Volume 35 Number 9	Edmonton, Canada	January 9, 1998
http://www.ualberta.ca/~publicas/folio

Skates flashed on frozen ice.

Fireworks cracked overhead in a sub-zero sky.

A ghost from the past revisited his beloved U of A.

And downtown, newspaper boys and girls distributed the news on a frigid Jasper Avenue: "Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The University of Alberta is 90 years old this year. Everyone welcome to celebrate the birthday of one of the province's most important and illustrious institutions."

And celebrate they did, outside, Wednesday in the Quad, in the shadow of the university's first buildings-Athabasca, Assiniboia and Pembina Halls. Ninety years after the U of A was born, the ghost of Henry Marshall Tory, the university's first president, found other buildings competing for space on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River-among them the tallest, the Henry Marshall Tory Building.

"I am here because I feel I belong," said Tory, an ethereal visionary who returned in a horse-drawn carriage to celebrate the U of A's 90th anniversary, and to preside over one of the university's modern-day milestones.

The podium was his.

"Extra! Extra! ..."

"I belong to this campus. To this ground. To this place. To the spirit we know as the University of Alberta spirit," said Tory, a man instrumental in the foundation of one of Canada's finest universities. What Tory also found amid the chorus of the U of A Concert Choir, sleigh rides, the roar of a warming fire and hot chocolate was the fulfillment of his dream-a university unlike the one he presided over for 20 years during its infancy. He found a place where classics has made room for anthropology, where mathematics has made room for computing science and anatomy has made room for medical microbiology and immunology. He found a university reflecting the complexity and burgeoning knowledge of the latter 20th century, close to 30,000 students strong.

For one brief moment, the university community took time to reflect on its past, its accomplishments and its importance. Huddled together under an Arctic high, more than a thousand students, staff and alumni listened to the university's present-day president tell his early 20th century predecessor of the U of A's accomplishments spanning nine decades. "You had a dream to build a great university, a university that was tied to the community which supported it," President Rod Fraser told Tory. "Today I see that university, one driven by dedicated men and women who comprise our faculty, staff, students and friends."

Chancellor Lou Hyndman says it's appropriate to salute the gutsy pioneer founders of a fledgling institution that would turn out to be a powerful engine in helping move Alberta to its pulsating strength today. "Their visionary commitment was the building block that resulted in the U of A being today on the move, in the front rank of leadership and excellence, and suitably well placed to be a truly great institution in the 21st century."

Throughout the year, 90th anniversary celebrations are planned. In September, the U of A will mark the institution's first classes in 1908. At convocation ceremonies in the spring, families and corporations instrumental in the building of the U of A will be presented with "builder" awards. The Faculty of Nursing will celebrate its 80th anniversary. And throughout the year, regular university events will be tied to 90th anniversary themes and celebrations.

*The ghost of Marshall Tory was played by Dr. Michael Murdock.

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