Social Activities

Throughout the term, the Junior Fellows sponsor and organize an active program of special events, parties, and entertainment, as well as lectures of general interest, excursions to local and regional theatres and cultural events, and a variety of sports.

In addition to the Winter Ball and Christmas Gaudy, high points of the College year are High Table Dinners held approximately every second week during term. At these special dinners, the College honours a number of Junior Fellows and invited distinguished guests. Founders’ Gaudy at the start of the academic year honours the College’s founding figures and Fellows’ Gaudy at the end of the academic year honours those members of the community who have made exceptional contributions.

There are annual receptions for the Alumni Association and the Quadrangle Society, as well as gala evenings for both the Senior Fellows and the Quadrangle Society’s Book Club.

There is a Massey College Choir which is the resident vocal ensemble of the College. All Masseyites are encouraged to join. The choir consists mostly of Junior Fellows, but alumni, Senior Fellows and others in the Massey community sing in the choir as well. For further information, visit www.masseychoir.ca.

Massey Lectures

The College is a co-host, together with the CBC and the House of Anansi Press, of the annual Massey Lectures, widely regarded as one of the most important public lectures in Canada. Established in 1961 by the CBC to honour the former Governor-General of Canada, the Right Honourable Vincent Massey, the College’s Founder and first Visitor, these annual lectures are given by a noted scholar or public figure. They are broadcast by the CBC from cities across Canada, and published at the same time by House of Anansi.

Walter Gordon Massey Symposium on Public Policy

History

For twenty years, the Walter Gordon Massey Symposium on Public Policy has presented a complex and nuanced view of diverse policy issues to the public. The symposium takes place annually in honour of the late Honourable Walter Gordon, Canadian patriot, devoted public servant and Senior Fellow of Massey College from 1973 until his death in 1987. Through his example and encouragement, Walter Gordon endorsed the mandate of Massey College to nourish learning and serve the public good. Each year, distinguished speakers are invited to discuss a topic of immediate significance to Canada before an interested audience drawn from the public, academic, corporate, and government worlds. Some of the more recent topics have been “Eco Nightmare: Culpability, Responsibility, and the Environment Crisis”; “Country or Colony? Canada’s Relations with the United States post-September 11”; and “Living with the Group of One” with Lewis Lapham and Margaret MacMillan on the panel.

The symposium is co-hosted by Massey College and the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto.

For information on the current Walter Gordon Symposium in Public Policy and a list of past Symposia visit the Walter Gordon Symposium.

Further information is available from Anna Luengo at annaluengo@masseycollege.ca

Distinguished Visiting Fellow

Thanks to a generous endowed gift from Vincent Massey Tovell, a Senior Fellow and member of the Massey Foundation, each year a distinguished thinker — international or Canadian — is invited to visit the College to deliver a talk and participate in College life.

Bernard Ostry Cultural Foundation

The foundation honours the memory of Bernard Ostry, a founding member of the Quadrangle Society and an outstanding public servant. The fund sponsors a variety of cultural projects, occasionally in conjunction with other Massey ventures and sometimes on its own.