The Great Trek: Students March for a Permanent Campus

The university held its first classes here at the new Point Grey campus on September 22, 1925. But the real story of how we got here is about a massive student campaign, something we now call the Great Trek.

Back in 1913, the Legislature approved funds to clear this 175-acre site, and work even started on the Science Building the next summer. But the First World War began, and with resources diverted, construction stopped. For almost a decade, the bare girders of that Science Building stood as a monument to an unrealized vision.

Everyone thought using the shacks at Fairview, near what's now Vancouver General Hospital, was just a temporary measure. But the provincial government, with a depleted treasury, didn't make the university a high priority. UBC spent its first decade at Fairview, and things were pretty crowded. Enrollment jumped 211 percent between 1916 and 1922, going from 378 to 1,178 students, while building capacity only grew by 25 percent.

They used wards of a small, three-floor former hospital building for classrooms, and the rest, like the Auditorium and offices, were in old army shacks. Professors held agriculture classes in a private residence, French classes in a church basement, and chemistry classes in a famous chemistry tent. They often had to repeat lectures because there wasn't enough space, and neither students nor faculty had proper labs. The Auditorium only held 650 people.

By the spring of 1922, students started organizing. Albert “Ab” Richards, a returned war veteran and AMS president-elect, led the "Build the University" campaign. Students took petitions home that summer, aiming for 25 signatures each. The petition asked the government for a "definite and progressive policy" and "immediate action" to build permanent buildings here at Point Grey. The Publicity Campaign Committee also worked in Vancouver, meeting with service clubs and business leaders.

Students came back in the fall with 17,000 signatures, but leaders felt they needed more. During Varsity Week, from October 22-28, students went door-to-door in Vancouver, with each class covering specific sections. A special _Ubyssey_ edition gave them facts and figures. After that organized blitz, they had collected 56,000 signatures. They also got support from service agencies and other organizations, and during Varsity Week, many store windows had displays and posters. Newspapers covered the campaign too, as students set up their own news service. President Klinck noted that no effort by authorities had ever gotten as much public attention as this student campaign.