Dawson College

This article is about the Montreal-area college. For the September 13, 2006 shootings at this college, see Dawson College shooting. For the community college in Glendive, Montana, see Dawson Community College.

Dawson College
Established	1969
Type	CEGEP
Religious affiliation	Non-denominational
Dean	Robert Kavanagh
Director General	Richard Filion
Students	10,000[1]
Undergraduates	Pre-University Students Technical College Students
Postgraduates	N/A
Location	Westmount, Quebec, Canada 45°29′22″N 73°35′18″W / 45.489374°N 73.588298°W / 45.489374; -73.588298Coordinates: 45°29′22″N 73°35′18″W / 45.489374°N 73.588298°W / 45.489374; -73.588298
Campus	Urban (4.85 hectares (12 acres))
Sports teams	Blues
Colours	Blue      and White
Nickname	Blues
Affiliations	ACCC, CCAA, QSSF, CUSID, CUP.
Website	www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca

Dawson College (French: Collège Dawson) was the first English CEGEP and is located in Westmount, just west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dawson College is located near the heart of downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on 4.85 hectares of green space. It is the largest CEGEP in Quebec, with a student population of about 7,500 day students and 2,500 night students enrolled in more than 50 fields of study.

Programs

Dawson College

The CEGEP offers two types of programs: pre-university and technical. The pre-university programs, which take two years to complete, cover the subject matters which roughly correspond to the additional year of high school given elsewhere in Canada as well as university-level introductory courses in preparation for a chosen field in university. The technical programs, which take three years to complete, apply to students who wish to pursue a skilled trade. Evening courses are offered through Continuing Education in both credit and non credit division and corporate training is available as well. Dawson recently partnered with the University of Sherbrooke to launch the Confucius Institute in Quebec on its campus.

History

Dawson College

Dawson College was first based at the Royal Canadian Air Force Base, St. Jean (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu), Quebec, in the Montérégie (later the location of Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean). It was a satellite campus set up on September 26, 1945 by McGill University to handle the overflow registration of students after the Second World War and the returning veterans. Those students in the first 3 years of the Faculty of Engineering were taught there, thus relieving the McGill campus for the later 2 years for the degree course. That version of Dawson College was closed in May 1950.

The college traces its origins to the merger of several institutions which became public in 1967, when the Quebec system of CEGEPs was created. The current Dawson College was the first English-language institution in the Quebec network of CEGEPs when it opened its doors to 1,200 students in the fall of 1969. The College is named for Sir William Dawson, a principal of McGill University from 1855 to 1893.

The College was originally housed in a converted pharmaceutical factory at 350 Selby Street in Westmount. In 1970, a second campus (used mostly for Creative Arts programs) was opened on Viger Street just to the north of Old Montreal. Two years later, its third campus was opened near Parc Lafontaine. By 1988 Dawson either still or had also operated the Richelieu campus in St. Henri, the DeLorimier campus, the Victoria campus on McGill Street (in Old Montreal), with additional facilities on Saint Catherine Street among other locations.

In 1988, Dawson College occupied the former Mother House of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. Full consolidation under one roof only happened in 1997, when the Selby building was finally closed. Extensive renovations transformed the century-old building into an attractive, modern, and well-equipped college, occupying an entire city block between de Maisonneuve Boulevard and Sherbrooke Street and Wood Avenue in Westmount and Atwater Street in Montreal.

Dawson Student Union

Dawson College on Sherbrooke

The Dawson Student Union (DSU) is the Dawson College students' union representing the approximately 7,500 full-time students and 2,500 part-time students. It funds, coordinates and regulates clubs and activities, and is a resource for students to direct them to appropriate departments and services. The union also does its part to inform students of their rights and also lobbies for them when necessary.^[2]

In November 2008, the Dawson Student Union contacted Montreal police after an estimated $840,000 in union funds were misappropriated. This came after much criticism towards the union for not publishing financial statements since its 2005 accreditation.^[3]

The DSU has since been working to establish itself as a functional, autonomous, accredited student union.

Campus activities

Dawson College

Dawson College has a very large number of clubs, 25 officially funded by the College and 8 that receive no funding. These include religious and language-themed clubs, para-academic groups, athletic clubs, program-based clubs, cultural clubs and more. Dawson also has a radio station, CIXS: The Edge, as well as a student newspaper, The Plant, which publishes every Thursday during term, with a circulation in 2007 of about 2000 copies. Founded in 1969, it is a member of Canadian University Press (CUP), and is the largest CEGEP newspaper in Quebec. Editors are chosen at the end of each semester (August–December, January–May) for the upcoming semester based on a democratic vote by the previous editors and the 'Writing For The Plant' class.

The majority of the clubs are in the 2C wing of the college. This wing is also on the ground-level in the center of the school, while the athletics department is located in the 1H wing, in the metro-level south-west corner of the school. New clubs can be formed with the help of the DSU.

Campus athletics

Dawson College Blues

Dawson College, known nationally as the “Blues” has one of the largest intercollegiate programs in Canada. A large number of recreational and intramural programs are also offered to the student population. Although Dawson College offers a wide variety of sports to its student body, the national governing body of college athletics, the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) only sanctions five sports nationally (AAA), those sports are: Basketball, Soccer, Golf, Badminton, and Cross Country Running. Of these five sports Dawson College competes nationally in four, Basketball, Golf, Cross Country Running and Soccer. Some of Dawson's highlights from its athletic history include winning the Men's and Women's Provincial Hockey Championships and having the CCAA award the Dawson College Blues a banner representing "25 Years of Basketball Supremacy".

School shooting

Main article: Dawson College shooting

Two days after the event, people bring flowers to the de Maisonneuve entrance of Dawson College where the first shots had been fired

On September 13, 2006, a shooting occurred at Dawson College. Kimveer Gill, a 25 year-old resident of Laval, Quebec, entered the school armed with a variety of guns. Gill began firing on students outside of the entrance and again in the Atrium, before committing suicide after being shot by police. Some witnesses reported to having seen a second gunman, a claim later proven incorrect by local police. There was one other death, 18-year-old female student Anastasia Rebecca de Sousa, nineteen more were injured, eight critically.

Gill was dressed in black trenchcoat, military clothes and combat boots, resulting in comparisons with Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. He was a member of gothmetal.net where he is seen holding guns and favored the video game depicting the Columbine High shootings. A similar profile has been depicted on the website www.vampirefreaks.com, though it was taken down by the website administrators for reasons as of yet unknown. His profile name on that website is fatality666. Around 10:41 that morning, Gill made a final entry on the Vampirefreaks and listed his mood as "No mood." He wrote "Whiskey in the morning, mmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm, good!!"

The media developed a theory that Gill's motive was to copycat the Columbine shootings. Students say Gill was calm and shot randomly.

The college was closed until Friday, September 15, when teachers and support staff returned. Students were given access to the campus again on Monday, September 18, and classes resumed the following day.

Other schools in Canada, including the four universities in Montreal, provided grief counseling for their students. Some had also put up special messages regarding this incident.

Notable alumni

• Jon Lajoie – Comedian^[4]
• Steven Pinker – Psychologist^[5]
• Rachelle Lefevre – Actress in such movies as Twilight
• Eddy Dorozowsky – Professional Wrestler
• Luc Lafortune – Lighting Designer
• Joel Anthony- Center for the NBA's Miami Heat
• Marie-Philip Poulin - Canadian Olympic Medalist
• Kaniehtiio Horn, film and television actress
• Nadia Giosia, host of the cooking show "Bitchin' Kitchen" on the Cooking Channel and Food Network (Canada).
• Jeff Fuchs, Explorer and author
• Shira Lazar, internet talk show host
• Harley Morenstein, host of the popular YouTube series Epic Meal Time

See also

• List of colleges in Quebec
• Higher education in Quebec
• Atwater Station,
  nearest metro station

English-language CEGEPs:

• Champlain
• Heritage
• John Abbott College
• Marianopolis College
• Vanier College

References

1. ^ "Profile of Dawson College: Montreal, Quebec". Canada's Higher Education and Career Guide. canadian-universities.net. 2003-2008. http://www.canadian-universities.net/Community-Colleges/Dawson_College.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
2. ^ "Dawson Student Union". 2011. http://www.mydsu.ca/. Retrieved 24-04-2011. 
3. ^ "Dawson Student Union contacts police". Montreal Gazette. canada.com. 2008. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=2ce16b52-dae5-4d7e-9dbc-67949df732cd. Retrieved 2011-05-22. 
4. ^ Jon Lajoie
5. ^ Curriculum Vitae

• CEGEP union fights for independence – September 18, 2005
• Dawson Student Union Win Major Victory Against Administration – July 20, 2005
• Dawson students consider accreditation – November 9, 2004
• Montreal Gazette, Nick Weatherall – July 22, 2005
• Dawson's Board Of Governors Minutes (PDF format) – June 13, 2005
• Dawson's Board Of Governors Minutes (PDF format) – Sept 22, 2005

External links

• Dawson College Website
• Dawson Student Union Website
• Dawson Teacher Union Website
• Dawson Support Staff Union Website