As we emerge, shivering and sad, from the winter break and plunge back into the world of classes, commutes, and coursework, it’s important to take a moment to think about things that matter most in life. Or, if you don’t feel like that, how about distracting yourself with some trivia about the place where you go to school?
Wednesday, January 4 is National Trivia day. In its honour, and that of a new calendar year of learning, The Cascade presents the following fun facts, figures, and otherwise interesting pieces of trivia about UFV and the communities that house it. Several of these nuggets of knowledge come courtesy of UFV’s communications director, Dave Pinton.
UFV history:
When UFV (then Fraser Valley College) first began classes on September 1, 1974, after only a few months of planning, the facilities had not yet even begun construction. Classes were held in high schools, church basements, and even storefronts.
UFV’s first “campus” outside of Abbotsford was Hope’s — it began classes just one month after they started in Abbotsford. Chilliwack would follow one year later.
While UFV had a permanent campus on Marshall Road from 1975 on, its current campus did not open its doors until 1983, when it was comprised of only buildings A, B, and C.
Chilliwack’s North campus was planned as a temporary building, to be replaced within five years. Instead, it took 37 years for classes to move to the Canada Education Park campus.
UFV’s communities:
One of B.C.’s largest cities, Abbotsford is also one of Canada’s most diverse — third only to Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area.
Founded 30 years before Abbotsford, and incorporated 50 earlier, Mission’s name has an unusual history. The city’s founders decided to name it “Mission City” to make it sound larger and more important. This meant that, for a number of years, it was “the Village of Mission City” and then “the Town of Mission City.”
In 1969, Chilliwack elected Dorothy Kostrzewa to city council — the first Chinese-Canadian to hold political office in Canada. She continued in that role for 33 years, also making her the longest serving city councillor in B.C.
In the first Rambo movie, First Blood, Hope was used to portray a fictional town in Washington … also known as Hope. It was also cited as the hometown of video game Deadlight’s protagonist.
For 10 years, UFV’s only international branch has operated in Chandigarh, India. Chandigarh, with a population of nearly a million people, holds the distinction of India’s first smoke-free city, with strict rules on where tobacco can be used.
UFV today:
In 2015-2016, the most popular major was a bachelor of science in biology, with 278 students, followed by BA in English with 222 and BA in psychology with 196.
One of UFV’s geography instructors, Olav Lian, uses light-based technology to research B.C.’s coast’s ancient history, finding out which plants and animals used to be prevalent in the area.
UFV’s art gallery, the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, is named to acknowledge Stó:l? Nation’s right to the land. Pronounced S-uh-lee-uh-mut-out-ook, it means “a place that holds dreams or visions.”
In the heart of urban Surrey, UFV has a high-tech greenhouse. This “BioPod,” a collaboration with the City of Surrey, Simon Fraser University, and the John Volken Academy, grows plants in vertical towers. They are maintained by students at John Volken Academy, an addiction treatment institution.
The average age for students pursuing bachelor degrees full-time is 22 for males and 22.8 for females.
While The Cascade has provided news and entertainment to the university for 23 years, it isn’t the school’s first student newspaper — previous publication titles included Broke Cult, Fraser Valley College News, and heterogenes.
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.
