St. Michael's College, Toronto - History

History

St. Michael’s College was founded in 1852 as a Basilian college by Pierre Tourvieille, Superior General of the Congregation of St. Basil 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, 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 XI signed a papal charter creating the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

The preparatory school division of the college was reorganized in 1950 as St. Michael's College School, an independent private school, ending the college's direct governance while maintaining its affiliation. In 1952, the last lectures for women were held at Loretto and St. Joseph's Colleges, which became residential units of the college. Thereafter, all teaching was conducted coeducationally in the classrooms of St. Michael's College. In 1954, an amendment to the 1855 act authorized St. Michael's College to appoint a chancellor and to confer degrees in theology, and in 1958 a new act of the Province of Ontario created the University of St. Michael's College. Doctoral degrees in theology began to be conferred through the Faculty of Theology of the new university. A new act in 2005 separated the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies from the University, establishing it as affiliated institution and leaving the University composed of St Michael's College, the Faculty of Theology, and the Division of Continuing Education. In 1969, the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael's College was one of the founding colleges of the Toronto School of Theology, an ecumenical federation of the theological colleges at the University of Toronto. In 1974, the undergraduate division of St. Michael's, along with the undergraduate divisions of the two other Federated Universities and four other undergraduate colleges, entered a new relationship, agreeing to give up its academic departments to new University of Toronto departments, within the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science. The Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute became affiliated with St. Michael's College in 2001.

Throughout much of its history, St. Michael's benefited from a common practice whereby staff and faculty who were members of religious orders would donate their salaries back to the college. This source of income gradually disappeared as new faculty members were hired with mainly secular backgrounds, compelling the college to seek new revenue. The college's first modern fundraising attempt was launched in 1927, but was only partly successful due to the onset of the Great Depression. The Basilian Fathers of St. Michael's College was registered as a charitable organization in 1972. Subsequent campaigns and land sales allowed the college to gradually increase its endowment, expand its academic programs and construct new residence buildings. In 2002, the college marked the sesquicentennial of its founding with an anniversary mass held in St. Basil's Church.