Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.
As a collegiate university, Trent is made up of five colleges. Each college has its own residence halls, dining room, and student government. The student government (Cabinet) and its committees cooperate with the College Office and dons in planning and delivering a variety of events for both its non-resident and resident members: visiting scholars, artists, musicians, scientists; College dinners and dances; Fall and Winter College Weekend; and intramural co-educational competitions in a number of sports. Although Trent University is predominantly undergraduate, graduate programs are offered at the master's and doctoral levels.
The Symons campus of Trent, named after founding president Thomas Symons, is located on the banks of the Otonabee River at the northeast corner of the City of Peterborough. The Symons campus plan and its original college buildings, including Champlain College, Lady Eaton College, Bata Library, Chemistry Building, and the Faryon bridge which spans the Otonabee, were designed by Canadian architect Ron Thom.
Over 9 000 undergraduate students and over 800 graduate students are enrolled at the Peterborough campus while Trent University Durham GTA serves over 1 900 full- and part-time students at the campus on Thornton Road in Oshawa. The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Trent Excalibur.
History
Trent University resulted from a community discussion in 1957 about opening a post-secondary institution in the Trent Valley. The campaign for a post-secondary institution in Peterborough coincided with the Ontario government's policy of creating new universities and expanding existing institutions to respond to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.
In 1963 Trent University was founded as a non-denominational, public institution in downtown Peterborough, Ontario. It was established as a provincial university under the Trent University Act, 1962–63. In fall 1964, the university welcomed its first students, its campus consisting of three refurbished older buildings in central Peterborough: Rubidge Hall, Catherine Parr Traill College for women, and Peter Robinson College for men. The governor general, Georges Vanier, officially opened Trent University in 1964. That year there were about 100 students attending the university.
Modelled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906, Trent established a bicameral system consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens), exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the two bodies and to perform institutional leadership.
Canadian General Electric, a major industrial employer in Peterborough, donated a 100-acre parcel of land along the Otonabee River; other lands were subsequently acquired on both sides of the river to serve as the site of the university's permanent campus. The CGE donation included a functioning hydroelectric power plant dating from the 1890s, which still generates a substantial portion of the university's electricity and produces income for the university. The power plant underwent a $22.8-million upgrade in 2013; Trent University owns 50% of the power plant with Peterborough Utilities Group owning the remaining 50%.
The university's Geography Department was set up in 1968, and in 1969 the university offered Canada's first Native Studies program.
In 2017 Trent announced the Trent University Research & Innovation Park (since renamed to Cleantech Commons). That year the university enrolled about 3,500 new students.
Current Colleges
Catharine Parr Traill College
This college was named after pioneer writer and biologist Catharine Parr Traill. It is the only Trent college situated in downtown Peterborough and is the oldest remaining college. It serves as the base for the undergraduate departments of English, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Canadian Studies and the Trent-Swansea Dual Degree in Law program. Four graduate programs have offices in the college including Public Texts (English); Cultural Studies; History; as well as the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. Traill College is also the home of Trent University's Continuing Education program.