Caroline Cottrell (BEd’73, BA’81, MA’89), former USSU General Manager, stands in front of the the plaque honouring Lt. Justin Boyes (BA'06) in the Memorial Union Building.

USask remembers the sacrifices of its students

The University of Saskatchewan's war memorials are a daily reminder of our campus connection to Canadian veterans.

By John Grainger

Facts and figures of the Memorial Wall of Honour at the Memorial Union Building:

  • Nov. 11, 1955: The building was dedicated as a reminder to students and the USask community about the men who had given their lives to protect Canada’s freedom during the Second World War.
  • $540,000: The cost to build the Memorial Union Building. The shovels hit the ground in 1951 and the building was officially opened in 1955.
  • 202: The number of students and graduates who died in service in the Second World War.
  • USask alumnus Lt. Justin Boyes was killed in 2008 in the line of duty during the Afghanistan conflict. A plaque honouring Boyes is now also on the Remembrance Day Wall.
  • USask science and engineering students were not allowed to enlist unless they were given special exemption because they were deemed an essential service.
  • 1942: The Student’s Representative Council (SRC) began investing funds with the goal of building a students’ union building with the fund getting USask Board of Governors support a year later in 1943.
  • When the Second World War ended in 1945, the USSU created a veterans’ affairs committee to help those students returning to reintegrate back into civilian and student life on campus. 
  • By the fall of 1945, 974 returning veterans had enrolled at USask.
  • Refurbishing of the fireplace on the Memorial Wall was started in 2017 and completed a year later. It remains a working fireplace to this day.


*Source: History of the USSU by Robert Morley and Robert Martz

 

 

QUOTES FROM CAROLINE COTTRELL, FORMER USSU GENERAL MANAGER WHO SPEARHEADED RESTORATION OF THE MEMORIAL WALL:

Caroline Cottrell (BEd’73, BA’81, MA’89) stands in front of the Memorial Wall in the Memorial Union Building.

“(The Memorial Wall) mirrored the University of Saskatchewan gates … which used to be the entrance to the university which commemorate the war dead from the First World War.”

“It was built to commemorate all those young men who gave their lives in horrible ways in the Second World War.”

“After the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Memorial Gates, people come to the Memorial Union Building and the students’ union has for years sponsored and paid for a tea to be in this space to honour those students who gave their lives.”

“The fireplace, to me, is really important. The fireplace is that flame of hope. We tried to restore it to its original condition as we could possibly get, to make it as pristine as possible.”