Lodge renamed in honour of Marion Fry

Trent University renamed Principal’s Lodge at Traill College on Monday in honour of Marion Fry, the first principal at Traill.

The building is now called Fry Lodge.

Marion Fry, a philosophy professor, was the first principal at Catharine Parr Traill College in 1963.

At the time, it was an all-women’s college; Fry was the principal for five years.

She also served as the vice-president of Trent University from 1975 to 1979, and she was acting president from time to time.

Fry continued teaching philosophy at Trent until 1986.

Michael Eamon, the current president of Traill College, stated in a release that he was pleased to honour Fry.

“From the very beginning she was a groundbreaker as a woman in higher education and an inspiration for young women at a time when universities were male-dominated,” said Eamon.

Also on Monday, Traill College announced that a campaign to raise $100,000 for new residences has hit its target.

Greg Piasetzki, a Toronto lawyer who did his undergraduate degree at Trent University, said last fall he would donate $50,000 if his alma mater fundraised $50,000.

The Traill Endownment is expected to be spent on new residences at Traill College.

Last year a review of Trent’s college system recommended restoring a strong undergraduate presence to Traill College; it was determined that one way to do that would be to add residences.

Buildings that once housed only offices at Traill were converted into 30 residences; they were occupied this past academic year. The plan is to continue adding more residences in 2017-18.