by Concordia’s Student Union.

Opened in 1977 and named after former Concordia maintenance supervisor Reggie Parry, the pub was renovated and reopened as a sleek new space with a new stage and full kitchen in 2016.

DID YOU KNOW? Reggie’s was named ‘Best in Class Student-Run Lounge’ at the Retail Design Institute’s Store Design Competition in Dallas, Texas, in 2016.

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Next, we head north-west to Concordia’s ER Building on Guy Street, which is home to many critical centres of learning.

The ground floor features services to the community such the Concordia Arts in Health Centre (CAiHC) and the Centre for the Arts in Human Development (CAHD). Both provide services to neurodiverse adults, youth in foster care and other groups in need.

Another fixture of the ER Building is Concordia’s Centre for Research on Aging — or engAGE — a group that aspires to change how society thinks about aging.

This interdisciplinary centre seeks to better understand how society views and manages aging. Its mission is to improve the health and wellness of older individuals through empowerment and creativity.

ER is also home to Concordia’s Next-Generation Cities Institute, which brings together engineering, economics, natural sciences, arts, humanities and social-science researchers to engage in an inclusive and systemic approach to sustainable urban development.

DID YOU KNOW? Concordia’s Volt-Age, Canada’s first electrification research program, is also housed in ER. Its team examines how to build carbon-neutral buildings, advanced energy storage, smart grids and advance the electrification of transportation. Volt-Age is creating solutions for a de-carbonized future.

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Another portion of the ER Building houses the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, dedicated to the multidisciplinary teaching of women’s studies, leading new research and critical thinking on gender, sexuality and race.

DID YOU KNOW? The Simone de Beauvoir Institute has the oldest Women’s Studies program in Canada. Established in 1978, the institute is named for the French philosopher and feminist who died in 1986. De Beauvoir approved of the naming of the Institute and was very interested in its activities late in her life.

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Just south of the Hall Building, the Guy Metro Building — or GM — became home to the Faculty of Commerce in 1979.

Concordia purchased the building in 1997 and has since renovated each floor. The university reclad its exterior in 2011 to improve its energy efficiency and mirror the envelopes of the EV and MB buildings.

The space now houses administrative offices, the Institute for Co-operative Education, Concordia Health Services and the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities.

DID YOU KNOW? The Faculty of Commerce, now called the John Molson School of Business, was once housed in the GM Building. It was the site of the first Women and Work Symposium in 1994.

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Head down Mackay Street, across from the Hall Building, and you’ll find many of Concordia’s annexes which house the Liberal Arts College, the Department of Religions and Cultures, Concordia International, Sustainable Concordia, Queer Concordia and much more.

DID YOU KNOW? Queer Concordia’s offices have operated since the 1970s. Originally the Lesbian and Gay Friends of Concordia, the organization was renamed Concordia Queer Collective in 1992. It offers resources for Concordia’s 2SLGBTQIA+ students and allies.

Head south to Guy and Sainte Catherine streets and you’ll find the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex — or EV for short — one of Concordia’s most recognizable buildings and home to the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, as well as the Faculty of Fine Arts.

DID YOU KNOW? In 1989, Gina Cody was the first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in building engineering. In recognition of her transformative support, Concordia renamed its engineering and computer science faculty in her honour in 2018.

Gina Cody now serves as Concordia chancellor. The Gina Cody School blends traditional engineering with forward-thinking programs, such as sustainability and cybersecurity. It is committed to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion. This vision is supported by tangible actions, including mentorships, scholarships, hiring and promotions.

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That’s the end of Chapter 3: Where Communities Connect. It’s been really fun to revisit my old stomping grounds with you. I hope you enjoyed exploring some of Sir George Williams’ academic pillars and centres of student life.