Mac receives 2nd multimillion-dollar boost
Donation will fund pilot seeking to bring liberal arts to the forefront
McMaster University is launching a two-year pilot project focused on bringing liberal arts to the forefront thanks to a $2-million donation from a former chancellor of the university.
Lynton (Red) Wilson’s investment helped make possible the Socrates Project, which will draw on the university’s strengths in humanities and social sciences to showcase and foster critical thinking, community and creativity.
Mac president Patrick Deane made the announcement Monday night at the formal opening of L.R. Wilson Hall — McMaster’s new home for the liberal arts, which was named after Wilson, who contributed $10 million toward its construction.
“The point of Socrates is to augment and supplement what is going on in regular academic programming in that building and to carry the message of the relevance of liberal arts out into the community,” Deane told The Spectator before the announcement.
The project — championed by Deane — will make use of the new building’s space through concert series, theatre, art exhibits, speakers, debates and lectures.
It will also provide opportunities for students to collaborate with others on topics outside of their primary fields of study, to get involved in public service and community engagement through course work and volunteering, and to provide leadership development through activities and programming.
Wilson, who graduated from McMaster with an economics degree in 1962, said he’s proud to support the Socrates Project for many reasons, particularly for its mandate to “cross scholarly boundaries and connect science to the arts and vice versa.”
“I look forward to a full schedule of performances, discussions and activities,” said Wilson, who is a retired public servant and business executive.
L.R. Wilson Hall was made possible through Wilson’s donation and a more than $45-million contribution from the province. It opened for classes in 2016.
The building is home to a 350seat concert hall, interactive teaching and learning spaces and research centres such as the Wilson Institute for Canadian History, the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging and the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute.
Monday’s ceremony marked the first time McMaster had celebrated the opening of a new building dedicated to the liberal arts in more than 40 years.
“That’s an enormously long time … and it tells you a little about the way in which our culture has drifted over the years as emphasis has tended to be placed on technology and science,” said Deane.
L.R. Wilson Hall is a “significant, beautiful building, and it signals our renewed commitment to the liberal arts and to their place in society,” he added.
Wilson’s support, particularly for the liberal arts, has been “absolutely invaluable” Deane said.
“This helps us to address an imbalance in the way in which education is offered,” he said.