The story
Founding era
The university dates to the founding of the Roman Catholic Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario, in 1857. Assumption College, a primarily theological institution, was founded by the Society of Jesuits in 1857. The Basilian Fathers assumed control of the college in 1870. The college grew steadily, expanding its curriculum and affiliating with several other colleges over the years.
In 1919, Assumption College affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. This affiliation expanded the curriculum at Assumption, including new general and honours programs for Bachelor of Arts degrees, graduate courses in philosophy, and pre-professional programs in engineering, medicine, and law.
The school became co-educational in 1934 when it formed and admitted women to attend Holy Names College. In 1937, the first class of women graduated from Assumption College, receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees.
Escalating costs forced Assumption College, a Roman Catholic university, to become a public institution to qualify for public support. In 1953, through an Act of the Ontario Legislature, Assumption College received its own university powers, and ended its affiliation with the University of Western Ontario.
In 1956, the institution's name was changed to Assumption University of Windsor, by an Act of the Ontario Legislature, with Reverend Eugene Carlisle LeBel, C.S.B. named as its first President. The recently created Essex College, an independent non-denominational college led by Frank A. DeMarco, became an affiliate, with responsibility for the Faculty of Applied Science; the Schools of Business Administration and Nursing; and the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Geography, and Mathematics and Physics.
Mid-twentieth century
In the early 1960s, the city of Windsor's growth and demands for higher education led to further restructuring. A petition was made to the province of Ontario for the creation of a non-denominational University of Windsor by the board of governors and regents of Assumption University and the board of directors of Essex College. The University of Windsor was established as an institution by the University of Windsor Act on December 19, 1962. The transition from an historic Roman Catholic university to a non-denominational provincial university was an unprecedented development.
On July 1, 1963, the entire campus with all of its facilities and faculty became known as the University of Windsor. As a 'federated member', Assumption University remained as an integrated institution, granting degrees only in its Faculty of Theology. Father Eugene Carlisle LeBel from Assumption became the inaugural president of the University of Windsor, and Frank A. DeMarco, who had been holding both positions of Principal, as well as Dean of Applied Science at Essex College, became the inaugural Vice President. The university's coats of arms were designed by heraldic expert Alan Beddoe.
Six months later, Assumption University of Windsor made affiliation agreements with Holy Redeemer College (now Académie Sainte-Cécile), Canterbury College and the new Iona College (affiliated with the United Church of Canada). Canterbury College became the first Anglican college in the world to affiliate with a Roman Catholic University.
Read the full text
In 1964, when President LeBel retired, John Francis Leddy was appointed president of the University of Windsor, and presided over a period of significant growth.
President Leddy, "concerned that the University of Windsor should emerge as soon as possible from the status and reputation of a College to that of a University", set out to review the existing departments. Based on the strengths in the social sciences, economics, political science and psychology, Leddy proposed to the university's board of governors that a law school be established. In September 1968, the Faculty of Law opened with its first class of students.
From 1967 to 1977, Windsor grew from approximately 1,500 to 8,000 full-time students.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, this growth continued. Among the new buildings erected were the Odette Business Building and the CAW Student Centre.
The university partnered with Chrysler in 1996 to establish the Automotive Research and Development Centre, a research lab that focuses on automotive research and education.
Twenty-first century
Enrolment reached record heights in 2003 with 16,000 students registered, a 15% increase from the year previous. The increase was driven primarily by first-year students due to the elimination of Grade 13 in Ontario that year. The university developed a number of partnerships with businesses and industry, such as a partnership in 2013 with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, that introduced internships for students and research opportunities.
In 2008, a satellite campus of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry opened at the University of Windsor. The partnership between the University of Windsor and the University of Western Ontario followed several years of community and political organizing, and built upon an existing partnership that started in 2002 that sent Western medical students to Windsor for clinical training. The satellite school initially trained undergraduate medical students in the Doctor of Medicine program and has since expanded to offer post-graduate residency programs in family medicine and psychiatry. As of 2023, the program has added almost 100 physicians to the region.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Windsor, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5