Ontario Colleges

Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology

A decade later, the school was restructured as the Hamilton Institute of Technology in response to the increasing need for technical education. The first class of 104 young men were offered select courses in textile, electrical, electronics and mechanical technology. On May 21, 1965, William Davis, then minister of education, introduced Bill 153, an act that called for the establishment of new alternatives to university in Ontario - the colleges of applied arts and technology. The Hamilton region, including Brant, Wentworth and part of Haldimand-Norfolk, was designated "Area Nine", and would establish one of twenty new colleges throughout the province.

The idea was to provide a college to service the needs of the changing communities; a post-secondary institution that would be an alternative to the "sheepskin of a university education". Until the mid '60s, the choices for high school graduates who did not attend university were very limited. The new colleges of applied arts and technology would be revolutionary in that they would offer a new vocational training option, one that would bring educated and trained graduates beyond post-secondary directly into the labour force.

A sprawling 66-acre site on the mountain beside Hillfield College was chosen as the future site of the college in Hamilton. An old root cellar on the grounds, recognizable today as the core of "The Arnie", Mohawk's lively student centre, had been part of the farm that supplied food to the psychiatric hospital on the mountain brow. After an original $7 million cost projection, by mid-1965 the cost had skyrocketed to some $15 million and the project would take three years to complete. Planning progressed, and in September, 1966, the first board of governors met to select a name. It is perhaps no coincidence that at the time there was a trend towards returning to native roots - thus Seneca College in North York and Algonquin College in Ottawa. The name Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology reflected the area's historic native heritage; Joseph Brant, the founder of Brantford, was a highly esteemed Mohawk chief.

In 1968, Mohawk's student body had grown to 1,900 full-time students, 2,000 continuing education students, and 150 staff. Tuition for a three-year diploma course was $235 a year. The first Mohawk students were unquestionably part of the '60s generation. The idea of "night college" was relatively new. The Hamilton Spectator reported in June, 1965 that "a 35-year-old man with a wife and children can come at night if he wants to be an electrical technician". But the challenges of a rapidly changing society were only beginning to emerge. With an initial student ratio of 688 men to three women, the college encouraged participation by more women, which meant the introduction of programs in early childhood education, legal and medical secretarial and communication arts. Keith McIntyre, president of Mohawk College since the fall of 1981, remembers fondly the "pioneer era" of Ontario's college system. "Although there were different kinds of challenges," he says, "they were memorable years."

By the mid-1970's, Mohawk had emerged as a leading college in engineering, applied arts and business, and health technology, with more than 18,000 full- and part-time students and a staff of 600. As McIntyre reflects, the college was now entering a "maintenance period". "Most of the launch was accomplished, now it was a matter of expanding and fine-tuning the system."