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This is
VIEW
magazine’s second of two editions that observes
50 years of University of Windsor excellence.
A
t her 1963 graduation, Dorit Girash BSc ’63, MSc ’72
stood on the cusp of a whole new world as the University
of Windsor Biology Department’s first female graduate student.
Fifty years later in October 2013, Girash stood once again
on the University’s convocation stage and peered out at 800
of her alma mater’s newest graduates—a sea of faces that
represented the University’s next half century of achievement.
“I caught the eye of some students and I felt that I really
connected with them,” she says. “One girl and I even gave each
other a thumbs-up!”
Girash and 20 members of the Class of ’63 proudly
took part in the University of Windsor’s 100th convocation
ceremony last fall, and were recognized as part of its first
graduating class.
Only 200 students crossed the stage with Girash five
decades ago. Of course, the entire student population at the
time numbered just 1,400, a mere 500 of which were women.
Today, the University’s student population has grown to more
than 16,000 with 8,500 of them women.
Girash says that, “The fact there were so many women
and women of colour, made me think to myself, ‘Well,
that’s progress.’”
Trevor Collier BA ’63, who had a young family and
worked on campus to put himself through school in 1963,
says he returned to Windsor to meet up with fellow alumni
friends. Collier, who went on to work in advertising at Procter
& Gamble in Toronto following graduation, said that the
smaller class sizes of yesteryear made for a tightly knit campus
community.
Friend and fellow graduate Adrian van den Hoven BA’63
agreed. “I think we had a huge advantage in the sense that our
classes were smaller and so we knew a lot of our professors
personally,” said van den Hoven, who joined the University as a
ACHIEVEMENT
BY LORI LEWIS
Members of the University of Windsor’s graduating class of 1963 stand onstage during
the university’s 100th convocation at the St. Denis Centre, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013.
The class of 1963 was honoured as part of the University of Windsor’s 50th anniversary
celebration. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
YEARS
FIFTY
CELEBRATING
A Golden
