UBC Library launches exhibition celebrating 100 Years of UBC at Point Grey
A new pop-up exhibition entitled Celebrating 100 Years of UBC at Point Grey is available for viewing at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre until December 5, 2025.
Presented by UBC Library in collaboration with the UBC Alma Mater Society, the Office of the Provost, the Museum of Anthropology, and the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, the exhibition opened on September 8, 2025, and was officially launched at a commemorative event on September 12, 2025. This free display showcases artifacts from every decade of UBC’s 100 years at the Point Grey campus.
“As the university’s archive, UBC Library preserves our shared past and legacy,” says Susan Parker, University Librarian. “This exhibition invites us to deepen our understanding and appreciation for the vision that led to the creation of UBC Point Grey—as we also look forward to adding our own contributions to UBC in its second century.”
Celebrating 100 Years of UBC at Point Grey aims to explore the UBC student experience at Point Grey. This immersive visual exhibit combines artifacts, photography, and video interviews with alumni to show how student life and the university has changed, developed, and diversified through the decades.
“Created by a dedicated team from the Library and our partners at the Provost’s Office, Alma Mater Society, UBC Alumni Centre, and Museum of Anthropology, this exhibition brings UBC’s early history to life, tracing the evolution of student life as it has grown, diversified, and reflected social change,” says Katherine Kalsbeek, Head, Rare Books and Special Collections and University Archives. “We hope that you will find it is a moving tribute to the university’s legacy and a powerful example of how material and oral histories can tell unforgettable stories.”
“This beautiful spot was a place apart, an area for meditation and education. It’s been a place of physical and emotional learning for a long time.”
– Larry Grant, Musqueam Elder and Adjunct Professor, UBC Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, Honorary Graduate from the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NITEP) at UBC 2014.
UBC first opened its doors to students at a site nicknamed the “Fairview Shacks,” a cluster of mostly wooden buildings in the Fairview neighborhood of Vancouver that was meant to serve as UBC’s temporary headquarters while construction progressed at the 175-acre site in Point Grey. But the start of the First World War halted construction, leading to overcrowding at the shacks. In 1922, students organized a protest and campaigned the provincial government to resume campus construction. With 56,000 petition signatures collected and vocal support from the community, businesses, and media, the student effort was a success and work on the first two permanent buildings at Point Grey—the Science Building and the Library—was completed. UBC officially moved to the Point Grey campus on September 22, 1925, marking the day with an inaugural general assembly.
"The Great Trek showed that students are not just participants in UBC’s story, but authors of it," says Riley Huntley, President, Alma Mater Society of UBC. "For the past hundred years, generations of students have built a campus community that reflects their values and ambitions, and that spirit of leadership continues to shape UBC today.”
The move to UBC’s permanent campus location marked a new beginning and the culmination of many years of planning and construction, while student action and initiative have continued to shape UBC’s development in profound ways.
“Think of the Main Mall. To the north, the Canadian flag and the view of water and mountains. To the South, the Reconciliation Pole. Markers of conflict, yes, but also of beauty and hope. In between, buildings where learning happens in structured, principled, rational ways.”
– Arthur Ross, BA(History)'23.
To view photos of the exhibit and opening event, visit this UBC Library Flickr album.
