The University of Toronto: A History

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

Published to commemorate the University of Toronto’s 175th
anniversary, this is a large, ambitious book that attempts to chronicle
the main developments in all aspects of the institution. The breadth of
material is awesome, and Martin L. Friedland, a distinguished professor
in the Law Faculty, has told his complicated story with extraordinary
clarity, mixed with tact and an effective dry wit.

For myself, with a knowledge of the University as graduate-student and
faculty member (as apolitical as it was possible to be) extending back
over 40 years, I initially found the emphasis on politics and
administration somewhat oppressive, but soon realized that, given the
University’s history, this was inevitable. Throughout its existence U.
of T. has been continually subject to external attempts at interference,
whether ecclesiastical (in its early years) or governmental (more
recently). As a result, Friedland had to chronicle constant bickering
involving faculty, students, alumni, and others. He tells his story
well, but it diverts him to some extent from what ought to be central to
a university.

Nevertheless, the book is absorbing. By no means the least interesting
feature for U. of T. graduates is the way it introduces them to the
careers of people known today primarily from their names on buildings.
Moreover, one encounters a host of details that instruct, amuse, and
often surprise. I for one was fascinated to discover that the practice
of giving governmental support for sheer numbers of students rather than
for their intelligence and dedication first reveals itself in the 1840s;
that nationalists lobbied for Canadian—even Torontonian—appointments
as early as 1887; that the absurd cry of “elitist” (as if a major
university could be anything else) dates back to 1900 or even before;
that the first woman Ph.D. graduated in 1903 (only three years after the
first man) and that 28 out of the first 30 doctorates earned by women
were in the sciences; that a student protester of the 1960s who
advocated the censoring of course reading-lists is now director of a
Centre for Human Rights in Ireland; that a chairman of the board of
governors once went to sleep while conducting his own meeting.

Friedland structures his story as beginning with a triumphant growth
against odds, passing through an uncertain period during times of
student protest and vicious financial cutbacks, and ending with an
upbeat culmination in successful fundraising campaigns and confidence in
the future. Yet it should be stressed that this is not an
“authorized” history in the dubious sense so often understood by the
phrase “authorized biography.” Friedland doesn’t whitewash; as a
specialist in law, he must have enjoyed his simultaneous function as
counsel for the prosecution, counsel for the defence, and even judge.

Individual readers will occasionally wish for different emphases. Thus
I cannot help noticing wryly that my own discipline, “English Language
and Literature,” earns precisely the same number of index entries as
“Sports Hall of Fame (U. of T.).” In addition, as someone interested
in arts, I wonder, despite the euphoria of improved funding and
anticipated expansion, about the absence of any reference to
marks-inflation and the current preparedness (or otherwise) of incoming
high-school graduates in the arts disciplines. Still, Friedland’s is a
splendid achievement, and all should be grateful.

The book is generously illustrated, attractively produced, uncluttered,
and easy to read. (For those who want them, full scholarly notes are
available separately and on the Internet.)