Fourteenth in Maclean’s rankings several years running, a broke arts department and an administration more concerned with the image of the university than educating young minds have all been classically associated with the University of Calgary. Having developed such nicknames as ‘the U of C minus’ over the years, most people typically have few nice things to say about the U of C. Well, guess what assholes? We just produced a Prime Minister.
In case you were living under a rock guarded by vicious trolls for the past week and have only just managed to escape, Stephen Harper, a U of C graduate, was just elected Prime Minister of Canada. Graduating with a BA of economics in 1988 and receiving his masters degree in 1991, Harper attended many of the same classes with some of the same professors you are right now.
As amusing as an image of the Prime Minister hatching from a dinosaur egg is, it’s a topic worthy of some reflection. The U of C, an institution the subject of much criticism (especially from the Gauntlet) for pumping out conservative thinkers is responsible for an important and fairly well-liked political figure. Perhaps Harper’s success in the election will mark a shift in the way the populace views the U of C and the conservatives it has a tendency to create.
Perhaps not.