Recognizing UTM's 60th anniversary

Dear colleagues,

In 2027, alongside U of T’s bicentennial, UTM will recognize sixty years since our founding as Erindale College. Marking historical milestones matters: it creates opportunities to elevate values embedded in our motto – tantum nobis creditum, so much is entrusted to us – and in our place on Treaty 13A lands alongside Missinihe-ziibi, the trusting creek. History carries present responsibility: to share the past of this place honestly and to build a future that earns the trust placed in us.

How will UTM’s anniversary work be coordinated?

Anniversary work is led by a 21-member steering committee, chaired by me, which connects students, faculty, staff, librarians, and alumni nominated in an open call earlier this year. The committee’s membership is available here, in our terms of reference, which also describes our responsibilities to develop anniversary themes, oversee signature initiatives, and engage consistently with our community.

The committee will establish two advisory tables – for students and for alumni – and three working groups that will implement anniversary plans for (a) strategy and communications; (b) teaching, learning, research, and innovation; and (c) signature events and initiatives. Membership for these groups will be set later this spring, which means many others will have opportunities to get involved shortly, including those who volunteered for but weren’t appointed to the steering committee.

Our committees and groups will draw on support from a dedicated secretariat, Eileen Waweru, Martina Besteiro, and Patricia Chiasson, who will coordinate anniversary meetings, record key actions and decisions, share progress updates regularly.

What values will animate our anniversary?

At the steering committee’s direction, UTM’s anniversary will be guided by three principles, which align closely with values of our strategic framework. Anniversary initiatives should be:

• Student-centered, creating meaningful, memorable experiences for current undergraduates and graduates that connect them with UTM’s past, present, and future.
• Enduring, leaving a visible, practical, tangible legacy that extends beyond 2027.
• Thoughtful, addressing campus and local history truthfully to join celebration with reflection.

These principles have inspired many ideas from our community already; we welcome more.

How can our community share ideas?

By June 30, 2026, please submit proposals for anniversary events, projects, and experiences using this Call to Action Form, which invites ideas in two broad categories.

• Enhancements: i.e., those that elevate annual, existing, or already planned initiatives, such as orientation, research opportunity courses, and the All-Nations Powwow.
• Originals: i.e., those designed specifically for the sixtieth anniversary, like a legacy art project.

UTM has allocated some one-time-only funding for both kinds of work. So, if you have an estimate of resources needed to implement your idea, please include it the form, too. The steering committee will record all ideas we hear, even those we can’t pursue immediately, since we might return to them in the future. The steering committee plans to begin confirming funded initiatives late this summer, inviting more granular logistical information from initiative leads at the same time.

Our initiatives will complement plans for U of T’s bicentennial. They’ll also open directions beyond it, with a different perspective – perhaps as different as the view from the Credit River 60 years ago than from King’s College Circle. We look forward to learning from your perspectives shortly. 

Best,

Alex

Alexandra Gillespie
Vice-President and Principal
University of Toronto Mississauga