The next talk in the Franklin (Frank) Pigot Memorial Lecture Series at UPEI will explore how the spirit of the 1960s shaped the University. On Thursday, September 26, Dr. Alan MacEachern will present “A Child of the ’60s: Creating the University of Prince Edward Island” at 7:00 pm in the Faculty Lounge of SDU Main Building. 

The PEI government began pressing for a single Island university in the spring of 1968. By spring 1970, UPEI was not merely up and running, but was holding its first graduation. The whirlwind nature of UPEI’s founding—with long-term decisions made in the very short-term—meant the new university was a product of its time: a time of visionary planning and respect for tradition, of religious authority and rising secularism, of student alienation and student power.

As part of UPEI’s 50th anniversary, the Robertson Library is presenting a lecture series to celebrate the historical roots of higher education on Prince Edward Island and its future. The series is named after educator Frank Pigot, honoured as a UPEI Founder for his work building the Library’s PEI Collection and University Archives. 

Dr. Alan MacEachern is the author of Utopian U: The Founding of the University of Prince Edward Island, 1968–1970. He is a professor of history at Western University.