The economy of Northern British Columbia was a going concern in the 1980s, but many residents knew something was missing. There were no local options for young people who wanted to pursue a university education.

“Subsequent generations of parents had seen their children leave for university and college elsewhere,” says UNBC History Professor Dr. Jonathan Swainger. “The young people left, did as well as they were going do, and then they didn’t come back.”

That grassroots desire for increased post-secondary opportunities for future generations was central to the founding of the University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Swainger documented those early calls for a University in the North as well as the first quarter century of UNBC’s history in his new book Aspiration: A History of the University of Northern British Columbia to 2015.

“The core notion was this aspiration, this hope, this expectation that somehow, through the creation of this university we would have this magnet, not only to attract people but also to retain people,” Dr. Swainger says.

The book tells the story of UNBC through the people who made it happen. Dr. Swainger spoke with members of the Interior University Society (IUS), some of UNBC’s earliest champions. He also talked to many founding faculty and staff members and students who took classes during the early days of the University.

“This was a popularly championed outfit from Day 1,” he says. “Yes the IUS founders put together a package, but then the people of Northern British Columbia made it real.”

Digging through the database of Prince George newspapers at the Prince George Public Library, Dr. Swainger learned about the challenges colleges faced in getting established in the North and how it foreshadowed some of the same issues early advocates of UNBC encountered.

The Northern British Columbia Archives at the Geoffrey R. Weller Library were an invaluable source of information for Dr. Swainger.

“I used those as much and as often as is possible because they provide a documentary history of the Interior University Society movement, the petition process, the implementation of the planning group and then the actual setting up of curriculum and the hiring of people,” he says.

But the book would not have been possible without the approximately 80 audio and video interviews Dr. Swainger conducted. At the completion of the project all of those interviews will be transcribed and accessible for future researchers in the archives.

“I would like master’s students and doctoral students to go into those documents and ask their own questions,” he said. “The interviews are a wealth of information on all the topics I didn’t talk about in the book.”
UNBC was created by the people of Northern British Columbia and more than 25 years on the University continues to serve the region. Dr. Swainger believes the goals of those who wanted a University in the north has been met.

“We’ve answered the challenge, we’ve done what we said we were going to do,” Dr. Swainger said. “These students are staying and better yet we’ve got students coming from outside of Northern British Columbia understanding that this is a very intriguing opportunity.”