UBC Men’s Hockey Team Visits China
The UBC men's hockey team has the privilege of being the first western sports team to play in China. The trip is a cultural exchange focused on friendship and sharing hockey skills with the Chinese.More Info
Timeline category: University
The Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP) is Introduced
NITEP begins as an elementary teacher education program in response to a need expressed by Aboriginal people throughout BC for a more effective and relevant teacher education program. In 2004, a secondary teaching program is established. NITEP builds upon Aboriginal identity and cultural heritage...More Info
The Inaugural Storm the Wall
Students participate in the inaugural Storm the Wall relay, where they compete in running, swimming, cycling and scaling a 12-foot wall. As of 2015, Storm the Wall holds the title of the largest intramural sporting event in North America.More Info
The Football Team Wins the Vanier Cup
The UBC football team wins its first Vanier Cup after finishing the season undefeated. During the 1997 Vanier Cup telecast, TSN commentators agree this team is the best in Canadian university football history.More Info
The First Class Graduates
Jessie J. Anderson is the first student to receive a UBC degree. She is one of 17 women in a class of 40 graduating students.
The First Issue of The Ubyssey Is Published
The student-run newspaper is first printed on October 17. Over the years its editors and contributors would include Pierre Berton, Eric Nicol and future prime minister John Turner.
War Time Brings Sacrifices in More Ways Than One
Students waive army pay to help construct Armoury. Campus army unit reaches maximum strength of 1,879 and many faculty members are on leave for special war-time duty.More Info
The APEC Protest
The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting is hosted by the federal government at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. More than 1,500 protesters converge on campus in an event that culminates in a confrontation with police involving pepper spray and mass arrests.More Info
UBC Opens the Okanagan Campus
The UBC campus opens in Kelowna with an initial academic plan based on four themes: indigenous studies, sustainability, health and wellness, and creativity. The opening ceremony is preceded by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Educational Cooperation and Programming between the Okanagan...More Info
Kyoto Targets are Met Ahead of Schedule
Five years ahead of schedule, and despite large increases in floor space and student enrolment, the Vancouver campus meets its Kyoto targets by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent from 1990 levels. The Okanagan campus embarks on an ambitious energy upgrade project...More Info
Students Rally to Save the Farm
On April 7, more than 2,000 people march across the Vancouver campus from the SUB to UBC farm to show support for maintaining the farm’s size and location. They are successful and the university agrees to keep this important space for students, research, and...More Info
The Okanagan Campus Doubles in Size
By 2010, the Okanagan campus comprises 208.6 hectares of land and has 7,004 enrolled students. Both figures have doubled since the opening in 2005.More Info
The ‘start an evolution’ Campaign Launches
In September, UBC launches the most ambitious fundraising and alumni engagement campaign in Canadian history. It aims to raise $1.5 billion for students, research, and community engagement, and to double the annual number of alumni actively connected to the university by 2015. The...More Info
UBC Honours Japanese Canadian Students
At a special ceremony, UBC grants honorary degrees to 61 students who were unable to complete their studies and confers the degrees of 15 students who were unable to attend graduation when they were sent away to WWII internment camps in 1942.
UBC Hosts the Olympics and Paralympics
UBC Vancouver is one of the host sites for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Robson Square and the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre are used throughout the games. As of 2015, UBC Olympians total 241 and the UBC Point Grey campus...More Info
The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre Opens
The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, named after a prominent UBC alumnus and philanthropist, opens on the Vancouver campus. The centre is a home for alumni for life and the first of its kind in Canada.
UBC Centennial Year Begins
UBC will mark its Centennial from fall 2015 (the anniversary of its opening) to spring 2016 (the anniversary of its first graduating class). The Okanagan campus marks its 10th anniversary at the same time.
UBC’s First Advisor on Women Is Appointed
Mary Louise Bollert is appointed UBC's Advisor on Women in 1921 and becomes the first Dean of Women in 1922. UBC's first women's residence is named after her to commemorate Bollert's long fight for gender equity.
Students March in The Great Trek
Over the summer break, UBC students collect approximately 56,000 signatures in support of building the university at the Point Grey site. This public awareness campaign culminates on October 28, when 1,200 students with floats, banners, signs and a marching band make their way...More Info
The Point Grey Campus Opens
On October 15, UBC officially opens the Point Grey campus. The site now has three permanent buildings, nine semi-permanent buildings, and a handful of agricultural outbuildings.
Musqueam House Posts Are Presented to UBC
The Musqueam First Nation sells two house posts to the UBC Alumni Association, with the agreement that the posts will remain on the UBC campus next to the Musqueam reserve. The Alumni Association presents the house posts to the university the same year...More Info
The UBC Basketball Team Wins the Women’s World Championships
The UBC women's basketball team represents Canada and wins the 1930 Women's World Championship gold medal in Prague. They defeat France 18-14 in the final game, which is played outdoors on a cinder court in front of 10,000 spectators.
The University’s Future Is Threatened
The Great Depression has devastating effects on the economy, and the provincial government threatens to close the university. Students mount a successful campaign to keep the university open, but the government drastically cuts annual grants by more than half.
The Grand Campus Washout
Heavy snowfall followed by driving rain in January causes a large pool of water to form on the north end of campus. A small ditch is dug to help the water drain into the ocean, but continuing rainfall turns the ditch into a...More Info
The “Thunderbird” Name Is Endorsed
In 1948, Chief William Scow, his son, Alfred (a UBC law student) and the Neel family of the Kwikwasut'inuxw First Nation officially grant UBC permission to use the Thunderbird name for its sports teams. A totem pole carved by Ellen Neel is gifted...More Info
UBC Hosts the British Empire Games
UBC is one of the hosts for the games, utilising the newly constructed Empire Pool for the swimming and diving events. Off campus, the UBC men's rowing team defeats the heavily favoured English team and wins the gold medal.
UBC Celebrates Its Golden Jubilee
UBC celebrates its Golden Jubilee and launches the UBC Development Fund, the first public appeal for capital funds by any Canadian university. Through government contributions and fund drives, it raises $35 million.
Students Take Over the Faculty Club
American social activist and Yippie Jerry Rubin leads a group of 2,000 students to a sit-in at UBC's faculty club in the name of liberation and an end to authoritarian structures at the university.