Stong College is one of the original colleges at York University. With that comes a plethora of unique history associated to the staff, faculty and students who utilize it. Stong College is affiliated with The Faculty of Health, which includes programs such as Nursing, Kinesiology and Health Sciences.[1]The college offers multiple study spaces, The Orange Snail Restaurant and the Samuel J. Zacks Art Gallery.[2]
Stong College currently offers a variety of student aid programs to help students maximize their time at York University. These programs include peer mentoring, Peer Tutoring, Agents of Changes and the Stong Indigenous Circle.[3]Agents of Change is an experiential education course offered at Stong College. The aim of Agents of Change is to fund student run initiatives that are focused on the Social determinates of health. This gives students the opportunity to engage with the Toronto community and engage with social issues around the city. Agents of Change has funded countless programs that provided students the tools they needed to get involved with and invoke change within their community.[4]The indigenous Circle housed at Stong College advocates for indigenous peoples within York University. Their priority is to advocate for the health and wellness of indigenous peoples within York and engage with the indigenous heritage of Toronto.[5]Stong College currently provides a wellness lounge for students. The wellness lounge offers a place for students to relax and provides them with information about any questions they may have about health and wellness. The space is staffed and operated by York’s nursing students which provides them with practical experiences in their field of study.[6]
Stong College currently offers a variety of student aid programs to help students maximize their time at York University. These programs include peer mentoring, Peer Tutoring, Agents of Changes and the Stong Indigenous Circle.[3]Agents of Change is an experiential education course offered at Stong College. The aim of Agents of Change is to fund student run initiatives that are focused on the Social determinates of health. This gives students the opportunity to engage with the Toronto community and engage with social issues around the city. Agents of Change has funded countless programs that provided students the tools they needed to get involved with and invoke change within their community.[4]The indigenous Circle housed at Stong College advocates for indigenous peoples within York University. Their priority is to advocate for the health and wellness of indigenous peoples within York and engage with the indigenous heritage of Toronto.[5]Stong College currently provides a wellness lounge for students. The wellness lounge offers a place for students to relax and provides them with information about any questions they may have about health and wellness. The space is staffed and operated by York’s nursing students which provides them with practical experiences in their field of study.[6]
Stong College was dedicated on November 21st, 1970. The colleges namesake comes from the Stong family, who settled and farmed the area for over 130 years prior to the establishment of York University. The Stong family are ordinally from Germany but fled to America in 1709 to escape religious prosecution. The family settled in Pennsylvania and remained there until 1800 when for unknown reasons Sylvester Stong and his family were forced into political exile and migrated to Upper Canada. The Stong’s settled around York County, which at the time was all wilderness.
The Stong Historical Society formed at York University originally as an awareness program to promote the 10thanniversary of Stong College, and to pay tribute the pioneer families that settled area which the university Stands.[9]The society continued to preserve information surrounding the history of the family. A collection of photos, newspaper articles, genealogical documents, letters and legal document are now held by the Clara Thomas Archives at York University to preserve the work of the Stong Historical Society.[10] |
Stong College offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities for students to apply their free time towards. There are a variety of athletic intermural sports which students can choose from. These include, but are not limited to basketball, hockey, track and field in the summer and volleyball.[7]Stong offers a wide variety of student clubs in which students can participate. An example of a club students may wish to get involved in is Alpine at York which offers students the opportunity to pursue alpine skiing on a regular basis. Another example of a club students may participate in is the Lions Rugby club which holds regular games at the university.[8]
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The inception of Stong College began in 1969 labeled “College E” and in April of that year Virginia Rock accepted the position to become Stong’s First master. The original faculty of Stong began working in a temporary office space. This Faculty consisted of the master, an administrative assistant, a senior tutor, a liaison officer, a tutorial secretary and a personal secretary to the master. These were the first people to be employed under the umbrella of Stong College. During the first year of the college was also another first with the inception of the Walrus and its editor Nick Rolls that September. The first class of students affiliated with Stong was in 1969. Students at the time were able to choose from courses in sports, psychology or some form of art or media, which represented the artists, doctors and media professionals selected to be members of the first Stong faculty.[11]1969 was a year of firsts but did not end with the ones mentioned above. With the first year of Stong came the first student government and the creation of their first constitution. This began a long tradition of a strong student democracy within the college. May of 1970 brought the first convocational held at Stong with 27 graduates. The 1970 convocation is remembered for the unique event which occurred after the official ceremony. Students climbed over dirt piles of the building site of what would be Stong and played the first game of cards in what was to be the Stong common room. At this point the college was still referred to as “E” until the board took on the task of naming itself. The name Stong was chosen to pay homage to the pioneer family which settled the area now known as York University. On November 20, 1970 College E was officially christened Stong College. This shortly followed the completion of the new college building which offered an art gallery, a small theatre, a library, a coffee shop and a dark room.[12]All these firsts chronicled by Stong’s first master have established the foundation of what “College E” is today.
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