The University of St. Michael's College (USMC) is a federated university in the University of Toronto, located on its St. George campus. It was founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil and retains its Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate theology faculty. Its largest component however is its secular Faculty of Arts and Science known as St. Michael's College, one of the seven undergraduate colleges in the University of Toronto's larger Faculty of Arts and Science.
St. Michael's is most closely associated with teaching and research in the humanities and in theology. It is also known for being home to Marshall McLuhan throughout his influential career as a philosopher and communication theorist, from 1946 until his death in 1980. Both the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies reside within the university. St. Michael's College School is an affiliated boys school which was once the high school section of the university.
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History
St. Michael's College was founded in 1852 as a Basilian college by Fr. Jean-Mathieu Soulerin and other members of the Congregation of St. Basil originally of Annonay, France. The following year, it merged with St. Mary's Lesser Seminary under the unified control of the Basilian Fathers, whose establishment in Canada began with Bishop Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel. St. Michael's College educated pupils at three levels, operating as a preparatory school, as a liberal arts college, and as a minor seminary. The Basilians received a large estate in 1853 from John Elmsley, son of the Chief Justice of Upper Canada and a prominent philanthropist. St. Michael's College relocated to the new site east of the University of Toronto St. George, and established the college parish, St. Basil's Church. The incorporation of the college was granted Royal Assent in 1855.
In the late 19th century when universities were closed to new Irish immigrants and many Canadians of Irish descent, St. Michael's was seen as the only viable option and thus the school became a traditionally Irish filled college. Ever since this time St. Michael's has been a bastion for higher education and a beacon for the Irish-Canadian community in Toronto and southern Ontario, with others coming from all over the rest of Canada to attend the dominantly Irish school.
By withdrawing its financial support in 1868, the provincial government encouraged denominational colleges to seek closer relations with secular institutions. St. Michael's affiliated with the University of Toronto in 1883, having secured a guarantee that it would conduct its own teaching in philosophy and history. The university senate authorized St. Michael's to administer its own examinations in philosophy. On December 8, 1910, St. Michael's College became a federated college of the University of Toronto. The college maintained autonomy in faculty hiring and teaching in liberal arts subjects, while the University of Toronto governed examinations and the granting of degrees in all subjects except theology. In 1912, Sir Robert Falconer, president of the University of Toronto, recognized the wish of St. Joseph's College and Loretto College to affiliate with the university. St. Joseph's and Loretto both became colleges of St. Michael's College, thereby allowing their female students to receive University of Toronto degrees.
As the 20th century began, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced. With the opening of the Institute of Mediaeval Studies in 1929, St. Michael's expanded further into graduate teaching and research. Ten years later, Pope Pius XII signed a papal charter creating the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
Campus and buildings
The oldest buildings of St. Michael's College were constructed on the original Clover Hill estate donated by John Elmsley, and were designed by noted Scottish architect William Hay. With subsequent land acquisitions in 1890, 1920, 1926 and 1928, the college expanded from Clover Hill westward to reach Queen's Park. The present grounds of the University of St. Michael's College form the eastern end of the University of Toronto's St. George campus, with Victoria University to the north and Regis College to the south. The main St. Michael's quadrangle is in the northwestern section of the university grounds, with its northern side leading into Victoria University.
The cornerstone was laid at Clover Hill on September 16, 1855, for the college building and the college parish of St. Basil's Church, which was consecrated November 16, 1856 with a Pontifical High Mass. This building is the oldest building at the University of Toronto in continuous academic use. A further addition, designed by William Irving, was constructed between 1872 and 1873 to house an auditorium, classrooms and student residence. In 1996, the original building was completely renovated by Carlos Ott Partnership Architects and renamed Odette Hall, and a modern religious art gallery donated by Fr. Daniel Donovan was installed on the two lower floors.
The master plan and Collegiate Gothic complex of buildings at the western side of the college nearest to Queen's Park were built in 1935 and designed by architect Arthur William Holmes in Gothic revival style: the Pontifical Institute, More House, Fisher House, Brennan Hall (1938) and Teefy Hall (1935–1936) and extension of the East Wing, (1902–1903). Brennan Hall in the north-central section of campus contains a dining hall, faculty dining room, common rooms, and guestrooms. The small park between Brennan Hall and St. Basil's Church is known as Scollard Park, named for St. Michael's alumnus Fr. Robert Scollard.
Fisher House and More House both began as residences for men, while classrooms and faculty offices were located in Teefy Hall to the south. The Queen's Park Building to the north was built for the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. A student-faculty centre was built in 1968 as an extension of Brennan Hall.
The Soldier's Memorial Slype connects the university quadrangle with Queen's Park, its sandstone walls etched with the names of St. Michael's College alumni who died in the World Wars and the Korean War.
Academics
The University of St. Michael's College comprises the Regis St. Michael's Faculty of Theology, a Division of Continuing Education, and an undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Science, better known as St. Michael's College. Within the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science, St. Michael's College sponsors the academic programs of book and media studies, Celtic studies, Christianity and Culture, Mediaeval studies and the Concurrent Teacher Religious Education Program. In 1996, the French and German departments of the University of Toronto took up residence on the St. Michael's campus, followed in 2000 by the departments of Italian and Slavic studies.
After a reorganization in 1954, degrees in theology have been through the Faculty of Theology of St. Michael's College. In 1969, the Faculty of Theology became one of the founding members of the Toronto School of Theology, an ecumenical federation of the theological colleges at the University of Toronto. The undergraduate faculty of the University of St. Michael's College joined the undergraduate divisions of six other University of Toronto colleges in 1974 to reorganize its academic departments into the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts and Science. In 2005, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies ceased to be a division of the University of St. Michael's College and was reconstituted as an affiliated institution of USMC instead.
Marshall McLuhan was hired as a member of faculty at St. Michael's College in 1946, and taught English literature at the university until his death in 1980. During this time he became famous and influential for his books The Mechanical Bride (1951), The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), and Understanding Media (1964), in addition to his oft-quoted aphorisms on communications and media such as "the medium is the message".
The John M. Kelly Library is the main library at St. Michael's College, and is part of the University of Toronto's mass digitization partnership with the Internet Archive. Although the library building was opened in 1969, the library collection dates back to the earliest days of the university. The collection has since been developed in support of undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Arts and Science, graduate programs in the Faculty of Theology, and programs of the university's continuing education division. In addition to more than 300,000 bookform volumes, the library maintains subscriptions to almost 500 journals and magazines and has the largest suite of public computers on the east side of the St. George campus.
Governance
Since St. Michael's founding in 1852, the school has retained a strong connection to its Roman Catholic roots, in particular, with the Congregation of St. Basil. The university is primarily governed by three offices- the Chancellor, the President, and the Principal. The Chancellor serves as the ceremonial head of the university, and since the days of the institution's founding, the office has been occupied by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto. Prior to 1954, the office of the President was referred to as the Superior, and was always occupied by one of the Basilian priests from the adjacent St Basil's parish. The position morphed into the current Presidential role once St. Michael's federated into the University of Toronto and re-organized into a university in the 1950s, although several Basilians still held the office following. Today the President heads the administration of the university, and represents its interests in relation to the rest of the University of Toronto and beyond. Founded in 1976, the office of the Principal heads the undergraduate faculty's academics, and retains relations with all the various faculties and departments associated with and located at the university.
Residences and student life
Within the secular environment of the University of Toronto, the Catholic traditions of St. Michael College's are still evident in its college programs, fellows' interests, and student activities. Thus far, the college has largely avoided stirring controversy in its move toward coeducational residences.
Unlike the University of Toronto's other colleges, where most residences are co-ed, the majority of St. Michael's residents reside on single sex floors. However, there are three co-ed residences currently at the college (Historic Houses and Upper Brennan). Female students also have the option to live at the single-sex Loretto College residence; although males are permitted to visit during designated guest hours.
The dons at St. Michael's College are graduate, senior undergraduate and professional faculty students. The college's dining hall, the Canada Room, has recently been expanded and renovated and its hours have been extended.
Within the college, The Dean's Office is responsible for residence operations, residence programming and all aspects of student life at St. Michael's College.
The residences for St. Michael's students are Elmsley Hall Residence (Elmsley First, Mallon House, McBrady House, and Soulerin House), The Queen's Park Residence (Fisher House, More House, and Teefy House), the Historic Houses (McCorkell House, Sullivan House, Gilson House, and Maritain House), Sorbara Hall Residence (Lower Level, Murphy First (unofficial name), Second Floor, Fontbonne House, and Wall House), and Upper Brennan Hall.
Elmsley Hall was renovated in the summer of 2020, included painting and flooring in residence rooms, new furniture and updated common rooms on all floors.
Ice hockey at the college
St. Michael's College formerly participated in the senior ice hockey division of the Ontario Hockey Association, and won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1909 and 1910.
The Toronto St. Michael's Majors in the Ontario Hockey League descended from the college's ice hockey team.
Notable people
Sandhill Burial site
The university site near Bloor and Bay was a Wendat burial area and resting place of Zeegwon, son of Chief William Yellowhead and an Indigenous fighter who served with the British Army during the War of 1812.