Student thank-yous read in Queen’s Park

“Your investment transformed my life.”

That’s just one of the sentiments expressed by the more than 100 students who have written notes of thanks to the provincial government for its $45M investment in McMaster’s L.R. Wilson Hall.

Three of the letters were read aloud at Queen’s Park this week by McMaster alumnus and MPP Ted McMeekin, who plans to share the notes with Premier Kathleen Wynne.

McMaster students had originally advocated for provincial support of the building through a letter-writing campaign which saw hundreds of letters sent to then-Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Wilson Hall’s opening was officially celebrated in October, 2017, when the building was brought to life with a full-scale production incorporating artistic and cultural performances, experiential learning and the work of students, alumni, faculty and staff.

The building serves as the home for Social Sciences and Humanities at McMaster, and was designed to foster creativity and the vitality of the contemporary liberal arts.

More than a dozen multidisciplinary research centres and institutes from both Faculties are co-located there, creating a critical mass of investigation and innovation.

In addition to the Province’s support, L.R. Wilson Hall was made possible through a $10M gift from McMaster’s Chancellor Emeritus, Lynton “Red” Wilson, a long-time supporter of the University and the liberal arts.

Wilson announced a separate, $2M gift to help boost the liberal arts during the building’s opening celebration. That gift established the Socrates Project, a two-year campus-wide pilot project drawing on the University’s strengths and expertise in liberal arts education and research.