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The University of Windsor (U of W or UWindsor) is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students. The University of Windsor has graduated more than 100,000 alumni since its founding.
The University of Windsor has nine faculties, including the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Engineering, Odette School of Business, the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Human Kinetics, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Nursing, and the Faculty of Science. Through its various faculties and independent schools, Windsor's primary research interests focus on automotive, environmental, and social justice research, yet it has increasingly began focusing on health, natural science, and entrepreneurship research.
History
The University dates back to the founding of Assumption College Roman Catholic in Windsor, Ontario in 1857. Assumption College, a primarily theological institution, was founded by the Basilian Fathers of the priestly teaching Congregation of St. Basil, in 1857. The college grew steadily, expanding its curriculum and affiliating with numerous other colleges over the years.
In 1919, Assumption College in Windsor affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Originally, Assumption was one of the largest colleges associated with the University of Western Ontario.
Escalating costs forced Assumption University (a denominational university) to become a public institution in order to qualify for public support.
It was granted university status in 1953.
The War Memorial Hall (more generally known as Memorial Hall) is a landmark building on the campus of the University of Windsor used as classrooms, labs, and offices. Memorial Hall honours alumni who had enlisted and died in the First World War, and in the Second World War. A bronze tablet remembers the alumni of Assumption College who died in the Second World War.
In 1950, Assumption College welcomed its first women students. 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 non-denominational Essex College, led by Frank A. DeMarco, became an affiliate, with responsibility for the Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, as well as the Schools of Business Administration and Nursing. (Essex College's Arms and Badge were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on March 15, 2007.)
In December 1963, Assumption University of Windsor made affiliation agreements with Holy Redeemer College (now Académie Sainte-Cécile), Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario) and the new Iona College (Windsor, Ontario) (affiliated with the United Church of Canada). Canterbury College became the first Anglican college in the world to affiliate with a Roman Catholic University.
In the early 1960s, the City of Windsor’s growth and demands for higher education led to a 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 came into existence through its incorporation under an Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on December 19, 1962. The transition from an historic Roman Catholic university to a non-denominational provincial university was a development that was unprecedented.
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 Alan Beddoe.