15
Sunshine lit the stone façade of stately DillonHall on July 1, 1963.
As its rays dappled the campus, a handful of students walked its
quiet, tree-lined pathways.
I
n fact, the historic day that marked the
birth of the University of Windsor had
few witnesses, as the school offered no
summer classes at that time.
Janis (Marcotte) Cascadden BA ’66
remembers it well. She posed with a small
group of students for a commemorative
photo that day in the student centre.
“They gathered some of us who were
lucky enough to work part-time on campus
for a photo with a cake to celebrate,” says
Cascadden, who was employed at both the
University’s switchboard and the Registrar’s
Office while at school.
That snapshot of seven snappily dressed
men and women has become the face of the
University of Windsor’s 50th anniversary
festivities: bouffant and crewcut hair, plaid
and pearls—a reflection of a simpler time
when what was once a small, Catholic boys’
school stood on the cusp of great change.
On December 19, 1962, the University
of Windsor was incorporated by the
Ontario Legislature, accepting Assumption
University in Federation.
Six months
later, as June 1963 drew to a close,
campus posters announced the coming
name change to complete the official
transformation into a non-denominational
public institution.
CELEBRATES!
UWINDSOR
YEARS
FIFTY
CELEBRATING
BY JENNIFER AMMOSCATO
BComm ’85
Janice (Marcotte) Cascadden BA ’66 is pictured above, positioned to the right of the “candle.”
