Flashback

Patricia Madigan’s Campus Snapshots

I have very fond memories of the three years that I spent at York University. Most of my friends went to older, well-established universities, but I opted to attend York for several reasons. Back in 1967, it was almost brand-new, fairly small and close to home, and felt like a breath of fresh air. It didn’t hurt that I was a bit rebellious in those days too! Situated in a farmer’s field, York had limited solutions to housing, so most of us stayed in residence, which I loved. First-year students had to live with a roommate. Mine was a girl from the nation’s capital, and since I was from small-town Ontario, she often liked to tease me. Her name was Dinah Hoyle, and while we were very different people, we got along well. At that time, there were only three residences – Founders, Winters, and Vanier, where we lived. The fourth residence was under construction in the winter of 1968. Our room was on the 12th floor and faced north. One morning in March, Dinah looked out the window and said, “Come and look! McLaughlin Tower is on fire!” Sure enough. I am not exactly sure what the cause of the fire was, but it did set the construction back a few months.  ■

McLaughlin construction aflame