Professor pens history of UNBC

A university is a prime place to learn the art and science of history. A university professor is a prime person to write about history. A history professor is therefore a prime person to write about the history of UNBC, especially if that history professor is part of that history.

On the occasion of UNBC's 25th anniversary, Jonathan Swainger, one of the first faculty members of the upstart school, was commissioned to write Aspiration: A History of the University of Northern B.C. to 2015. He focused on primary documents about the foundation of the northern university, plus an exhaustive set of interviews with the people who were there from the start.

"Subsequent generations of parents had seen their children leave for university and college elsewhere," said Swainger, setting the scene.

"The young people left, did as well as they were going to do, and then they didn't come back."

Despite tough economic conditions in the 1980s, a sustained groundswell of public momentum pushed the politicians of the day to construct the facility. Its primary goal was to retain the region's youth, attract fresh new residents, and use this school as a force that would reshape the culture of northern B.C.

"The core notion was this aspiration, this hope, this expectation that somehow, through the creation of this university we would have this magnet, not only to attract people but also to retain people," Swainger said.

"We've answered the challenge; we've done what we said we were going to do. These students are staying, and better yet we've got students coming from outside of northern British Columbia understanding that this is a very intriguing opportunity."

According to Swainger, the book would not have been possible without the approximately 80 audio and video interviews he conducted, delving into the memories of key figures who forced the dream onto the official government agenda, the people who formed the working plans, plus the staff and the students who were there for the first years of UNBC. The book could contain only so much of the voluminous information but Swainger's research is part of the legacy he leaves in the wake of Aspiration.

"At the completion of the project all of those interviews will be transcribed and accessible for future researchers in the archives," he said.

"I would like master's students and doctoral students to go into those documents and ask their own questions. The interviews are a wealth of information on all the topics I didn't talk about in the book."

The book will be officially launched at a reception on Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Geoffrey R. Weller Library just inside the main entrance of UNBC.

All are welcome to attend.