“The Seneca graduate will make an informed and perceptive citizen, well-fitted to give much of himself to others and to derive much from life’s experiences.”

-DR. WILLIAM T. NEWNHAM, SENECA’S FOUNDING PRESIDENT, 1967

“THIS IS SENECA…”

In 1965, then Ontario Education Minister William G. Davis rose in the Legislature to introduce the bill that established the college system in Ontario.

Bill 153, The Act to Amend the Department of Education, changed the landscape of postsecondary education in the province, providing high school graduates an alternative to university. The timing of this legislation was critical. Demands for education was high, thanks to the coming of age of the first batch of baby boomers (secondary school enrolment in Ontario had more than tripled, from 123,800 to 395,000), and advances in technology were changing the workplace, requiring a more skilled labour force.

For the first time since the industrial revolution, good jobs meant having to complete more than high school.

Two years later, 19 community colleges, large and small, were welcoming students province-wide to pursue their academic and career aspirations in an applied, skills-focused environment. The schools were strategically placed throughout Ontario to offer a local, more affordable educational option for all.

The vision for these schools differed from the community college model found in the United States. Minister Davis and his colleagues aspired to create a unique system of colleges of applied arts and technology in Ontario, allowing students to specialize in a given field, but also providing broader academic foundations in arts and liberal studies.

History has shown us that our future Premier’s vision for postsecondary education was groundbreaking, changing Ontario’s educational and economic landscape with hundreds of career options that have strengthened the province’s prosperity and helped to build a strong, sustainable middle class.

As the college system celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017, Ontario is home to 24 publicly funded colleges of applied arts and technology, five of which (including Seneca) are designated as Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. And since 1966, when Centennial College opened its doors, two million people have graduated from Ontario’s colleges.

Leading from Day 1

Seneca’s first students arrived on September 6, 1967 at a remodelled, one-storey manufacturing factory on Sheppard Avenue at Yonge Street. In the first year, 1,852 full- and part-time students from the boroughs of North York and York County would choose Seneca for programs in fashion, early childhood education, business and technology, among others.

But the Seneca story doesn’t start there. Rewind to December 21, 1966. That day, Dr. William T. Newnham, a Second World War veteran and well-respected North York high school teacher and administrator, took a phone call that would change his life and those of countless others for years to come.

That call invited Dr. Newnham to meet with representatives from Seneca’s newly formed Board of Governors and apply for the position as Seneca’s first president. After submitting a meticulously written application (seven drafts), he was invited to meet with the Board, chaired by Dr. Fred Minkler, and offered the job … and an empty box. What Dr. Minkler said to his new president has become the stuff of Seneca legend:

“This is Seneca,” said Dr. Minkler, referencing the box. “Take it, find a building, renovate it, develop courses and an administration, hire teachers and enrol students. And we want it to be the finest in Canada.”

Dr. Newnham was up to the task. He replied, “You’ll get the best college in Canada,” and went about shaping the vision and team to make Seneca a reality.

The early years were marked with the challenges of hiring faculty and staff, developing programs, planning capital builds and establishing an identity. Seneca would welcome students at all kinds of random places—office buildings, churches, factories, high schools and strip malls.

And while the locations may have been hodgepodge, the vision wasn’t. That was thanks to Dr. Newnham and his focus on Seneca’s primary concern: its students. He knew that the programs, infrastructure and industry ties would develop in time. But the philosophy for Seneca had to be in the right place immediately.

“What has Seneca to give to its students?” Dr. Newnham wrote. “It has nothing to give because education cannot be received as a gift or purchased as an article. But it has much to offer, namely invaluable and unusual opportunity in a variety of areas.”

Dr. Newnham’s aspirations for Seneca and its students aligned with the foundational concept for Ontario’s college system. The education offered would be more than a set of skills or vocational competencies. At its best, it would prepare citizens to be active in their communities, able to contribute to Ontario’s prosperity, finding personal fulfilment in their careers and building brighter futures for themselves and their families.

Fast forward 50 years: same mission, new challenges

Dr. Newnham remains Seneca’s longest-serving president, his tenure lasting from 1967 until his retirement in 1984. He died in 2014 at the age of 91, appropriately lauded as a visionary in postsecondary education and as one of the pioneers of Ontario’s college system. He has been succeeded by four presidents Roy McCutcheon (1984-1991), Steve Quinlan (1991-2001), Dr. Rick Miner (2001-2009) and current President David Agnew, whose third term was recently announced by the Board of Governors, continuing his service until June 2023.