UCalgary's first business grads

Do you remember 1967? It was Canada's centennial — a time of high optimism and quality of life. July 1st was still called Dominion Day.
Quebec hosted Expo '67. Hockey fans saw the Leafs win their 13th Stanley Cup and Canada hosted its first Grand Prix in Ontario.

U of A at Calgary

In Calgary, the first Bachelor of Commerce students graduated. Those who started in 1963 were actually attending the University of Alberta at Calgary—same turf, different crest. Gary Peterson, Barry Rooke, and Steve Allan, all BComm '67 grads, got together with us to share stories, perspectives, and wisdom.

First, what did campus look like? One thing they all agreed on was how miserable the winter walk was between the farflung buildings, the north wind in your face with nary a tree in sight to break its force. There was no plug-in parking, so it was quite common to trudge back to cars that would not start.

There wasn't a lot of choices to energize the some 4000 students, either. The Dining Centre served as the hangout where a great many people met lifelong friends, colleagues, and sometimes spouses.

Rivalry? Us?

For respite, there was a bit of goofing off, including the rivalry between the business students and the engineers, said to be ongoing to this day. Both Peterson and Rooke remember one prank, though they swear they didn't take part. One night, the business students used a backhoe to dig a hole and bury a huge concrete sign that identified the engineering building. It was a large gear on a base, and when it was tipped into the hole, it protruded partially, so they mounded up the dirt slightly and laid wreaths on it. It was eventually discovered and dug up, but in those days no one was ratted out or charged for pranks.

A practical education

Back at the books, professors were practicing accountants who taught economics, accounting, and finance. Sociology and psychology courses benefited students like Allan who needed human resources skills for assisting clients through hard times. Allan, whose initial focus was on HR, transitioned to finance and accounting. "The aptitude for the soft skills through courses taken equipped me well for a career in corporate restructuring. I was able to find my niche there, and it turned out to be a wonderful career. I worked with clients of various sizes, often entrepreneurs; one of the most satisfying things was assisting them through very severe challenges."

Peterson also built a similarly meaningful career through his educational experience. "I gravitated toward working with small businesses, entrepreneurs. It's satisfying because you've helped somebody. You don't get to see that in big business."

Fifty years ago, the top floor of the U of C library was entirely taken up with a computer that required punch cards. No accounting firm had one. Thanks to what the computer has become, the longhand ledgers of the '60s are gone. "In my first year, I helped complete 1400 tax returns by hand, in duplicate, with no photocopier."

Entrepreneurial thinking is not new

Rooke has watched the changing face of Canada. "We're acting less and less like a country, more like a dozen segregated areas. Nobody wants the pipelines going through, yet they want the money that comes from the oil. People aren't seeing the unified Canadian picture anymore.

"When the country was being formed and we were building the railway, can you imagine the provinces saying, 'Well, you can't blast a hole in a mountain to lay track here.' Or, 'You can't build a railway over this river. There's no commonality anywhere in the country. It's very sad that we can't just be Canadian, and I don't know if we will ever get that back.

"There has to be a more entrepreneurial spirit. I don't know what started it, but Alberta has always led the country in that. Even now, people are suffering but they're figuring out something else they can do, maybe even a hobby can generate some money. They aren't sitting around."

Allan agrees. "People who are highly successful are entrepreneurs in their own way, even within an organization. (Teaching entrepreneurship) is a really valuable thing we're now focusing on at Haskayne—it is needed to succeed, and it's a value that Calgarians have long exhibited. Let's focus on that. It's part of being resilient."